Near Misses Anyone?
 

On my way out of Calgary on Wednesday, I experienced my first aborted takeoff. We were popping down the runway at 100+? miles an hour when all of a sudden I get jerked forward and for what seemed like a long time the pilot was standing on the brakes (ie we were going fast and it took a while to get slowed down). Once we got down to a nice coasting speed, he reports that "as you noticed we decided to abort takeoff, as there was another plane still on the runway--he was supposed to have exited earlier but missed his turn. Needless to say this is not a usual occurrence."

This was a little disconcerting and I am wondering who is at fault, air control, ground control, our pilot, the other pilot or all of the above?

Anyone else had close calls--and was there any danger pay (i.e. more miles or other compensation--this way it is not OMNI Catman)? Suppose I should feel glad that there was no major consequence but even for a very frequent flier, this was a bit disconcerting.

Could be any number of things... but the ultimate responsibility for the safety of the aircraft and its passengers is placed on the captain. An aborted takeoff call could be initiated by ATC in the tower or by the pilot flying the aircraft.

During the takeoff roll there are four calls made in the cockpit:

"80 knots" -- this is the point where nosewheel steering is disconnected and the aerodynamic surfaces begin to have effect.

"V-1" -- Before this call is made the pilot can abort a takeoff (this is usually around 145-150 knots, and it varies by aircraft weight, field altitude and the temperature that day). Beyond this call, the pilot is committed to takeoff.

"Rotate" -- this is when the nose is raised and the aircraft lifts off.

"V-2" -- Usually about 10 knots or so above rotate speed; at this point the aircraft must be at a positive rate of climb as indicated by the instruments. The "gear up" call is followed immediately afterward.

BB: I have never experienced an aborted take-off, and I don't think I want to.

The nearest I have come is an aborted landing coming into Birmingham about 18 months ago.

After the inital 'suprise' the captain came on and said "Sorry about that. As you can probably tell we decided we would have another go at that landing. Unfortunatly there was another aircraft was taking rather longer than we had been advised to clear the runway."

The Captain was typical BA. If both engines were on fire he would have said something like "we seem to have a slight technical difficulty".

When we landed he came out of his cupboard and appologised to everyone as they left, which I thought was nice.
MF

BlondeBomber... I'm glad that you are Ok.
There must have been a good reason for that
aborted takeoff. What airline was that on
if I may ask (Air Canada?) YOU ARE OK, THIS IS NOT OMNI http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Merry: that was very classy of the B-A pilot to come out of the cupboard (I like that name better than cockpit!) and apologized.

I don't recall every having any near misses but I remember one (DID I TELL THIS STORY BEFORE)

A flight SFO-SYD (Sydney, Eddie's sitting on my airport guide and is asleep... never wake a sleeping cat!) on U-A most of first was asleep, I was watching some movie (I don't remember, it was a dumb one) and the pilot announced "Ladies and Gentlemen, would everyone please raise their seats and put your tray tables away." We are running very low on Fuel and we need to land in Fiji in ten minutes.

Most of the passengers started getting very nervous. The F-A's started running up and down the aisles. I don't think it was a serious emergency but many took it that way.
My attitude: whatever happens, happens. If the worse does, all I can say is that I had a good life.

We landed fine and attentions changed from
crashing to several flyers angry they could nto get off the plane.

FYI: the plane was two and a half hours late
taking off. I estimated that maybe the pilot burned off much of the jet fuel sitting around (or they didn't fill up the plane enough.)

The pilot apologized, but we didn't get any
DANGER pay (like vouchers, ff miles, U-A little wing pins. That would have been nice)

It was a wierd experience. The F-A wondered why I didn't look nervous. I said "whatever happens, happens.'

Then I went otu and had three Fosters. At 11 a-m in the morning. And bought an Akuba hat. CATMAN



[This message has been edited by Catman (edited 01-23-99).]

Catman: Do you think that is another another of your 9 lives used up?

And as for "Foster's" really! You will have to choose your tipple more carefully if you come visit the UK.
MF

This thread could become the longest and most posts ever. As much as we have been on airplanes, I am sure most all of us have experienced something weird.

Aborted takeoff: Tampa International-rolling down the runway, almost at "rotate" and there is a LOUD BOOM from the left engine on a DC9, brakes, the lunge forward, the stop, the taxi back to the gate and the brief explanation of a "minor problem" (seems there never is a MAJOR problem). Passengers allowed to deplane and wait in gate area. I, with my trusty carryon, go to the gate agent and retrieve my ticket to DCA, then look at my OAG and see that another flight is leaving in 45 minutes. I go to the gate, get on the flight and land at DCA about an hour after my previous schedule.

Aborted Landing: IAH-CO, Descended out of the clouds, looked down and saw we were about halfway down the runway and still a few hundred feet off the ground. Engines roar and the nose points upward and we make another pass and land successfully.

Severe Turbulence: DFW-IAH, CO, at cruising altitude, FA's have cart about midplane, sudden HUGE DROP occurs, everyone's drinks, the drinks on the cart (coffee & all) go flying through the cabin, my seatbelt buckled loosely and I nearly hit the bottom of the overhead (make mental note to always fasten seat belt low and TIGHT). Besides a huge mess and some soiled clothes, no one was hurt, just scared. FA's hand out vouchers for cleaning, I opted to take a bottle of wine instead of the voucher. The rest of the story is uneventful as all went well.

So, that's my most memorable "near misses". I surely aspire that this is all that I ever experience.

DOUBLE Aborted Landing: January of 1997, during a snow and ice storm, flying from PHL through St. Louis to get to Quad Cities (Davenport Iowa) for a deposition and return on the same day.
TWA Landing at St. Louis, gets within, at most, 50 feet of the ground (I was in a window seat) when the plane suddenly takes off virtually straight up, engines gunning, into the air. Once we got high enough that we started circling, the pilot explained that another plane hadn't cleared the runway, and we would try again.
This time, we got down to about 500 feet before again turning up and away from the airport, not as violently. Again, the pilot apologized, saying the ice and snow on the tarmac were making it difficult for planes to taxi (a comforting thought).
Finally, on the third time down, we came to a landing, fishtailed a little bit on the ice on the runway, and were able to stop.
Needless to say, the entire plane cheered once we had landed.
I must confess that I never even thought to ask TWA for benefits such as FF miles for the experience. I was just glad to be on the ground, safe and sound.
The weather later got so bad I couldn't fly back through St. Louis, and ended up going back to PHL the same night through Chicago on United.

DOUBLE Aborted Landing: January of 1997, during a snow and ice storm, flying from PHL through St. Louis to get to Quad Cities (Davenport Iowa) for a deposition and return on the same day.
TWA Landing at St. Louis, gets within, at most, 50 feet of the ground (I was in a window seat) when the plane suddenly takes off virtually straight up, engines gunning, into the air. Once we got high enough that we started circling, the pilot explained that another plane hadn't cleared the runway, and we would try again.
This time, we got down to about 500 feet before again turning up and away from the airport, not as violently. Again, the pilot apologized, saying the ice and snow on the tarmac were making it difficult for planes to taxi (a comforting thought).
Finally, on the third time down, we came to a landing, fishtailed a little bit on the ice on the runway, and were able to stop.
Needless to say, the entire plane cheered once we had landed.
I must confess that I never even thought to ask TWA for benefits such as FF miles for the experience. I was just glad to be on the ground, safe and sound.
The weather later got so bad I couldn't fly back through St. Louis, and ended up going back to PHL the same night through Chicago on United.

A few years ago, a Delta MD-11 from ATL-FRA started going full speed ahead and then all of a sudden (no thuds or KABOOMS), just comes to a complete halt in about 5 secs. They passengers and FA's are all shocked. The pilots say nothing and start drifting back towards the gate. Finally after about 1/2 hour : "Sorry L & G, a RED LIGHT came on in the cockpit and we decided to check it out." The passengers deplaned and the flight was delayed about 4 hours as they had to change the equipment. I was going to miss my Delta connection in FRA to Bombay and decided to hold out. The ground staff wanted to get me on board, so they comped me an upgrade on the ATL-FRA sector and said that they would put me on LH or AI in FRA back connecting to Bombay in Business since I was confirmed in Business on their flight. I folded. BTW, i did miss my connection in FRA and had a choice of LH coach (as there was no time (20 min to change terminals) or AI business. I'm took the LH coach seat since the AI flight was later and already delayed.

Few months back, UA DC-10 from ORD-SFO comes to within 20 feet above the water before landing and SFO and starts climbing back up. It seemed as if he was climbing at a 45 degree angle. I was impressed that the old DC-10 could still do that. We circled around and landed. Apparently, there was another plane on the runway. Why? I have no idea. Glad to still be here.

I think I've shared my near-misses previosuly, so I'll just say: It's times like those that you REALLY appreciate being able to hear ATC on UA channel 9!!!

[This message has been edited by MIKE MAHONEY (edited 01-23-99).]

If my memory serves me correct. And it
usually does. This incident I
believe it was either in 1980 or 1981. I
was on a Eastern Shuttle from LGA to
DCA. Half way 20 minutes or so thru the
flight. The plane suddenly does a VERY
steep climb.
(I don't know how to explain it).
Next.... I hear screams of my fellow passengers. I look out my window
and within a few thousand feet. And I
do mean a a VERY few thousand feet to the right of the plane a Cesna. A NEAR
collision?
I don't know for sure. COMPLETE silence
reminder of the flight. Too young and
naive at the time to contact FAA for
information at that time....
Freaked out when we finally landed. It
took me several months to gain the
courage to fly again. Amtrak got my
business.AMTRAK was slowwww but it got
me to where I wanted to go.

I will always remember this flight. Never flew Eastern again. We all know what
happended to them and there Eastern
Shuttle.

Mike http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by MIKE MAHONEY (edited 01-23-99).]

I'm not sure whether this story is funny or not:

Some of you may recall that last month there was an accident on Thai Air. A plane was trying to land at Pattaya in a terrible storm. The pilot aborted landing twice and crashed on his third attempt.

The next morning I was flying Thai Air from Phuket back to Hong Kong. As usual, the Thai Air stewardess was walking up and down the aisles handing out newspapers. She had a beatiful, friendly smile and was holding, up high, the front page of the Bangkok Post with a six inch above the fold headline reading "THAI AIR CRASH KILLS 138." I couldn't help but chuckle and suggest she display the Wall Street Journal or Financial Times instead!

HKF

Just goes to show -- life goes on regardless! Some fascinating stories.

Catman--yes it was an Air Canada DC9. Oh well I shouldn't complain as I am still alive, no soiled clothes, not scared to fly and the $250 U.S. ticket earned 27,000 flight miles and 7000 status miles (and I was in Business Class all the way)!

[This message has been edited by BlondeBomber (edited 01-24-99).]

[This message has been edited by BlondeBomber (edited 01-24-99).]

Not a near miss, but a bizarre takeoff. I was flying from Phnom Penh to Saigon three years ago in a brand new Air Vietnam ATR72 (with French registration numbers). Started down the runway, and at what I figured was close to liftoff speed, the pilot powered down the engines. For a minute or so the plane sat in the middle of the runway, then the pilot gunned the engines and proceeded to continue the same direction and take off. However at this point, he only had somewhere around half the runway length to use.

Take off and rest of the flight was uneventful. I recognize the ATR is a short take-off plane, but this was an eye-opening stunt.

My "fun" experiences.
On approach to Ontario, CA the engines rev way up and we go into a steep climb. I was listening to ATC on channel 9 and heard the pilot say they had a TCAS alert. ATC repplied they didn't show anything near us.
Leaving ORD this past Christmas week. The take off seemed OK for the first minute then heard a loud mechanical noise and I swear the plane nosed back over, as in going down. My stomach went up in my throat(Catman I admire your calmness); then we are heading back up again. At the end of the flight the passenger across from me looked at me and said "I didn't like that takeoff at all." Me neither!
Matt Wald:I like you really appreciate the ATC channel on UA but on some flights (seems like mostly the 727s) it isn't available. I think it is more a comfort thing in being able to hear what is going on.

Never had an aborted takeoff, but there have
been a couple aborted landings.
I posted about my most recent one here earlier in the UA section and on reflection,
it certainly was one of the most scary.

Nothing quite like being the flight that makes the guys in the tower go "You know, maybe NOW would be a good time to stop VFR approaches" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

And what's up with approaches to SYD?
I've made it okay, but I remember hearing about the UA morning arrival(863) running into severe, service-cart-tossing,ambulance-showing-up-@-the-tarmac type of turbulence a couple times now and always thought "wow!, that could have been me!"

SFO->DIA over New Year's '97 is another similar turbulence story, only I was ON that one!. There really is nothing quite like seeing one of those carts actually get airborne for a second, esp. when it's all laden down w/ breakfast.
I've never thought to ask for extra miles after an experience like that. I've always just been glad to be on the ground.

JD

Not much interesting in my few flights... just a pilot forgetting to turn on the auxiliary thrusters... but my father tells me he once saw a plane getting ready to take off when the wheels literally fell off...

My experience over the years supports the idea that flying is absolutely the safest way to fly.
Start in 195? CIA flies a contract airline called "Civil Air Transport - CAT" taking military personnel between Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, and Honshu, where most of their families live. On a regularly scheduled flight to Hokkaido (we're on a C-46 - commercial designation DC-3, which is the 1950's version of the DC-9, but two propellors, instead of jets). Ten minutes out of Chitose, on Hokkaido (it's a 2-hour flight), there's a little "bang" outside. Pilot comes back (there's no PA system) and yells: "We've lost a magneto and now only have one engine. They have repair parts at Misawa, and I have a date there tonight. We're going back on one engine. Relax. I can start the other one before we land." We did, and he did. We landed safely at Misawa and got back to Hokkaido later.
Another one from the same era: Our CAT flight lands at Chitose and blows a tire, spins 360 degrees and miraculously ends up going the right way on the runway. We limp to the ramp and disembark normally (although all pretty much shaken). The pilot goes up to the Airman at the counter and says, "I've got a flat tire out ther and I'm supposed to take off in 45 minutes. Can you fix it in time?"
More modern: Takeoff from SFO in an L-1011. I'm sitting on the left in the cattle-car. Just as we leave the runway there's a big burst of flame from the left wing engine. No change in flight attitude or anything else. We just keep climbing. After a couplke of seconds, the pilot comes on: "Those of you sitting on the left side of the aircraft may have noticed what appeared to be a backfire. In fact, the engine exploded. We're not in any danger, but we're going back to land again in San Francisco, and I think it's safe to say that this airplane is not going anywhere today." We did go back, the turn-around and landing were as normal as couold be, and this experience is one of the reasons the L-1011 is my favorite aircraft.

I'll label this OMNI because it doesn't really have to do with flying.
Don't remember where I was coming from, but we landed at ATL and got to the gate. The driver of the jetway hit the side of the plane so hard that everyone standing in the aisles was jostled, and one flight attendant was knocked off her feet and injured. When things were finally sorted out, the plane had a hole in the side and wasn't going to fly any more that day. The pilot came out of the cabin and said something like, "I fly this thing 10,000 miles and x-number of hours, and I get whacked by a woman driver."
(I would not normally pass that on, but the jetway operator WAS a woman.)

I have only had this happen twice but it was at either end of the same return journey!

Inbound to EWR and I swear we were only inches from the ground (that's what it felt like anyway) when the 747 (BA) just pulled up with absolutely awesome power and flew around for a second try. You really don't appreciate the power of these aircraft until you feel something like that!

Amazingly, going back to LHR exactly the same thing happened again (although it wasn't quite inches from the ground this time).

Hasn't happened since, luckily.