Nosedive over Pacific
Jun 14, 2018, 1:19 am
#1
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Jun 14, 2018, 2:02 am
#2
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https://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...787398195ae1f1
PAX tend to make a poor technical assessment of such events.
The photo in the NEWS article is of a 2 engined aircraft landing.
Maybe the 4 engined A380 lost something.
PASSENGERS have described the terrifying moment a vortex sent their Qantas flight into a 10-second “nosedive”.
Hundreds of horrified travellers held hands .believing they were about to die as the aircraft suddenly dropped over the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.
The dramatic ordeal afflicting passengers on the QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne is understood to have been caused by the vortex, or “wake turbulence” caused by another aircraft which took off just two minutes earlier.
QF94 passenger Janelle Wilson told The Australian the “three-quarters-full” plane suddenly entered a “free fall nosedive … a direct decline towards the ocean” for about 10 seconds.
“It was between 1˝ and two hours after we left LA and all of a sudden the plane went through a violent turbulence and then completely up-ended and we were nose.diving,” Ms Wilson told newspaper yesterday.
<snip>
Hundreds of horrified travellers held hands .believing they were about to die as the aircraft suddenly dropped over the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.
The dramatic ordeal afflicting passengers on the QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne is understood to have been caused by the vortex, or “wake turbulence” caused by another aircraft which took off just two minutes earlier.
QF94 passenger Janelle Wilson told The Australian the “three-quarters-full” plane suddenly entered a “free fall nosedive … a direct decline towards the ocean” for about 10 seconds.
“It was between 1˝ and two hours after we left LA and all of a sudden the plane went through a violent turbulence and then completely up-ended and we were nose.diving,” Ms Wilson told newspaper yesterday.
<snip>
The photo in the NEWS article is of a 2 engined aircraft landing.
Maybe the 4 engined A380 lost something.
Jun 14, 2018, 2:39 am
#3
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I’ve had the pleasure of being in a RX SAAB on its approach to SYD and doing a turn to final when it instantly tipped to about 45 degree bank then back to the correct attitude of a few degrees bank a few seconds later. Scary - yes and obviously unexpected. Captain said we crossed the wake of the aircraft infront. No drama and everyone onboard went totally silent.
Jun 14, 2018, 7:53 am
#4
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Aren't these things avoidable by leaving ample time between take off in the same direction; esp when preceding ac is much larger? If ATC stuffed up where was the captain or co-pilots brain at taking off only 2 mins after an A380......did they feel immune to wake turbulence because they too were in an A380? Fail (Cow)boys-so not Qantas.
Jun 14, 2018, 11:25 am
#5
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avherald is much more reliable:-
It should have been startling but no more.
But on every flight, there must be many passengers thinking that they're going to die, and anything that happens that they don't expect merely confirms this for them. It's great for media outlets who have column inches to fill.
On Jun 14th 2018 Qantas' chief pilot explained the trailing aircraft QF-94 encountered some wake turbulence from the leading aircraft QF-12 20nm ahead and 1000 feet above, the wake turbulence caused a jolt to the aircraft for a short period of time with pitch variations of up to 3 degrees. The aircraft climbed maybe 100 feet and descended back to its cruising altitude, the captain took action to avoid further exposure to the wake vortex. There were no injuries and no damage. The occurrence has been reported to the ATSB and the aircraft manufacturer.
But on every flight, there must be many passengers thinking that they're going to die, and anything that happens that they don't expect merely confirms this for them. It's great for media outlets who have column inches to fill.
Jun 14, 2018, 9:58 pm
#7
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I’ve had the pleasure of being in a RX SAAB on its approach to SYD and doing a turn to final when it instantly tipped to about 45 degree bank then back to the correct attitude of a few degrees bank a few seconds later. Scary - yes and obviously unexpected. Captain said we crossed the wake of the aircraft infront. No drama and everyone onboard went totally silent.
Jun 14, 2018, 11:01 pm
#8
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QF media release https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/me...ut-turbulence/
Edit: updated
https://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...338ca77a804762
The recent reports on QF94 show that turbulence is probably one of the most misunderstood elements of flying.
For pilots, it’s an everyday part of our job and nothing to fear. Aircraft are engineered to deal with levels of turbulence well beyond anything you’d realistically encounter.
<snip>
QF94 was about 37 kilometres behind and 1000 feet below the other Qantas A380 when it encountered some disturbed air. The two aircraft were well aware of each other, but wake turbulence can be hard to predict and often arrives as a sudden jolt when you’re otherwise flying smoothly.
The turbulence lasted for about ten seconds and caused the nose of the aircraft to pitch up slightly. The “plunge” that a few passengers have described was actually the A380 immediately returning itself to a steady state.
<snip>
For pilots, it’s an everyday part of our job and nothing to fear. Aircraft are engineered to deal with levels of turbulence well beyond anything you’d realistically encounter.
<snip>
QF94 was about 37 kilometres behind and 1000 feet below the other Qantas A380 when it encountered some disturbed air. The two aircraft were well aware of each other, but wake turbulence can be hard to predict and often arrives as a sudden jolt when you’re otherwise flying smoothly.
The turbulence lasted for about ten seconds and caused the nose of the aircraft to pitch up slightly. The “plunge” that a few passengers have described was actually the A380 immediately returning itself to a steady state.
<snip>
https://www.news.com.au/travel/trave...338ca77a804762
Last edited by Mwenenzi; Jun 17, 2018 at 5:36 pm
Jun 18, 2018, 6:04 am
#9
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Wake turbulence and improper pilot training can lead to fatal crashes, such as the infamous AA587 (A300-600 crash on takeoff from JFK due to incorrect rudder use causing high dynamic loads which tore the stabilizer off and planes don't fly with the tail gone). Luckily QF pilots are better trained (also A380 has much more sophisticated fly-by-wire system than the A300 did). Still amazing at how much force wake turbulence can exert and how easy to misjudge. Piloting is a high skill job 
Jun 19, 2018, 9:56 pm
#10
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MediaWatch on ABC TV (Monday June 18) criticised the exaggerated reports.
Media Watch: Qantas 'nosedive' (18/06/2018)
Media Watch: Qantas 'nosedive' (18/06/2018)
Jun 19, 2018, 10:35 pm
#11
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I can't believe how insensitive people have become.
Just imagine you were on the way to use the toilet when this happened? I'm surprised that no one ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives due to a neck/spinal injury.
But, because l post on FT, l'm an expert......
Now l know where the terms keyboard warrior and armchair expert come from.
Just imagine you were on the way to use the toilet when this happened? I'm surprised that no one ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives due to a neck/spinal injury.
But, because l post on FT, l'm an expert......
Now l know where the terms keyboard warrior and armchair expert come from.
Jun 19, 2018, 10:47 pm
#12
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You got a source for those photos??
Because the seat coverings look wrong. Qantas A380 economy seats are red, green and gold, and ribbed. They are also 3-4-3. Not the 2-4-2 shown in that photo.
I suspect they are from the 2008 QF72 incident which was a significant g force descent
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas_Flight_72
And there is a large a ATSB report about that.
So yes the words keyboard warrior come to mind
Because the seat coverings look wrong. Qantas A380 economy seats are red, green and gold, and ribbed. They are also 3-4-3. Not the 2-4-2 shown in that photo.
I suspect they are from the 2008 QF72 incident which was a significant g force descent
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas_Flight_72
And there is a large a ATSB report about that.
So yes the words keyboard warrior come to mind
Last edited by moa999; Jun 19, 2018 at 10:58 pm
Jun 20, 2018, 1:42 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 2010
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I can't believe how insensitive people have become.
Just imagine you were on the way to use the toilet when this happened? I'm surprised that no one ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives due to a neck/spinal injury.
But, because l post on FT, l'm an expert......
Now l know where the terms keyboard warrior and armchair expert come from.
Just imagine you were on the way to use the toilet when this happened? I'm surprised that no one ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives due to a neck/spinal injury.
But, because l post on FT, l'm an expert......
Now l know where the terms keyboard warrior and armchair expert come from.
Jun 20, 2018, 2:14 am
#14
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Here’s the ATSB report of the QF72 incident by the real experts. It includes photos which are similar to those elsewhere in this thread.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/3532398/ao2008070.pdf
https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/3532398/ao2008070.pdf
Jun 20, 2018, 7:53 pm
#15
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Indeed. Point proven!