samftla

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - American Airlines says a Miami-bound passenger jet has been forced to make an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Trinidad.


Airline spokeswoman Minnette Velez says Flight 1818 turned around Friday after the Boeing 757's pilot detected a hydraulic problem.

Velez says the plane landed safely in Port-of Spain with no reported injuries to the 188 passengers or seven-member crew.

Authorities were forced to close the airport because the hydraulic problem caused the jet's brakes to lock up after it stopped on the runway.

American Airlines says mechanics are trying to determine what caused the problem. Passengers were given hotel vouchers and rebooked on a Saturday flight.

JDiver

Looks like the pilot was right.

No aircraft in the vicinity to use to bring folks back out.

alien

Wow. And they're just reporting it now?

samftla

No it was today, the 15 February was not in my title, not sure where or how that got there, weird...good that corrected.

alien

...just kidding...

LarryJ

That's odd...

AEpilot76

If it was the right hydraulic system, you lose normal braking and are down to alternate brakes and reserve braking. Anti-skid is available in alternate brakes but not reserve brakes. If he was down to reserve brakes, this could possibly explain the brakes locking

JDiver

I can tell you it was probably a ham-fisted moderator in a hurry to get out of the house to walk before the temps hit 103F.

Fixed now. Apologies! JDiver

/Moderator

LarryJ

That would require a double failure, though, wouldn't it?

Is reserve braking hydraulic or pneumatic?

On the DC9/MD80 half of the cylinders on each brake are on the right system and half on the left. Losing one system doesn't affect your ability to brake.

AEpilot76

Alternate brakes are on the left side, normal and reserve braking is on the right. Reserve braking is accomplished through a standpipe using trapped fluid in the reservoir. I don't have a QRH with me but I believe it tells you that if you lose normal braking to arm the reserve brakes in the event the alternate brakes fail (hence my thought process with the brakes).

Also, with alternate brakes, anti-skid works differently in that it is per wheel pair vs per wheel with normal braking.

bernardd

Forgive my ignorance here, but doesn't the fact they went back to POS, presumably with a fairly heavy aircraft, suggest it was quite a serious hydraulic problem? My simplistic amateur assumption would have been that it would be better to land an aircraft with a brake problem when it was light on fuel and at the maintenance base in MIA rather than POS?

Dave89077

They sure are having their fair share of emergency landings/maintenance issues of late.

JDiver

Who isn't? I remember when one could say Qantas never had any "incidents." Hut an "emergency" landing merely emans the cockpit crew is doing their job.

I think people are a bit spoiled today - in the 1940s and '50s engine outs and the like were not so uncommon. Nor did we have a globalized media and bloggers - a PIC blowing his / her nose over the Florida Keys, or an emergency landing at POS, never became part of our awareness. It was too trivial, and by the time the media learned of it it was ancient news.

As to the AA mechanics / engineers, I think there's not a one who is not acutely aware a family member or friend might be boarding the aircraft they are working on (not to mention manuals, checklists, QC inspections, etc.) I doubt that's true of the mechs working on a US airliner in México, El Salvadór or China (not casting aspersions on those countries, merely saying human nature is human nature, and the FAA doesn't supervise those facilities or their employees' qualifications, and the work cultures may not support the commitment to quality, either.)

AEpilot76

If I lose 1 of my 3 hydraulic systems, the safest option in my opinion is to accomplish the overweight landing. The aircraft is certified to land at weights up to max structural takeoff weight, so it's not as big of an issue as people make it seem. It requires the lowest possibly descent rate during the flare, maybe carry in some extra power, and then you enter the "overweight landing" discrepancy in the logbook.

LarryJ

Makes sense. Not sure how that results in locked brakes, though. Perhaps the initial report mischaracterized the problem? Seems more likely that they had a tire fail due to reduced anti-skid on landing.

That would make sense. If it was just a brake problem, not effecting any other portions of the hydraulic system, then I would think it would be more likely that they would continue to MIA. I'm not qualified in the 757/767 so don't know the specifics, however. There could be certain attributes of the braking system that would make a failure there a more serious situation than we'd otherwise assume.

I know of a cargo DC8 that lost their main system hydrualics (leaves only normal rudder power and brakes and reversers on accumulators) on departure from a Central American city. That crew continued to MIA without main hydraulics. Wasn't considered an emergency situation.