https://theaviationgeekclub.com/b-5...wing-engine-5-compressor-disintegration/

Those pilots have balls that clank!

Ron

And then there is this.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/kc-...t-while-flying-200-miles-west-of-hawaii/

Jay is a fűckin drama queen...

Tanker Lands Missing Two Engines




Also know of a B-52H that dropped an engine in flight and landed at Wurtsmith AFB.

The old saw is that flying is hours and hours of boredom punctuated with moments of sheer terror.

When a story begins with "There I was when suddenly..." it is about one of those punctuating moments. Having been there and done that, I can attest that clanky balls are not required. What is most definitely required is a level head and the determination to fly the damn thing no matter what.

why i like flying with 4 engines ,not 2 like they going to now

MAGA

Prop driven planes losing a prop inflight at a minimum is bad and can be catastrophic. That's what happened to the USMC C-130 over Mississippi a couple of years ago.

Here is a link to a P3 that lost a prop and managed to survive. In another more complete version when it let go they lost control and actually rolled it before they could regain control.
https://www.vp-6.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=309126&module_id=147414
I hope the link works.

And the ability to pull the seat cushion out of the crack of your a$$ when it's all over... 😁

The first three things to do with an a/c emergency are: 1) Fly the jet, 2) fly the jet, 3) fly the jet. Easy to say but hard to do. It takes a while to learn that. Hopefully, our Navy and Air Force student pilots start learning that in the flight simulator. This crew did it just right. Believe me, getting your feet back on the concrete can be a great feeling.

Many times after one of the first emergency procedures simulator events, I’ve had students say, “Sir, I thought I really had my procedures down cold but it’s a different problem trying to fly and work through the steps, navigating and talking all at the same time. My response was always, “that’s why we do these hops. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ you’ll have malfunctions or emergencies, it’s when it’s going to happen and how bad it’s gonna be. Working through the steps of your procedures correctly is important but the number one problem is always don’t hit the ground.” 😊

There was a crash some years ago when a commercial airliner had some fairly minor malfunction (I think it was a landing gear down and locked light not lit) at night. They got so engrossed in troubleshooting that damn lightbulb that they allowed the plane to fly into the swamp. No survivors. The voice recorder had them yakking about that light until impact.

To reinforce what you and Rocky have said...
A KC-135 with 20 SOB was shooting an approach to Wurtsmith AFB from the north. The pilot in the left seat was a major who had just returned to flying duty was flying the aircraft, called for gear down. The copilot lowered the gear, the warning light stayed on and the gear indicators showed that the nose gear wasn't down and locked. You have to go down into the lower nose compartment (which is a pain in the a$$) to check the gear through an observation window. The gear looked okay and it appeared that the NLG doors were closed. The aircrew got tied up trying to resolve the issue, somebody accidentally disconnected the auto pilot altitude hold. Clear weather, bright daylight, the airplane flew straight and level into the ground near Alpena Michigan. Fifteen fatalities, the crewchief who was in the back of the aircraft survived. He tried to re-enter the burning aircraft to assist people escape but some that perrished couldn't release their seatbelt.

EAL411, the last Enroute Controller to talk to them was one of my ATC Instructors....

Dayom.

Sept 26, 1976. Cause of accident not listed. I had access to the accident report...Alpena Crash

It seems like that was a Delta DC-9 with a pilot, copilot and flight engineer. Landing gear problem. That’s one of the mishaps I discussed when giving the emergency procedures lecture.

Here’s a good one:
One day as an IP and flight lead in VT-7, I was leading a solo student on an ACM hop which was close to the end of the syllabus. It was in a TA-4J and we were doing s “section takeoff” or formation t/o.

We ran the engines up, he gave me a thumbs up, I raised my right hand as “get ready”, then dropped it for “off the brakes”. I always kept an eye on the students during the t/o roll to make sure they weren’t doing something stupid. Check line-up, check student, check line-up, etc. At 100 kts I gave the “we’re going flying” signal indicating we were now above normal abort speed. We rotated and again, I’m watching him out of the corner of my eye. Ok, looking good and gave one head nod to raise the gear. Gear handle up and confirm his gear are moving.

Then gave the second head nod to raise the flaps. My handle up and look over and the student was diving for the deck with his HEAD DOWN ! I yelled at him on the radio, “PULL UP, PULL UP!” Well he responded and finally scrambled back up into position and while my heart is coming out of my chest, I’m thinking “holy sh it, holy sh it!” I’m guessing he bottomed out at 50’ or less. The shadow and his aircraft were “one”.

Now i have a decision to make: do I give him a “below average” for the section t/o and continue the hop and see how he does? Or.. Do I end the hop and give him an “unsat” or “down”?

I’m thinking, “well, he’s doing ok now and stable on my wing” so….”ok he’s bought his below average for the section t/o, let’s see what he does on the rest of the hop.

We did our thing out in the working area so we finished all the ACM stuff and went home.

Back in the ready room I told him to grab a debriefing room. I talked with the duty officer for a few minutes to settle down and get my blood pressure under control.😳

So the debrief went sorta like this…

“Ok you know you got a below average for the section t/o, right?”

“Yessir.”

“So what happened on the section t/o?”

“Well sir, I raised the gear handle and when I checked the indicators, the left main gear indicated unsafe. After a couple of seconds, it indicated UP and then I got back in position.”

I’m sure my jaw hit the floor. Now it takes a lot to wind me up and I don’t think I had ever yelled at another stud, but I spooled right up, jumped up. I got in his face and yelled at him, “do you realize how close you came to dying because of a STUPID GAUGE?”

He sat up straight in his chair and when I told him how close he came to dying, his eyes opened wide and he turned white as a sheet.

Didn’t have a clue that he had almost died!!! 😳 There’s no doubt in my mind that he would have flown into the ground if I hadn’t yelled at him on the radio.

That was another example I used in my EP and formation lectures. When a had an event with a new instructor going through the Instructor Under Training syllabus, along with a few other examples, that would be one of the “sea stories” I would relate to them to let them see what they were up against when dealing with students.

One of my best students was named Roger Petit. He was good enough to get an F-15 as his first flight assignment. He apparently left the AF after that and went commercial. I didn't hear anything about him until six years later.

Roger Petit was the copilot of Air Florida Flight 90 on January 13, 1982 when it took off from Washington National and immediately crashed into the Potomac River at the 14th St bridge. 78 people died. It was determined that due to iced-up engine probes, the engines never developed sufficient thrust for flight. All the crew would have had to do was push the throttles up. A classic case of knowing something was wrong and not flying the plane first and figure it out later.

Dayom.

Civilian pilots go by rpm or epr for takeoff settings?
Thought I heard it was icing on the wings that doomed the flight...

IIRC, it was the EPR (Exhaust Pressure Ratio) Due to the iced probe, the instrument reading told them they were getting takeoff thrust when in fact they were at much less. If they had just looked at the RPMs they might have immediately known something was off with the EPR. Instead, they waddled down the runway, lumbered into the air and stalled.

That may have been compounded by icing on the wings, but the root cause was probe ice and pilot fookupitude.

Air Disasters on the Smithsonian Channel did a show on the crash. Your link doesn't work but I was able to download the pdf.

The "down and locked light" for nose landing gear was burned out. Instead of switching bulbs the crew got engrossed in trouble shooting and knocked the auto pilot off. The "flight engineer" didn't know how to visually check the nose gear to confirm it was down and locked. The FAA suggested hiring professional flight engineers.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 fatalities. The pilots and the flight engineer, two of 10 flight attendants, and 96 of 163 passengers died; 75 passengers and crew survived.

P-3s seemed to have more problems with runaway props than Herks. They have the same engines and basic props but different crew control.

Thanks. My memory was faulty.