I do agree that the press and news agencies exaggerate to increase their market share. It would be informative to know just how serious the weight and balance issue was considered by the PIC, and how and why the press got the story.

(Written on 2014/09/05)(Permalink)

Agreed. The out of trim situation, will not cause the stick shaker to kick in. My point was that the stick shaker and malfunctioning A/S indicator are 2 anomalies occurring simultaneously. One demands a trim up and the other demands nose down. Two conflicting anomalies at low altitude. The shaker/stall was a true incident. The point I was trying to make was that all incidents should be reported. The next time the same mistake could cause fatalities should it occur in conjunction with other problems. BTW with the stick shaker rattling and doing its thing, all A/S indicators had different readings. It was a night flight and after dumping fuel, required a rather high speed approach and all of the runway available.

(Written on 2014/09/05)(Permalink)

Already knew you were ATP rated. Therefore I was very surprised at your attitude re this occurrence. I would be very surprised if any carrier that you represent, would concur with your attitude. Wouldn't have occurred to me to even continue with this thread or bring up your rating if you hadn't continued to insist that it's not a big deal where lives are at stake. Just suppose there occurred a stick shaker problem at the same time. A malfunctioning stall warning. What do you do now? Continue to pull back on the stick or put the nose down? Lest you again minimize the problem, the stick shaker sounded off on takeoff on a 727 on rotation and Post V2 on a flight and a fuel dump of 10,000 lbs was required before landing. All the time the stick shaker was going. What caused the problem? Out of trim,or a malfunctioning airspeed indicator etc. As I have stated. All anomalies on takeoff and landing have to be taken seriously, even a nose wheel remaining stuck to the tarmac a little beyond what

(Written on 2014/09/05)(Permalink)

Fuel and baggage can be allocated to specific areas of the aircraft to give a good weight and balance solution. The passengers on the other hand can and often do move around the cabin. If a football team for instance all crammed into a rear washroom, the auto flight trim would try to compensate. If a second team stood outside the same washroom door the autotrim might have difficulty compensating.

(Written on 2014/09/04)(Permalink)

In hauling back on the yolk beyond what was to be normally expected, he could have caused a tail strike. Each aircraft has an optimum angle for take off. In hauling back on the yolk he could have exceeded that angle.

(Written on 2014/09/04)(Permalink)

Elevator(stab) trim is dialed in from the weight and balance calcs. If all those kids sat in the rear of the aircraft and adults sat in the forward section to give the adults a bit of peace from excited kids, the trim could be significantly out of whack. A few knots more airspeed would indeed correct the problem as stated. However, the problem must be recognized and correction enacted. All dependant upon the pilot, runway length, an obstacle clearance at the end of the runway. All anomalies in expected aircraft performance should be avoided. Crashes usually occur as a result of several anomalies occurring simultaneously.

(Written on 2014/09/04)(Permalink)

The amount of elevator trim is calculated by the weight and balance,as determined by the weight of the passengers, fuel load,and cargo,and the placement of each in the aircraft. The amount of trim dialed in is determined by the flight plan as dialed in or downloaded to the FMS. Personally, I don't know the figures used, as many of the respondents to this news obviously do. The calculations are usually made by the flight planners, and not the aircrew. The aircrew usually check the figures but GIGO can occurr. If the figures used are garbage, so is the result. On rotation, the crew applies back pressure on the stick, and if the calculations are correct, the nose wheel lifts off and the plane begins to climb. However, if the weight is too far forward, because the aft weight is too light, the nose wheel will remain on the tarmac,and if too far out of balance, run out of runway quickly. I don't know the truth to this story, but it seems to me that many wannabe pilots on this forum do.

(Written on 2014/09/04)(Permalink)

This is news? Only on CNN perhaps. In Canada at least, fingerlings have been stocked by aircraft in lakes for years. Perhaps someone reading this can elaborate, on the exact number of years, this practice has been in effect. In Canada.

(Written on 2014/07/14)(Permalink)

Perhaps I'm being slightly paranoid,but perhaps the US Government has motives other than protecting the flora and fauna. I believe that it is possible that several areas of parkland in the US also possibly house constructions that are meant to be kept from prying eyes. The overfly restrictions also help to maintain secrecy without disclosing the true reason for the restrictions.

(Written on 2014/06/23)(Permalink)

Making changes to aircraft and ATC so that aircraft locations are always known,does not require the recovery,and investigation of the MH 370. Just the money and will to make the necessary changes. Perhaps the money spent in the search would be better applied to making the obvious changes.

(Written on 2014/04/10)(Permalink)