any pilot's here?

[retro]

i also pilot.... evertime fly ppl plane ...

 

Honda Repsol : i cool one lah dude...

[redbeacon]

source

 

Emirates Airbus A340 didn't takeoff from Melbourne properly; serious pilot error almost caused disaster.

 

A PLANE narrowly missed crashing into houses as it struggled to take off after a pilot miscalculated its weight.

 

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5402/5100.jpg http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4417/emiratesa340500a6ergtai.jpg

 

Accident dated March 21st

Final investigation on September 16th.

 

 

NEAR MISS: An Airbus A340-500. PICTURE: AIRBUS

The Emirates Airbus A340-500 only just cleared a perimeter fence as it took off from a Melbourne airport for a long 15 hour flight to Dubai.

 

It then struggled to take off after a pilot miscalculated its weight by 100 tonnes, according to The Australian newspaper.

 

Emirates Flight EK407, which bears the registration A6-ERG, was carrying 275 passengers. It lumbered down the runway and was too slow to take off, but too fast to stop. Sparks flew as its tail hit the ground five times before the pilot was able to lift it over the perimeter fence.

 

Even then, it struggled to gain altitude as it knocked out a strobe light and an antenna on the way.

 

And for a few minutes, it vanished from radar screens as it remained too low in the air to appear.

 

These are some of the things revealed for the first time by Mr Rob Mason, president of Civil Air, the Australian air controllers' union, even before the full report on the March incident is out next month.

 

He told The Australian: 'The aircraft was lost to sight against the lights of the industrial estate to the south. It was not high enough to be seen.'

 

As the plane was halfway down the runway, he said: 'My (flight controllers) told me the aircraft was not accelerating normally. Then they saw sparks coming from the back of the aircraft as its tail struck the ground as it tried to become airborne.'

 

Mr Ben Sandilands, an aviation expert, said: 'This would have been the worst civil air disaster in Australia's history by a very large margin. There would have been no survivors from the plane and there would have been deaths on the ground also.'

 

'I thought I was going to die'

 

Speaking after the incident, the pilot said of the take-off: 'I knew we couldn't stop. At that point, I knew we just had to go. I thought I was going to die. It was that close.'

 

A preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that pilot error was to blame.

 

It came about after a pilot, setting the parameters for take-off, incorrectly entered the aircraft's weight as 262 tonnes when in reality it was 362 tonnes. This caused the aircraft's computers to inadvertently suggest a preset takeoff speed that was slow, as well as command the engines to produce far lower thrust - both not enough to lift the airplane off the ground as witnessed.

 

The only reason the plane was able to take off was that, at the last minute, the pilot realised what was happening, took the controls and threw the engines into full thrust even as the plane, which had by now run out of sealed runway, raced along the grass leading to the perimeter fence.

 

Inside the cabin, most passengers were unaware of how close they had come to death, although some claimed to have felt several bumps and seen sparks.

 

In the cockpit, the crew realised the tail had been badly damaged during take-off, and they returned for an emergency landing at Melbourne.

 

On their return to Dubai, the pilots said Emirates officials handed them prepared letters of resignation.

 

The captain and first officer have since resigned.

 

Emirates says it has put additional safeguards in place to ensure such a mistake could never happen again, including extra computer checks.

[welly]

source

 

Emirates Airbus A340 didn't takeoff from Melbourne properly; serious pilot error almost caused disaster.

 

A PLANE narrowly missed crashing into houses as it struggled to take off after a pilot miscalculated its weight.

 

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5402/5100.jpg http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4417/emiratesa340500a6ergtai.jpg

 

Accident dated March 21st

Final investigation on September 16th.

 

 

NEAR MISS: An Airbus A340-500. PICTURE: AIRBUS

The Emirates Airbus A340-500 only just cleared a perimeter fence as it took off from a Melbourne airport for a long 15 hour flight to Dubai.

 

It then struggled to take off after a pilot miscalculated its weight by 100 tonnes, according to The Australian newspaper.

 

Emirates Flight EK407, which bears the registration A6-ERG, was carrying 275 passengers. It lumbered down the runway and was too slow to take off, but too fast to stop. Sparks flew as its tail hit the ground five times before the pilot was able to lift it over the perimeter fence.

 

Even then, it struggled to gain altitude as it knocked out a strobe light and an antenna on the way.

 

And for a few minutes, it vanished from radar screens as it remained too low in the air to appear.

 

These are some of the things revealed for the first time by Mr Rob Mason, president of Civil Air, the Australian air controllers' union, even before the full report on the March incident is out next month.

 

He told The Australian: 'The aircraft was lost to sight against the lights of the industrial estate to the south. It was not high enough to be seen.'

 

As the plane was halfway down the runway, he said: 'My (flight controllers) told me the aircraft was not accelerating normally. Then they saw sparks coming from the back of the aircraft as its tail struck the ground as it tried to become airborne.'

 

Mr Ben Sandilands, an aviation expert, said: 'This would have been the worst civil air disaster in Australia's history by a very large margin. There would have been no survivors from the plane and there would have been deaths on the ground also.'

 

'I thought I was going to die'

 

Speaking after the incident, the pilot said of the take-off: 'I knew we couldn't stop. At that point, I knew we just had to go. I thought I was going to die. It was that close.'

 

A preliminary report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that pilot error was to blame.

 

It came about after a pilot, setting the parameters for take-off, incorrectly entered the aircraft's weight as 262 tonnes when in reality it was 362 tonnes. This caused the aircraft's computers to inadvertently suggest a preset takeoff speed that was slow, as well as command the engines to produce far lower thrust - both not enough to lift the airplane off the ground as witnessed.

 

The only reason the plane was able to take off was that, at the last minute, the pilot realised what was happening, took the controls and threw the engines into full thrust even as the plane, which had by now run out of sealed runway, raced along the grass leading to the perimeter fence.

 

Inside the cabin, most passengers were unaware of how close they had come to death, although some claimed to have felt several bumps and seen sparks.

 

In the cockpit, the crew realised the tail had been badly damaged during take-off, and they returned for an emergency landing at Melbourne.

 

On their return to Dubai, the pilots said Emirates officials handed them prepared letters of resignation.

 

The captain and first officer have since resigned.

 

Emirates says it has put additional safeguards in place to ensure such a mistake could never happen again, including extra computer checks.[/quote

 

1 mistake n u'll be flying paper planes for the rest of your life

[prettymussel]

hi there.

 

anyone here who flew/trained with MFA?

 

i have a friend who is considering going to MFA for his CPL training.

 

some info like how they charge, and quality of instruction/training will be useful!

 

thanks in advance!

[retro]

i was working in MFA for awhile... how bout considering singapore flying sch?

[prettymussel]

singapore flying sch fees are substantially higher than MFA.. thats wat is stopping him from enrolling locally.

not so sure abt the figures but of course, across the causeway things are a lot cheaper!

 

the main concern wld be the quality of the training i guess..

[danielburgess]

MFA is a good school. End of the day, most people will recommend you get a sponsered ab initio program with an airline, or join the air force. Singapore flying college is good too, first part done at Seletar, then down to Perth for the remainder of the course.

 

From personal experience, a self sponsored student suffers alot financially during the course, the fees pretty much drains the bank, plus you don't get much time to work part time, and you don't get an allowance like the other cadet pilots.

[prettymussel]

thanks for the pointers.

 

yes the self sponsored option is pretty tough, have friends who are tied down with huge fees to pay..

[stRobe]

singapore flying sch fees are substantially higher than MFA.. thats wat is stopping him from enrolling locally.

not so sure abt the figures but of course, across the causeway things are a lot cheaper!

 

the main concern wld be the quality of the training i guess..

 

I believe MFA is where MH crew are initially trained.. so there must be at least some quality in the training. Anyway I did go to the Melaka side once to enquire, but it was lunchtime so I did not manage to speak to anyone there. If im not wrong, its quite hard to get in even if you are willing to pay, since MH and AK are sending their guys for training there?

 

btw, last weekend while driving along changi, I saw a white VFR/ST11 whose rider wore a white helmet and white top. Thought it was a TP, but when he passed by, it was a pilot! With 4 bars on each shoulder! Cool!

[danielburgess]

There is always Oxford Aviation, frozen ATPL for only 66,000 pounds!

[quikslvr]

hi there.

 

anyone here who flew/trained with MFA?

 

i have a friend who is considering going to MFA for his CPL training.

 

some info like how they charge, and quality of instruction/training will be useful!

 

thanks in advance!

 

I have a friend recently graduated from MFA.she spent about RM200k + in all.I think the fees are much higher now.She now works for Berjaya Air flying ATR-72

 

Sometimes i thought of saving up money and continue where i left off.I have Aussie PPL but have not been flying for 4 years.But how long will it take me to save 200k?? banks also wont loan me that much.

[prettymussel]

I believe MFA is where MH crew are initially trained.. so there must be at least some quality in the training. Anyway I did go to the Melaka side once to enquire, but it was lunchtime so I did not manage to speak to anyone there. If im not wrong, its quite hard to get in even if you are willing to pay, since MH and AK are sending their guys for training there?

 

btw, last weekend while driving along changi, I saw a white VFR/ST11 whose rider wore a white helmet and white top. Thought it was a TP, but when he passed by, it was a pilot! With 4 bars on each shoulder! Cool!

 

u went all the way to melaka, might as well wait until their lunchtime was over to ask!

 

not sure whether it is hard to get into MFA or not, but i guess as long as one clears the basic psychometric assessments and/or the interviews.. what's left will be just the $$$..

 

I have a friend recently graduated from MFA.she spent about RM200k + in all.I think the fees are much higher now.She now works for Berjaya Air flying ATR-72

 

Sometimes i thought of saving up money and continue where i left off.I have Aussie PPL but have not been flying for 4 years.But how long will it take me to save 200k?? banks also wont loan me that much.

 

ooh RM200k.. thats almost half of wat SFC charges..

 

i thought u can mortgage ur house or something.. i think my friend who is doing a privately sponsored course in SFC managed to get a loan with his home as collateral..

but anyway now is not exactly a good time to get into such a big financial commitment.. especially when the airlines are struggling to recover from the crisis..

[prettymussel]

There is always Oxford Aviation, frozen ATPL for only 66,000 pounds!

 

66,000 pounds..

 

add in all the costs of living over there, no $$ to book ticket back to sg already.

[danielburgess]

Bank loans for such a large amount would require some form of collateral. In my case, my parents let me mortgage their home.

[theblackmamba]

but once u pass at oxford aviation u can fly 747 back to sgp if u ever were inclined to return

[danielburgess]

See first, trying for go-cat.

[prettymussel]

See first, trying for go-cat.

 

go-cat taking people in these times?

 

heard that one has to pay for his own type rating to join.

 

good luck!

[sunnyday]

60k if i am not wrong

 

go-cat taking people in these times?

 

heard that one has to pay for his own type rating to join.

 

good luck!

[danielburgess]

Yea, 60k is about right, 737 type rating is about 65k after currency exchange.

[AEROR1DER]

It would b wise to get marketable types nowadays like boeing 777/777-300er or airbus 320/330/380...

[danielburgess]

Caravans, Otters, Islanders, Beavers if you want to find work in Alaska.

[moccajava]

whats the control feeling like for those that have flew both boeing steering columns and the airbus joystick...

[weezai]

Hi, just want to find out if there is anyone graduated for ITE and Poly and went on to become a pilot.

 

Thanks!

[YEN96]

damn difficult to get selected, thats all i can say !

[granzon]

My ex-colleague is a pilot but it seems he is bumming around at the moment with no confirmed job.