Post deleted by Mat Sklansky

[Raised2Win]

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Japan Airlines Flight 123

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With the loss of all control surfaces, the aircraft began to oscillate up and down in what is known as a phugoid cycle, a flight mode typical of accidents that disable an aircraft's controls. After descending to 13,500 feet (4100 m), the pilots reported that the aircraft was uncontrollable. It flew over the Izu Peninsula, headed for the Pacific Ocean, then turned back toward the shore and descended to below 7,000 feet (2100 m) before the pilots managed to return to a climb. The aircraft reached an altitude of 13,000 feet (4000 m) before entering a wild descent into the mountains and disappearing from radar at 6:56 p.m. and 6,800 feet (2100 m). During the oscillations that preceded the crash, the pilots managed a small measure of control by using engine thrust. The final moments of the plane occurred when it hit a mountain as a result of this loss of control, flipped, and landed on its back.


Thirty-two minutes elapsed from the time of the accident to the time of the crash, long enough for some passengers to write farewells to their families. Some passengers, not having access to writing instruments, cut themselves and used their own blood to write farewell messages. [2]


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WTF?

[Chrisman886]

in 2001 I was flying from Riverton, WY to Denver. The plane was a very small, 2x1 seating twin propeller plane. About half way through the flight the pilot comes on and says he's going to "shut off the right engine as a safety precaution."

The pilot continues saying how the plane can fly fine on one engine. People are freaking out on board while the lone flight attendendant tries to calm people down. Somehow we did land safely after flying with one engine although a convoy of emergency vehicles followed us as we were landing and as we taxied on the tarmac. As we exited the plane councillors met us and were made available. I didn't milk the experience and just went on my way without complaining, but it did seem many others on the plane with me did.

[youtalkfunny]

I used to think of airline pilots as glorified bus drivers, until I watched a few of those cross-wind landing vids.

[Uethym]

I can't beat adsman's story in quality, but perhaps in quantity. If you see me on your flight, reschedule. I am a living Final Destination movie. All of the following have happened to me (and I don't fly very much):

Flight from San Diego to Chicago depressurized on takeoff. Had to circle at a few thousand feet for 90 minutes until we were light enough to land.

Small commuter flight out of O'Hare, smoke starts pouring out of right-side engine while taxiing. Plane is mercifully replaced.

Coming in to land in San Francisco, two planes going for the same runway. There are two parallel runways there, so planes landing side-by-side is not uncommon, but there was *no question* we were headed for the same strip. At 1500 feet (Delta transcontinental flight, so flight info was displayed on movie screen), we were about 4 wingspans apart and still angled into each other. Just then our plane ratcheted up and circled around. Pilot blamed crosswinds.

Flight from Rome to Newark, Italian guy boards already drunk. Flight attendants serve him for first three hours, *then* cut him off (sigh). He gets angry, throws stuff, demands to see the pilot, then gets up to go to the cockpit (this was 1999, so post-9/11 attitudes weren't in place). Nine Marines, on leave together and sitting in the first three rows, rise as one. The co-pilot said "Sit down", the Italian refused, so the co-pilot turned to the Marines and said "Sit him down." And I got to watch my first mid-air beating. Safety regulations required that (a) he had to be able to walk in case of an evacution, and (b) he couldn't be gagged, in case he vomited and suffocated. So they could only tie-wrap his hands behind his back and belt him into his seat...on a full flight, no less. For the remaining seven hours he kicked the chair in front of him as hard as he could and screamed "MY HANDS! I CAN'T FEEL MY HANDS! THE PAIN!!" Customs took him off the plane in Newark and put him right on a return flight. A co-worker of mine in row 36 slept through the whole thing.

Took off from LAX and we hear a clanking sound. A few minutes after leveling off, the plane turns around, and the pilot says "It looks like when the flight attendants closed the front door, they left a belt sticking out, and you hear the buckle banging into the plane. That's a potential pressure leak, so we need to return to LAX, land, reset the door, refuel, and then head out again." Ten minutes later we turn around *again*, and the pilot says, "We thought about it, and we figure that up here, the belt will freeze and break, and then there won't be a problem anymore." Wait, isn't that *precisely* when the depressurization problem will occur? But about a half-hour later the clanking stopped, and nothing else went wrong.

Flying out of Salt Lake City, shortly after takeoff the pilot says "We appear to have overheated the landing gear tires on takeoff, that happens sometimes in the thin mountain air. So hang on a moment while we cool them off." And he lowers the gear in mid-flight. The plane pitches down pretty hard, but otherwise no big deal. Could've warned us, though.

Twice flying into Dallas, I've had a pilot attempt to land, bang us around like a roller coaster, then say "Screw this noise, it's way too windy here" and divert elsewhere.

Had a Southwest flight take off in a hailstorm once.

That's about it, I think.

[miajag]

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Coming in to land in San Francisco, two planes going for the same runway. There are two parallel runways there, so planes landing side-by-side is not uncommon, but there was *no question* we were headed for the same strip. At 1500 feet (Delta transcontinental flight, so flight info was displayed on movie screen), we were about 4 wingspans apart and still angled into each other. Just then our plane ratcheted up and circled around. Pilot blamed crosswinds.


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Wow, I had a very similar experience to this flying into SFO. We were on approach, everything seemed fine when we suddenly banked steeply to the left (I was on the right side of the plane so I was basically looking out the window straight up into the sky) and then leveled out again. As we landed I noticed a plane sitting on the runway we obviously had been headed toward. I didn't tell my parents or anyone else on the plane about it because I was afraid it would freak them out.

[KotOD]

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Found this YouTube video on it. Crazy that this is legal

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cZJm3ezzWOQ

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Takeoffs are no better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLGsEErWJY

The toughest takeoffs and landings:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20060505/47412004.html

And anyone that's ever landed on Catalina knows how sick that is. Between a cliff and a mountain on a humped runway - it's almost criminal.

[ArcticKnight]

Air Canada stewardesses. Nothing scarier.

[slamdunkpro]

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Found this YouTube video on it. Crazy that this is legal

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cZJm3ezzWOQ

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One of the funniest things I have ever see. Back in the 80's there used to be a little service road between the runway and the beach. There was an Air France 747 getting ready to take off; 4 guys, a case or so of heineken, a video camera and a mini pick-up truck. Three of the drunks were in the bed of the truck with the beer and camera and they had pulled the truck almost directly under the tail of the fully loaded 747 so to get a good picture. The plane started to move and Newton took over. One by one these idiots were blown out of the truck bed into the ocean, followed shortly by the truck and a blizzard of empty/unopened beer bottles.