747 down in Afghanistan

This sounds like the incident that happened to Ernie Gann while flying in the middle east during the war. He took off in a C-47 carrying a load of radio antenna towers. Little did he know that they were not secured to the deck and when he started his climb the load shifted aft and he had to apply full forward yoke and max power and managed to stagger away from the runway. This incident sounds plausible.

 

Michigan will not be back home. Per TV news tonight.

Out of Willow Run, 8 miles south of us. R.I.P.

I hope I am wrong.

 

There was a similar situation a while back with I believe a DC-8 where the cargo shifted on rotation. Real shame, I remember being the SO on the 747-200F. A big part of my preflight was the outside walk around and then the cargo deck. We placed a lot of emphasis on checking every down lock. I wonder if these guys were rushed or really tired. Other than the possibility of someone shooting at you the runway and airfield are pretty straight foward.

 

LiveLeak.com - Bagram Airfield Crash 29 APR 2013

 

RIP.

 

Wow, I can't say I've ever seen anything like that. Terrible loss.

My brother was a cargo-master flying in an out of that area for years. Thankfully stateside now.

 

Very impressed by this footage...... RIP

 

Complete departure. Gotta be a load shift. Too bad.

 

WTH happened there?? It's like it stopped dead right there in the middle of nothing.

That's the weirdest plane crash I have ever seen.

R.I.P.

 

That's most likely the plane stalling before its fateful descent. In very simple terms, if the load shifts rearwards enough, then you will get to a point where the CG moves so far aft that the plane stands on end causing a stall and inevitable downing. However, remember, that at this stage all talk of load shifting is guesswork pending a full and proper investigation.

RIP the crew. Very sad.

 

Load shift means it wasnt properly secured?

 

Or weight and balance calculated wrong?

 

Probably load not properly secured... it got off the ground seemingly OK, then went nose-up after rotation.

 

+1

I wonder if Lou (or his FO?) do load checks "religiously" prior to flight?

Seems someone screwed the pooch here.

Cheers,
Ian

 

That video scared the crap out of me just watching it...Those poor people, I cant imagine what was going through there minds, hopefully doing checks and not enough time to comprehend the inevitable.

RIP very sad.

 

At least it was quick.

Art

 

If they died on impact, instead of the fire.

Very sad for the crew. Truly tragic.

 

Reminiscent of an Avro Tudor crash that wiped out a rugby club:

Llandow air disaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Terrifying crash. It must have lasted a lifetime for the those on the flightdeck as it just looked like slow motion even on video given the size of the 747. Hopefully they went quickly and didn't have a long death in flames.

 

I suppose that I should keep my stuff to myself, but I have been several violent incidents and the short time that it takes to reach completion, there is no time to think or to do very much. Sometimes the crew is so busy trying regain control or to fix a problem in a rapidly evolving scenario that they don't have time to stew about their problem. Impact is painless and very quick, waking up afterwards (if you survive) is when your mind and body make you very uncomfortable. That crew didn't feel very much, if anything.

 

I agree. But it is good to learn from the disasters that happen to others, as sad as that is.

My instructor drilled into me several safety precautions about stalling near the airport:
- never bank more than 30 degrees while in the pattern.
- watch your airspeed and hit your target speeds on each leg when flying the pattern (downwind, base, final, and the flare).
- put the nose down a little when you're doing a forward slip on final (realize you are cross-controlled when doing the forward slip - if you stall, you'll likely spin into the ground).
- If you can't make the turn from base to final, that is what a go-around is for. Don't be afraid to announce on the radio that you are going around, flying the upwind leg, and staying in the pattern.
- always do a weight & balance calculation before every flight with passengers and/or luggage. He even helped me build a spreadsheet for the specific planes I fly so it is fast & easy to do the calculation (no excuse that it takes too much time).

.

 

I'm guessing that the load broke loose and slid rearward during the acceleration for takeoff.

It must have been terrifying as well for the people on the road, seeing this massive airplane descending in front of them, obviously out of control.

 

I suppose those guys in the Air France plane had it much worse. Many minutes of trying to figure out why the plane was crashing from 38,000 feet to no avail.

I always think about the crew who crashed off the coast of California in Alaska air. They fought and fought and eventually, lost control to head straight down. Must have been terrifying.

 

God, that must be a hardened veteran in the vehicle with video. Did you note there was no shouts like OMG, nothing, just an under the breath "oh ****" a minute or so after the crash. Cool as a cucumber. RIP poor souls....and prayers for their families.