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MH approach into MEL this morning looked a bit unusual. Is this a case of overshooting the ILS and turning back to catch it again?

Yeah could be, or could also be a case of poor controlling and more separation was needed with the aircraft in front. Similar case happened to me a couple of months ago.

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Edit: No ILS on 34 at MEL so would've been an RNAV approach. GLS at MEL on 34 becomes available on 08Nov!
 
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Does this mean that testing has been happening for some time on the GLS on 34?

I'd say so. The Office of Airspace Regulation has had to change the base of the control step south around Port Philip Bay from 2,500 to 2,000ft and so some changes to the VFR lane have been made too. This has only just been approved.
 
I haven't seen the GLS chart yet ('cos I'm on leave and don't care). But, it will be interesting to see how much they ultimately lower the minima for that runway. Even with the system as it was, our aircraft were placing themselves extremely accurately on the path....right down to disconnect. Have you heard whether it will get auto land or not?
 
To this mug punter, 'pitot tubes' seem to come up as an issue relatively frequently when aircraft incidents occur and I understand that the 'issue' of malfunctioning pitot tubes is exacerbated when pilots are relatively inexperienced.

Given that pilots, as a group, seem to be getting less experienced ( due to expansion of the industry), are there any alternative technologies available or on the horizon to replace pitot tubes, or even the management of inconsistent data?

Ok, let's start with the fact that pitot systems are only being blamed by the internet, NOT by the authorities. Yes, they've had lots of involvement in accidents over the years, but it's still blame by association as far as Lion Air is concerned.

Aircraft fly because of the way they interact with the air mass. The pitot static system measures that interaction. The only other measurement that is relevant, but which is not used by most pilots, is angle of attack data. That is measured separately, and comes into play with stall warning systems.

An aircraft can be safely flown with pressure reading issues, as long as it's recognised, and appropriate action is taken. There are alternative data sources which can be used, which although they won't give a full picture of what is happening, should be enough. IRS or GPS groundspeed, GPS altitude.

But, the question you're asking seems to be, can we continue dumbing down the profession whilst being safe, though the use of technology. To be honest, it's a lot cheaper to teach the pilots to fly properly, as they will use that training over and over again during their careers, to make automation incidents go away. I've not heard of airliner automation making a pilot event go away.

Expansion in the industry isn't the problem. The issue is that the MBAs of the world, who run airlines, with scant regard to safety or the reasons it exists (or doesn't) have been driving the pilot career downwards. Instead of picking the best people, and training them properly from scratch, it's become expedient to force every aspect of training cost onto starry eyed youngsters, and to eventually pay them stuff all once they get to a coughpit. The result has been that the best have gone elsewhere. Sadly, some airlines have now reached the point where the magenta line (or the green one) is all that they know, and anything different will be beyond them.

If this aircraft was lost from just an ADR failure, in day VMC, it will rank right up with AF447 as the most massive failure of piloting imaginable. AF447 was perfectly flyable. The inputs the bloke flying made were beyond comprehension. And that's what MBAs are getting...pilots who cannot fly. The solution has nothing to do with automation.
 
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I haven't seen the GLS chart yet ('cos I'm on leave and don't care). But, it will be interesting to see how much they ultimately lower the minima for that runway. Even with the system as it was, our aircraft were placing themselves extremely accurately on the path....right down to disconnect. Have you heard whether it will get auto land or not?

Yes I agree, seeing as the RNAV is coded all the way to the runway, will be interesting to see how much lower it'll get, (currently at 360'AGL). Seeing as it won't be out until the 8th I just updated my charts and it's still not showing up. As for the auto land or not I haven't heard that it will be capable yet.
 
I just watched this video on landings into NRT with a reasonable crosswind component and windshear alerts, which led to lots of missed approaches:



Air Busan had me worried (from 1:13 to 1:55) but I was fairly jumping out of my seat when I saw ANA land (2:07 to 2:28), then Air Canada (4:30 to 5:05). A number had multiple go arounds.

Really makes me appreciate the skill of those flying (moreso the ones that did go arounds, rather than the ones that actually landed).

Apart from discussing the situation of what to do if you have a go around, how does the flight crew communicate and decide on who's doing what in events like these landings.
 
QF WP we have been in a JAL plane flying LAX -NRT sitting in 1A and 1C opposite the FA - landing at NRT in a typhoon !!! watching the landing on the cabin screen !!! we had two go rounds - third time lucky :D
 
Audio from a QF freighter decompression and diversion in August.

Any comments/observations from our pilot contributors?

Unless you have a specific question, I'm not sure what you're interested in. Basically, the Captain is pretty busy flying the aircraft, and sorting out a diversion. He offloads as much as he can to ATC.
 
Apart from discussing the situation of what to do if you have a go around, how does the flight crew communicate and decide on who's doing what in events like these landings.

Tokyo is often an interesting place to fly into. To be honest, I'm glad I mostly flew the 767 their, as it was the best of the aircraft I've flown in those conditions.

Procedurally, it will almost certainly be the Captain doing the landing. In QF the FOs have a 20 knot limit, after which it must be done by the Captain.

You'd probably be surprised at how little talking there is. The non flying pilot will be watching for, and calling, anything unusual...but there is no point saying something if you can see that the other pilot is already reacting to it. The go around would have been discussed, most likely in detail, as it's quite likely. Also discussion of what you'll be doing if you get a wind shear warning. The ANA 787 go around would almost certainly have been such a warning, and watching the way the aircraft reacted, I'd say it was very real. You can normally pick the difference, by the landing gear staying extended for quite a while.
 
I haven't seen the GLS chart yet ('cos I'm on leave and don't care). But, it will be interesting to see how much they ultimately lower the minima for that runway. Even with the system as it was, our aircraft were placing themselves extremely accurately on the path....right down to disconnect. Have you heard whether it will get auto land or not?

So...it became effective today but there's an AIC out saying we're not allowed to use it unless operationally required(?). The minima gets you down to 200' AGL. Not bad.
 
Tokyo is often an interesting place to fly into. To be honest, I'm glad I mostly flew the 767 their, as it was the best of the aircraft I've flown in those conditions.

Procedurally, it will almost certainly be the Captain doing the landing. In QF the FOs have a 20 knot limit, after which it must be done by the Captain.

You'd probably be surprised at how little talking there is. The non flying pilot will be watching for, and calling, anything unusual...but there is no point saying something if you can see that the other pilot is already reacting to it. The go around would have been discussed, most likely in detail, as it's quite likely. Also discussion of what you'll be doing if you get a wind shear warning. The ANA 787 go around would almost certainly have been such a warning, and watching the way the aircraft reacted, I'd say it was very real. You can normally pick the difference, by the landing gear staying extended for quite a while.

Jb can you pls elaborate on why the landing gear is left extended for a wind shear go around? Is it workload or to focus on getting out of it and not change any variables until you are out of the danger Zone?
 
Speaking of go arounds or any urgent situation that requires lots of power and pitch up, which comes first - the pitch up or the thrust? Does it make a difference? I was thinking that without enough thrust it might be possible for the wings to enter a stall if the power takes a few seconds to come on.
 
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Jb can you pls elaborate on why the landing gear is left extended for a wind shear go around? Is it workload or to focus on getting out of it and not change any variables until you are out of the danger Zone?

The first action in gear retraction is for the undercarriage doors to open, which increases the drag. Quite noticeably. So, whilst leaving the gear extended has it's own penalty, it's considered safer than adding the drag from the gear cycle. Additionally, as you've mentioned, you're both quite busy.
 
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Speaking of go arounds or any urgent situation that requires lots of power and pitch up, which comes first - the pitch up or the thrust? Does it make a difference? I was thinking that without enough thrust it might be possible for the wings to enter a stall if the power takes a few seconds to come on.

The wings aren't that close to the stall. They should be about 25 knots above that point. The EK777 managed to climb to about 90', with the power at idle.

From the approach power setting, the engine response is pretty well immediate. From flight idle there's a couple of seconds delay, but not a huge interval. From ground idle, it takes multiple seconds, which is one reason there's two different idle settings.

In aircraft with underslung engines (i.e. pretty well all of them) the power pushes the nose up anyway, so there was very little pull required in the 747 or 767. The opposite sometimes. The FBW aircraft will cancel that if you go around above about 100', but below they will also pitch in response to the power. Effectively, the power causes the pitch change, so you'll not get them out of synch.

With a very late go around, when the engines have already been at idle for a while (i.e a long float), the power response will be slow, and in that case you need to moderate to pitch change to match the power increase. Once the engines start to accelerate, they'll do so very quickly.
 
I have just returned to SYD from DFW in a fully loaded A380 a 16 hour flight. What would be weight of fuel required for this trip and would the entire tank capacity be used?
 
I have just returned to SYD from DFW in a fully loaded A380 a 16 hour flight. What would be weight of fuel required for this trip and would the entire tank capacity be used?

The plan from a recent trip had it taking off at max brakes release weight. Planned fuel of 234 tonnes, and an arrival figure of about 12 tonnes.

Maximum tankage is 250 tonnes, but you won't get to that unless you can take 16 tonnes out of the payload.
 
The plan from a recent trip had it taking off at max brakes release weight. Planned fuel of 234 tonnes, and an arrival figure of about 12 tonnes.

Maximum tankage is 250 tonnes, but you won't get to that unless you can take 16 tonnes out of the payload.

What is the initial max alt capability on the 380 when at MTOW?
 
What is the initial max alt capability on the 380 when at MTOW?

The performance application no longer runs on our home computers, so I can't give you an exact answer. It varies a bit with the temperature. FL340 to FL350 will be pretty close.
 

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