SWA seems to be having a rough go of it lately

[C-Man 27,239]

2 hours ago, PvilleStang said:

 

 

Sorry about the crappy vid, but I saw this the other day BEFORE the SWA incident, and the captain survived 20 minutes hanging out of the front windshield, so anything is possible.

There's an hour-long Air Disasters episode on this. Unfuckingbelievable!

[Pasken 1,309]

4 hours ago, 'stache said:

I have a SWA flight this Sunday and another next Sunday.  This should be fun.

Southwest carries the most passengers out of any domestic airline and this is their first in flight death. You'll be fine.  

[phdhorn 6,224]

Yeah I remember seeing that episode.  I think he survived largely due to the fact that 1) they were only in the air for 10 mins. and had only gotten to 17,000 feet; 2) the co-pilot quickly slowed and descended (also due to needing to give the passengers air, since the pressurization failed), and 3) he was able to land within 20 minutes.  Even so, he was almost killed due to exposure, lack of air, and the continued banging of his head into the plane.   The wind at him was "only" over 300 mph(!)  The flight attendant who hung onto him from inside also suffered frostbite.

Even so, a series of "fortunate" situations/events lined up so he could be safe.  I would imagine this poor woman blacked out within a minute of being thrown out the window and I doubt survival at 550 mph and 32,00 feet  a good 45 minutes after takeoff is much beyond remotely likely.

[C-Man 27,239]

52 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Yeah I remember seeing that episode.  I think he survived largely due to the fact that 1) they were only in the air for 10 mins. and had only gotten to 17,000 feet; 2) the co-pilot quickly slowed and descended (also due to needing to give the passengers air, since the pressurization failed), and 3) he was able to land within 20 minutes.  Even so, he was almost killed due to exposure, lack of air, and the continued banging of his head into the plane.   The wind at him was "only" over 300 mph(!)  The flight attendant who hung onto him from inside also suffered frostbite.

Even so, a series of "fortunate" situations/events lined up so he could be safe.  I would imagine this poor woman blacked out within a minute of being thrown out the window and I doubt survival at 550 mph and 32,00 feet  a good 45 minutes after takeoff is much beyond remotely likely.

I wonder if she was killed the moment she caught jet engine parts right in the side of the head. I can't imagine she was conscious as she was being sucked toward and possibly partially out of the open window.

[Brisketexan 105,186]

54 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I wonder if she was killed the moment she caught jet engine parts right in the side of the head. I can't imagine she was conscious as she was being sucked toward and possibly partially out of the open window.

That's my guess.  Shrapnel that went through the window hit her in the head, and she was gone before she went out the window.  Which would be merciful.

[clapclapclap 9,000]

Southwest passenger paid $8 for Wi-Fi to Facebook Live 'final moments' during emergency landing

Quote

"But the plane crashed after personal electronic devices interfered with the aircraft's now compromised control systems."

 

[phdhorn 6,224]

2 hours ago, C-Man said:

I wonder if she was killed the moment she caught jet engine parts right in the side of the head. I can't imagine she was conscious as she was being sucked toward and possibly partially out of the open window.

Yeah, actually I heard tonight the coroner in Philly said she was killed due to blunt shock trauma.  Means either the blade and/or some pieces of engine hit her and/or she was getting her head slammed against the plane while hanging outside.

Horrible.

[Celery Man 20,981]

While it's possible that a piece of the blade hit her in the head, it's also highly speculative.  If we want to get all Kevin Costner magic bullet, also not a straight line from the engine through the window to her head.

[Hagbard Celine 10,901]

On 4/17/2018 at 6:30 PM, Brisketexan said:

That's it.  Anyone with a modicum of training can take off, fly, and land a fully-functioning plane in bluebird weather.

That ain't what I want to pay my pilot for.  I want the SOB with icewater in his (or her) veins, who can make split-second decisions in a crisis, keep their cool the whole time, do complex math in their head while flying the plane so as to evaluate alternatives, and knows how to fly anything from a busted cropduster to a state-of-the-art Boeing.  In short, give me someone with military training, in most cases.

Give me this gal.  Give me Sully.  Give me the pilot of United 232 in Sioux City.

Thank you Brisket.  The Captain is a former Top Gun pilot.  I want someone who has been upside down and backwards in a flat spin, in the dark, no moon, and a busted artificial horizon.  Believe it or not, that is a recoverable situation with just a single engine and functioning control surfaces and more than 4000 agl.

The public would be amazed at how often the Right Stuff is applied in commercial aviation.  I know first hand.  I'm the son of a man who twice in a 32-year career had to apply it.

[Hagbard Celine 10,901]

On 4/17/2018 at 6:34 PM, Celery Man said:

I heard Sully talk recently and part of his thing about pilots/safety was making decades of deposits until the crucial time comes for that one big withdrawal (of all your training/knowledge/instinct/etc).

 

yup.  dad's commercial incept date was 14 march 69, retirement was 31 march 2001.  that's 11705 days.

on 2 of those days, on takeoff in Savannah in 1982, and over Idaho Falls, Southern Idaho and Salt Lake City in 1989, everything he learned in the air force insured a couple hundred people lived the rest of their destined lives.

the other 11703 days he was the jag we all take for granted.

the next time you're on a flight and the landing is like grease and feathers, poke your head in the cockpit, ask whose leg it was, say thanks for the skillz.

[Texas_Rocks 346]

While it's possible that a piece of the blade hit her in the head, it's also highly speculative.  If we want to get all Kevin Costner magic bullet, also not a straight line from the engine through the window to her head.

 

There were a few early reports that she was struck with shrapnel, but most of the seven or eight articles I just checked out pretty much all look something like this.

 

With no apparent warning, the plane’s left engine exploded after one of its fan blades broke off. A gust of shrapnel blew out a window, partly sucking one passenger in Row 14 headfirst into the sky. Oxygen masks dropped down and the plane plunged thousands of feet in a minute.

[Celery Man 20,981]

ah, I missed the early reports that that had occurred

[Hagbard Celine 10,901]

21 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Every single time I sit next directly next to the compressor blades of those engines on a WN 737 I look over and think "naw, no way something could ever happen, surely they've engineered containment for something like that right??"

Never again.

Sell. Me. A. Aisleseat.

notice the solid fuselage on the right leg of the 'h' and the left side of the 'w'.  most twins have this feature, where there are no windows adjacent to the compressor blades.

look at port side of this bird.  no visible damage at all.  ms. riordan drew a bad hand as it appears the only piece of debris that hit the fuselage hit her window.

[Hagbard Celine 10,901]

1 hour ago, Celery Man said:

While it's possible that a piece of the blade hit her in the head, it's also highly speculative.  If we want to get all Kevin Costner magic bullet, also not a straight line from the engine through the window to her head.

At 500 knots, unless there was a 2nd explosive event, she was not hit with any engine debris.

What she was hit with was 500 knots of air.  Someone above speculated she couldn't empty her lungs.

[Hagbard Celine 10,901]

On 4/17/2018 at 10:24 PM, Richter said:

I had a female pilot on Monday on the way out here to DC.  Fly SW a lot and don’t remember a female pilot before.

LUV was very progressive in this area.  IIRC Frontier 1 set all of the first milestones (woman, black man, black woman), northwest was the most progressive trunk/flag carrier, but LUV began hiring all minorities in numbers in the early 80s and promoted them to the left seat faster than any one else too.

[wood 11,231]

25 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

notice the solid fuselage on the right leg of the 'h' and the left side of the 'w'.  most twins have this feature, where there are no windows adjacent to the compressor blades.

look at port side of this bird.  no visible damage at all.  ms. riordan drew a bad hand as it appears the only piece of debris that hit the fuselage hit her window.

I can't tell which window is blown out in that pic. Lil' help?

[Celery Man 20,981]

All joking aside, and assuming it turns out to be either a freak thing, a mx mistake, or a manufacturing defect, and not losing track of the tragedy of it, it's... good for the industry or whatever that the pilot who "saved the day" (I'm sure we'll find out more about that) is a woman.  I was just talking with a woman who said that even recently, she got several comments about how women don't belong in the left seat while taking basic pilot training.

[Celery Man 20,981]

1 minute ago, wood said:

I can't tell which window is blown out in that pic. Lil' help?

it's a bad angle, window not visible

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Celery Man

[wood 11,231]

Whoa ... so she was sitting like 10 rows aft of the engine? Fuck.

[Texas_Rocks 346]

ah, I missed the early reports that that had occurred

I believe that those reports were incorrect. Everything I’ve read since then indicates that your brief assessment is more accurate. This morning a passenger that performed CPR on the now deceased passenger said that she had severe trauma to her head, arms, snd torso. She also stated that the woman was still strapped in her seat belt. Another passenger followed up with the same account. Neither indicated that she had been struck by engine debris.

We may eventually find out otherwise, but right now it looks like the debris just popped the window and she was instantly sucked out and severely traumatized.

Regardless, this is an absolute nightmare situation.

[pearlandhorn 3,274]

On southwest flight right now to MSY.  I’m in 4F in front on an engine. Prayers requested.

Edited April 19, 2018 by pearlandhorn

[Anastasis 23,481]

Pray for the people 15 rows back.

[phdhorn 6,224]

That's probably the safest seat in the universe today.

[Richter 2,261]

My flights today at about 5.  Going for an aisle forward of the engine.

[woohorn 1,131]

Keep the damn shade down. #lifesaver

[DanRydell 799]

Woke up to a text that my SWA flight this morning was cancelled. Now I’ve got fucking boarding pass C20 on the flight I was “reaccomodated” to.

[pearlandhorn 3,274]

Safely landed. #godisgood

[dieucla98 2,942]

10 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

notice the solid fuselage on the right leg of the 'h' and the left side of the 'w'.  most twins have this feature, where there are no windows adjacent to the compressor blades.

look at port side of this bird.  no visible damage at all.  ms. riordan drew a bad hand as it appears the only piece of debris that hit the fuselage hit her window.

On the right side, the sections of solid fuselage are different from the left side.  Why is that?

Left - 2 sections, between W and E, and between E and S:

Right - only 1 section, across the O (I assume this is different from your picture because they are different 737 variants):

 

[TwiceHorn 31,515]

With the above, one possibility is simply that "Southwest" is painted further aft than in the other (begins two windows aft of the front door instead of one).

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

With the above, one possibility is simply that "Southwest" is painted further aft than in the other (begins two windows aft of the front door instead of one).

That’s a different model of 737. The -800 pictures above is much longer than the -700 involved in the engine failure incident. 

[1978horn 895]

10 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

That’s a different model of 737. The -800 pictures above is much longer than the -700 involved in the engine failure incident. 

Yep, not every plane that Southwest flies is the same model.

[dieucla98 2,942]

15 minutes ago, Bobby_Batronic said:

That’s a different model of 737. The -800 pictures above is much longer than the -700 involved in the engine failure incident. 

Yes I get that but the R vs L differences are consistent across the different 737 variants that I can tell - on the right side, you have one section of solid fuselage (one window missing) and on the left side, you have 2 sections of solid fuselage (2 windows missing). 

Why is that? I would think it would be symmetrical but it's not.

Edit: Nevermind, it's not consistent across variants. I'm an idiot.

Edited April 19, 2018 by dieucla98

[Druggist 303]

My sister-in-law knew her pretty well and worked on some charity projects with her while they were both pregnant with daughters.  They both named the girls the same name.  The two girls recently played on the same volleyball team.  Incredibly nice lady and an awesome mother.  My SIL is pretty shaken up.  Horrible situation.

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

FAA just issued a statement that CFM engines surpassing a set number of takeoffs and landing will undergo inspections for metal fatigue in the fan blades. 

[Celery Man 20,981]

Interesting. I guess this must have been an older engine and they’re reevaluating the mx schedules?

[DaysOff 7,963]

My theory is SWA does more cycles, shorter segments, and operates from some short runways. More full thrust takeoffs than most operators of the 737. That has to put extra stress on those blades. Just my theory.

[Celery Man 20,981]

It was SWA that had the thing where... the fuselage tin canned a little bit or something? That I think had something to do with flying tons of short segments?

[BearSchlong 8,106]

My mom reports that most of you guys are familiar with short segments

[Celery Man 20,981]

She does get around more than a Southwest 737

[Uncle Nate 2,097]

57 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

My mom reports that most of you guys are familiar with short segments

Um, she's the one who kept saying "just the tip, please"

[wood 11,231]

1 hour ago, BearSchlong said:

My mom reports that most of you guys are familiar with short segments

Your mom does a lot of cycles tho ... 

[SideSlip 35]

Quote

With no apparent warning, the plane’s left engine exploded after one of its fan blades broke off. A gust of shrapnel blew out a window, partly sucking one passenger in Row 14 headfirst into the sky. Oxygen masks dropped down and the plane plunged thousands of feet in a minute.

Thousands of feet in a minute?  That sounds scary!

[Mojo Hand 4,580]

6 hours ago, Texas_Rocks said:

 

I believe that those reports were incorrect. Everything I’ve read since then indicates that your brief assessment is more accurate. This morning a passenger that performed CPR on the now deceased passenger said that she had severe trauma to her head, arms, snd torso. She also stated that the woman was still strapped in her seat belt. Another passenger followed up with the same account. Neither indicated that she had been struck by engine debris.

We may eventually find out otherwise, but right now it looks like the debris just popped the window and she was instantly sucked out and severely traumatized.

Regardless, this is an absolute nightmare situation.

 

She was strapped in when this happened?? 

[wood 11,231]

10 minutes ago, Mojo Hand said:

She was strapped in when this happened?? 

Yeah, I heard that as well. I wonder how snug the belt was, or if it was loose on her lap...

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

2 hours ago, Celery Man said:

She does get around more than a Southwest 737

And like a 737 she’s referred to as  “the guppy”. 

[shakahorn 1,645]

3 hours ago, DaysOff said:

My theory is SWA does more cycles, shorter segments, and operates from some short runways. More full thrust takeoffs than most operators of the 737. That has to put extra stress on those blades. Just my theory.

That's similar to at least part of what was attributed to the Aloha incident.  Lots of short interisland flights cause more stress.

[Bobby_Batronic 1,994]

13 minutes ago, shakahorn said:

That's similar to at least part of what was attributed to the Aloha incident.  Lots of short interisland flights cause more stress.

Good thing SWA isn’t about to crawl into Hawaiian’s kitchen and start doing inter island hops. 

[Gil Bang 25,984]

16 hours ago, Celery Man said:

All joking aside, and assuming it turns out to be either a freak thing, a mx mistake, or a manufacturing defect, and not losing track of the tragedy of it, it's... good for the industry or whatever that the pilot who "saved the day" (I'm sure we'll find out more about that) is a woman.  I was just talking with a woman who said that even recently, she got several comments about how women don't belong in the left seat while taking basic pilot training.

It's good for women in general.  Women doctors, lawyers, and in every other profession. 

[woohorn 1,131]

No offense, but...

Did pilot do much more than drop altitude and land a 99% whole (ha) plane?

No quite Sully territory IYAM.

[Leeroy Jenkins 2,409]

3 minutes ago, woohorn said:

No offense, but...

Did pilot do much more than drop altitude and land a 99% whole (ha) plane?

No quite Sully territory IYAM.

Not even close to Sully but she did a good job.  Compound emergencies are never simple. Prioritize and attack.  I am sure her Navy training helped out greatly.