Thursday, May 14, 2009
Forgot the 'H' ...
(2)
Continuing with the previous theme...
The pilots were apparently surprised by the rebellion of the autopilot, their minds being elsewhere at the time, in some other world. The reaction of the pilot was to disengage the autopilot: 'How dare you! We are very close to the ground! Do you realize that?! Do you want to die? Nose up! I command it!' The pilot then pulled the nose up in order to maintain altitude. The autopilot, meanwhile, resigned itself to death and said a final quick prayer before dying. The co-pilot, meanwhile, recognized that something needed to be done. 'What?!' No orders from the pilot... 'What is going on here?! What do I do?!' Ah! Full power. We're gonna go around. I'll bring the flaps up. 'Do you want the gear up too?'
The only reply from the pilot was, 'Jesus Christ!' as the airplane entered a flat spin, then crashed into a house, killing 50 people including one unlucky occupant of said house. All aboard died including the occupant of the house... and the autopilot.
And here, folks, is one of the most astonishing aspects (to me) of this tragic situation: the co-pilot seemed not to realize that 'lift' was the problem: she retracted the flaps, not the gear! She asked the pilot at the last moment whether she should retract the gear. Huh? At about that time she noticed the house, and screamed.
Continuing with the previous theme...
The pilots were apparently surprised by the rebellion of the autopilot, their minds being elsewhere at the time, in some other world. The reaction of the pilot was to disengage the autopilot: 'How dare you! We are very close to the ground! Do you realize that?! Do you want to die? Nose up! I command it!' The pilot then pulled the nose up in order to maintain altitude. The autopilot, meanwhile, resigned itself to death and said a final quick prayer before dying. The co-pilot, meanwhile, recognized that something needed to be done. 'What?!' No orders from the pilot... 'What is going on here?! What do I do?!' Ah! Full power. We're gonna go around. I'll bring the flaps up. 'Do you want the gear up too?'
The only reply from the pilot was, 'Jesus Christ!' as the airplane entered a flat spin, then crashed into a house, killing 50 people including one unlucky occupant of said house. All aboard died including the occupant of the house... and the autopilot.
And here, folks, is one of the most astonishing aspects (to me) of this tragic situation: the co-pilot seemed not to realize that 'lift' was the problem: she retracted the flaps, not the gear! She asked the pilot at the last moment whether she should retract the gear. Huh? At about that time she noticed the house, and screamed.
