Well. That was unexpected.

[Mark K 2]

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Carried five MRAPs. Crew radioed that cargo broke loose and changed the center of gravity during takeoff.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Opps...

 

[Bob McDonald]

Note to Kevin: If you feel the nose in that steep of an angle while on the job, start yelling very loudly. 'LOWER THE NOSE!! LOWER THE NOSE!!'

 

[Kevin Palmer]

U/B



I hear ya....



I have had a few "bad" landings. Though any one you can walk away from is a good one they say,, LOL



I have had wing tips hit the ground. Blown tires upon "impact" aka "landing". A few bounces before we actually landed. Probably 20 or more "Come around"" due to other aircraft still on the runway, or animals, or the wrong runway..



Worse in flight issue I have had was on an ERJ/RJ. Hit a pothole I guess. Lost 11 thousand feet, pilot pegged the throttles to get lift, unfortunately we were nose down at the time. Thank god we started at 27 thousand feet. Got lift at 12 thousand feet and began to pull out of the nose down issue. finally leveled out at 6500 feet..



Lots of screaming on that one. I just sat there waiting as it was all I could do.....



Good times...

 

[Bo Loo]

On my only P3 flight, returning to the Azores, there was bad weather and I distinctly recall the pilot announcing, "we're gonna try one landing and if that doesn't work out, we'll head to Rota."



My first thought was, F the Azores....ola amigo.

 

[Robert Thomas]

You can see the point quite clearly where it stopped being a plane and started being a rock.



Seven Americans Killed?

 

[Richard L]

I saw that on the news yesterday, but they would not show the plane impacting the ground.



Scary stuff. Sounds like they need a second inspection to ensure all loads are properly secured before the plane can be allowed to take off...and a third check by the pilot.



...Rich

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Take offs and landings planes are at their most vulnerable times.



We were in a C5 and the pilot did an avasive maneuver and the chains snapped on the stern of one of the four boats were we carrying. He said if it had happened while taking off it was likely we would have crashed.



Planes are basically rocks with a means of lift.



Over-all a safe means of travel. Sadly, crashes do happen. Tough thing to live through.

 

[Richard L]

Coastiejoe,

Yes, I know that things like that can happen. However it would seem that the chains, cables, and tie downs should be strong enough to secure the load even if the plane has to take evasive action....that's why they are there.



I suspect the load was much heavier than the load capacity of the chains. I also suspect that the chains had some slack which allowed the load to move which added momentum to the load that caused the chains to break.



If a plane never needed to take evasive action or never encountered turbulence, the load could probably be adequately secured with clothesline.



I have flown in several C-130 Army cargo planes and have nervously watched the cargo shifting around a lot more than I would have liked. Fortunately, the web straps held. I suspect that if we ever had to make an evasive maneuver the load might have broke loose, and at lower altitudes during take offs and landings that can be fatal.



...Rich

 

[gary s]

jan 02,2013?

why is it only out now?

i guess the date on the camerea was wrong

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Rich,,



One of the locking tabs on the deck of the C5 is what actually failed. Then the stern swung and snapped the cross chain as it was tight, became loose, then tight,, followed by SNAP...

 

[Robert Thomas]

They the stern swung and snapped the cross chain as it was tight, became loose, then tight,, followed by SNAP...

Sounds like what the doctor said about my neck.

 

[Richard L]

Coastiejoe,

It really does not matter if the chain broke or the anchor failed.



Airplanes are routinely required to detailed inspected for stress cracks in critical parts, and I would think that cargo anchors and chains are critically important on a cargo plane...just as important as the engines, air frame and controls..



If any piece of cargo is heavy enough to overload a chain or anchor point, then the cargo needs to be secured to additional anchor points with more chains. That would spread the load and reduce stress on each chain and anchor and reduce the possibility of failure. Also, if any of the anchors or chains fail the remaining anchors and chains could easily handle the load.



If I flew on military aircraft where the cargo did not appear to be secured properly, and you were on a military aircraft where the load broke loose, it sounds like the military is ignoring the safety issues when loading cargo on aircraft. I know that most military aircraft have a crew member designated as a "Cargo Master, or Load Master" who's job it is to ensure the cargo gets loaded and is properly secured.



I know that adding more tie-downs and chains to insure the load remains secure requires more labor, but safety should always take priority. I hope the military has learned a valuable lesson from this crash.



...Rich