Emergency Landing at O'Hare today - why I'm not scared.

[vesterr]

Ok ... so there was an emergency landing today after an engine fire.

I'm not scared. Wow. Surprising, really. I'm flying INTO Ohare tomorrow. Ok - this is why I'm not scared. First off, it was just one engine. If this happened over the ocean (which it wouldnt because there arent birds that high up haha) there is still another engine to get me to where I need to go.

Read the story here:

Plane Makes Emergency Landing At O'Hare After Engine Fire

VIDEO: Plane Makes Emergency Landing At O'Hare

PHOTOS: Plane Makes Emergency Landing

Sep 16, 2004 2:45 pm US/Central
CHICAGO (CBS 2) American Airlines Flight 1374 on its way from Chicago to Philadelphia has made an emergency landing at O’Hare Airport after a bird flew into one of the plane's engines causing it to explode.

The plane landed safely at a runway at O’Hare, and passengers are disembarking. There are 107 passengers and five crew on board. No injuries have been reported.

Some debris from the engine fell from the plane near Touhy and Harlem Avenues.

The Chicago Fire Department has received a number of calls and five ambulances reported to the scene.

The plane blew an engine on takeoff, which caught fire and exploded, officials said.

On initial review by the mechanics it looks like a bird struck the engine, according to American Airlines spokesperson Mary Frances Fagan.

[xiknal]

Vester,

Thank you for posting this and for sharing your very pragmatic acceptance and coolheadedness about it.

As one who used to *freak* about such stories and who now can also take them in stride as you have done, I want to say congratulations to you; well done.

There is a solid margin of safety when there is another engine. Multi-engine aircraft are designed to be flyable--even to continue a takeoff--on one engine. Much of multi-engine training, when a pilot first goes through it, focuses on handling the plane at the moment that one engine fails, and smoothing out the flight thereafter as the plane executes an emergency landing. The chances of more than one engine failing are extremely small.

Big airports have a bird-deterrent system in place. At AUS they have these little blank guns that fire repeatedly when birds are reported, and also loudspeakers that produce an amplified sound of a hawk crying (to run off the tweety birds). The hourly ATIS reports it whenever bird activity is noted, and pilots landing or departing report any birds to ATC so that all others on approach or departure get a heads-up. It is taken very seriously.

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[WillFlyToDisney2]

YIKES! As my pilot friend has told me whenever I have talked about any "emergencies" on an airplane - THEY LANDED JUST FINE! :) It makes you feel better to know that even something as dramatic as an exploding engine doesnt prevent the plane from landing safely.

Kelley

[CaptainStark]

That's why engines are on pylons....

If the engines come apart (and the newer models have Kevlar wrapped fan shrouds to make sure the parts go out the back of the motor) The fuel supply to run the motor is just blasting out the back, hence all the flame. When the motor is in one piece and running, the fire is contained inside the engine.

Once the crew shuts the motor down (turns off the gas, electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic supplies) the motor is completely isolated from the plane. After shutdown, if needed, the crew can fire and extinguisher to put out any flames. If that doesn't work, the pylon is designed to burn off the plane. End of problem.

Now, if you want a REAL problem, loose your engine when you only have one. Barb did and afterward her biggest worry was the cows that wanted to bend up her airplane.

That plane is back in the air too.

Ray

[MadScientist]

Keep up the good attitude Vester. Planes make emergency landing pretty much every day and you rarely hear about them because they are usually no big deal. A lot of emergencies are merely precautions to ensure the safety of the passengers.

Enjpy your flights tomorrow. Mine have been screwed up by the hurricane but I'll get home on Saturday.

Take care
ken

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Oh no, Ken, AGAIN? Geez... these darn hurricanes. Looks like Jeanne might keep me from getting home on time too. ICK!

:) Everyone flying this weekend - have a safe trip!

Kelley

[MadScientist]

Kelley,

Yep, I keep getting screwed by the storms. My home airport is still shut down so I rescheduled for Saturday morning.

Good luck with your trip.
km

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Thanks! I fly home Monday from LA (hopefully). LAX to BNA on American then BNA to ATL to CHS on Delta. Home by midnite if all goes as scheduled.

One of these days we will have that coffee in the ATL airport!

Kelley

[MadScientist]

I don't drink coffee Kelley (except a good cappicino). But if it's later in the day, I'll get us into the Crown Room for some free adult beverages.

Have fun!\km

[Disney fan]

Well done on keeping calm!!! Not sure that I would have managed so well.

I remember a tyre rupturing on landing and fire engines being around the plane, did not worry me too much as we were already on the ground. Not sure why the fire engines were there though.

Lynda

[CaptainStark]

Fire trucks are the usual response when an aircraft declares an emergency. Even when the situation is just precautionary, the fire folks are the eyes of the pilot who cannot see the rear part of his plane. They describe by radio what the situation is outside the plane.

In the case of a blown/shredded tire, the fire team can make sure the tire remains aren't smoking and describe to the pilot what is going on downstairs.


Ray

[beaugest]

Channel 4 news does this bit called Spanning the World. It's about crazy sports events(bulls running after people, baseball players falling into the stands,etc.). They have developed this mantra after some of the incidents that make you wince and say ouch where they all chant "And nobody got hurt..." Now, when I see these articles I don't let my brain flip to what dire thing could have happened---I realize what DIDN'T happen. " In other words "and nobody got hurt..."
Vester, glad you could read it and remember"and nobody got hurt..." Monica

[Huey]

The incident could have been worse. Instead of one goose going into the intake, it could have been a Flock of Seagulls(http://www.aflockofseagulls.net/biog.html). I bet those guys could have brought the plane down.



Edit: AH! I think I had to enable HTML. Crimany.

Edited, part deux: Nuts. THAT didn't work either. To hell with it, the joke wasn't that good anyway.

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Love the Flock of Seagulls - or used to at least.

Being sucked into a jet engine? That's how the one guy got his hair to look like that isn't it???

Kelley

[Passenger Mark]

Here Huey... let me help...

www.aflockofseagulls.net/biog.html (http://www.aflockofseagulls.net/biog.html)

[xiknal]

www.codeonemagazine.com/a...ct_03/f22/ (http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/2003/articles/oct_03/f22/)

Quote:
__________________________________________________ __
The F/A-22 experienced a real birdstrike in April 2002, when a nine-pound loon got sucked into the engine above Marietta, Georgia. The engine didn’t miss a beat.”
__________________________________________________ __

the ingestion of a live rock band hovering at cruise altitude without *anyone* missing a beat will be the next goal...target date sometime in 2006...


hey hey, Huey...welcome to the turf of the developmentally arrested!

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[Huey]

Thanks, Mark. I could've done that, but I was trying to get the link to be hidden, so that when you clicked "Flock of Seagulls", it went to the page.

There's a way to put a url behind the text, but it doesn't seem to work here.


Barb, I think Tom needs to give biofeedback a try. ROTFLMAO


And if you ever get a chance to see the chicken cannon at Arnold AFB in Tullahoma, it's worth it.

[xiknal]

>Barb, I think Tom needs to give biofeedback a try. ROTFLMAO

Yep! :D

Trying to stay out of dissing mode here, because it's verboten by board rules, but I have shared my thoughts about this in detail over on Bob's board under a nom-de-plume ;)

>And if you ever get a chance to see the chicken cannon at Arnold AFB in Tullahoma, it's worth it.

Ha! I'd love to see it in action! They *do* thaw the chickens, don't they?

:lol cheers, Huey!

Barb

[Huey]

Yes, they thaw them. I saw a shot against a new windshield material installed on an F-4 Phantom cockpit.




I've known, along with others, your nom-de-plume for some time now.

;)

[guardabarranca]

Myadestes obscurus, Brown-Backed Solitaire

Peterson, Roger Tory and Edward L. Chalif
1973 A Field Guide to Mexican Birds, p. 185, pl. 35
Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston

;)

[Huey]

Native to Guatemala, isn't it? I saw it listed as "slate colored solitaire".

A quick check of "Guardabarranca" on ye olde internet told me what I needed.

[guardabarranca]

...Myadestes unicolor, is a close relative, but is a lowland bird, whereas M. obscurus prefers tropical forests above 5000'. Both live in canyons, ravines, and cave entrances, and both are termed 'guardabarranca'. They are in the thrush family and have, like most thrushes, very musical songs.

They are native to southern Mexico and Guatemala (both species) and Belize (unicolor only), and probably countries farther south as well.

Glad to know you're doing a security check...ya wouldn't want just any ol' jaybird sayin' such stuff, would ya?

Do birds of a feather flock together?

;)

[Huey]

Your posts have a familiar style. As do mine, I am told. Leslie once caught me posting as "Publius" on SOAR chat. (Publius, I'm sure you know, was the nom-de-plume of the authors of the Federalist Papers.)

It was all the reason I needed to run a search or two.


Always good to know who you're talking to.

[xiknal]

...but sometimes a cloaking device serves the common good, at least for a short time. Leslie is not to be fooled, however...

:D

[Huey]

Yeah, Leslie's pretty **** sharp.


And I'm more interested in Carcharadon carcharius than any bird.

:)




Edited for typos.

[beaugest]

Can I tell you that the scariest part about that exchange is that I actually followed most of it.
At the risk of sounding like a therapist, I think disclosure is important. I like to know who I'm taking advice from.
Barb, I also recognized your style on the other board. You have a distinct use of language.
The good thing about this board is that if we all follow a few basic rules it will feel safe enough to post. No cloaking needed...
And in the interest of full disclosure, let me say I can't add those cute little smiley things after my name...I'm too dependent on my kids for computer help...Monica

[xiknal]

Hi, Monica,

I did not know, when I first jumped into that thread on Bob's political forum, whether I might be treading on thin ice, so I decided to be a bit "obscurus" just like that little bird. My uncertainty followed that big blowup back in July that I was in the middle of, and because I had not had a chance to reconcile remaining differences with several key folks on that thread (I don't mean TB, but others), I wanted to proceed carefully for a couple of reasons. It soon became obvious not only that Leslie and others had sussed me out, but that everybody was objective and goodhearted and that there would be no fallout that might negatively affect that community over there, or short-circuit Leslie's wish to inform people about, er, ***R (I first thought she *should* do that, as I said, but now agree with your last post there). I know it's a political forum, but the topic was FoF. So, call it caution, or call it the paranoid/schizoid mode, that was my motive :D . It is water under the bridge now, and I agree with you that full disclosure is generally the best thing. I also feel that this forum is a safe place for us to be ourselves, thank God!

Was that exchange truly scary? I am curious about that. Feel free to PM me if you'd rather talk about it that way. But, no pressure to discuss it further at all! :D

About them smilies...to the right of the posting window you should have 'show' and 'hide' options for emoticons--do you? The default is 'hide'...8) , so just click on 'show'.

best,
Barb 0]

[beaugest]

Hi Barb, I was only kidding about it being scary. It was just so veiled and I followed it. Like cracking a code. Now, if I could crack the smiley code you would have known I was kidding.
I think that disagreement is just fine, when we stay on topic,do it disrespectfully and agree to disagree. In that atmosphere we should all feel free to 'uncloak." Sigh. Now, I sound like a hippie therapist. Great.
I think the beauty of groups is the wide array of opinions brought to the table.

[xiknal]

Wow...I didn't mean for my posts to be obscure in addition to my identity. THANKS for following them! You, in particular, would be the best one to understand and respond to them.

Do you not have 'show' and 'hide' options to the right of your posting window? Do you not have a "Use Emoticons" box above those that you can put a check mark in? Hmmm...if not, maybe Mark can straighten it out for you.

On the other board, I occasionally had no access to the emoticons when I checked in as an unregistered user (because I had, er, tossed my cookies to get rid of the spies and peepholes like atdmt and such)...but sometimes I did have the emoticons anyway.

0] where would I be without my doppelganger?

[beaugest]

I can see all the little buggers,they are taunting me...rolling around...but won't let me use them. I even checked the little box that says use emoticons. I mean as a therapist I love the idea of an emoticon. I'm around people that emote all day. And here I can't control the little yellow guys. Very humbling, I tell you.

[xiknal]

hmmmm...

ya need an emoticon wrangler ta whup those li'l dogies inta line and inta the corral.

Ah'm from Texas but ah'm stumped. Ask Mark or Chelle!

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