DHL 757 in the dirt in San Jose, Costa Rica

That was a nice tail slide at the end! Smart move, let the rear of the plane absorb the energy.
 
I think someone isn't going to be a Captain for long. Didn't look wet, not weather to speak of. Brakes were clearly working since they got locked up. Not often you see someone drift an airliner.
 
Wonder what the deal was? Looked like the emergency vehicles were already there and waiting.
 
steingar said:
I think someone isn't going to be a Captain for long. Didn't look wet, not weather to speak of. Brakes were clearly working since they got locked up. Not often you see someone drift an airliner.
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I mean, if the fire trucks were already on standby, I don’t think that’s a fair assessment at all.
 
steingar said:
I think someone isn't going to be a Captain for long. Didn't look wet, not weather to speak of. Brakes were clearly working since they got locked up. Not often you see someone drift an airliner.
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Geez, Michael. You weren’t there. And not every mishap is worthy of frying the crew.
 
Gem of the day...

"Video of the incident, which happened around 10 am. local time on Thursday, shows the plane skidding along the runway, taxiing and turning, then coming to a stop. As the plane stopped, its fuselage appeared to crumble, breaking the craft into separate pieces"
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Geez, Michael. You weren’t there. And not every mishap is worthy of frying the crew.
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If they lost hydraulics they probably have one chance with the brakes. Lock em up was their only option
 
Bill said:
It looked to me like he intentionally steered the plane as it came towards the end of the runway.
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I thought that too, but maybe not. Reverser isn’t deployed on the left side. If the right engine is in full reverse and the left in idle forward thrust and they lost nose wheel steering, they may have just lost directional control. I’d have to look at my old 75 stuff and see what hydraulic system controls what. I’m sure we’ll hear more soon enough.
 
Got to love the press: They applied foam to prevent a fuel leak. Chortle.
 
steingar said:
I think someone isn't going to be a Captain for long. Didn't look wet, not weather to speak of. Brakes were clearly working since they got locked up. Not often you see someone drift an airliner.
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That's Severe.

Did you read the article or check AvHerald? They declared Mayday for a hydraulic failure. Video of it landing show the gear doors open, presumably a gravity drop. If the gear locked up then it's not surprising it would veer off the runway, especially if you may not have nose wheel steering and a limited ability to control the plane in general.

But yeah, let's fire them for not doing a perfect landing after a mayday call for hydraulic failure. It was a nice day after all and the runway wasn't wet.
 
Interesting to see the commercial chassis fire truck there. It looks identical to the one we have at our volunteer department for our town of 600...

Thanks for the video BTW. Saw the story, but not the video or the backstory.
 
Flap up could have been involved. The reserve brakes are a little weird.

also typical to lose anti skid with hydraulic problems.

looks like they did ok. But it was definitely a ground loop!
 
Looks as if there was a dip or ditch that really caused the breakup; otherwise, it might be some tires and a good inspection and back in service (after fixing what ailed it in the first place.)
Rather startling to see something that big ground loop, in any case.
 
Tools said:
Flap up could have been involved. The reserve brakes are a little weird.

also typical to lose anti skid with hydraulic problems.

looks like they did ok. But it was definitely a ground loop!
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It looks like they had flaps down to me.

I don’t know (or claim to know) the first thing about a 757s hydraulic systems, but at least on the plane I fly if the main and backup systems go down you’re essentially using the parking brake to stop the airplane, so no differential braking and no anti-skid either.

I blew up the tires on my emergency brake landing in the sim.
 
With the easier access to the data boxes, this should be a fairly straight forward investigation.
I generally prefer to wait for evidence before pronouncing guilt. I do not mind speculation to a degree, by pronouncing guilt and punishment before the evidence somehow seems anti-American..

Tim
 
Prior to and during the turn to the right, he had rudder deflected to the left, so just ran out of authority from the steering system. The turn accelerated so fast, reducing thrust lever would have been too slow to save from the ground loop.

Surprised at how long to shut down the engines after entering the ditch, but doubtless, a lot going on during those last seconds of the "flight".
 
DavidWhite said:
It looks like they had flaps down to me.

I don’t know (or claim to know) the first thing about a 757s hydraulic systems, but at least on the plane I fly if the main and backup systems go down you’re essentially using the parking brake to stop the airplane, so no differential braking and no anti-skid either.

I blew up the tires on my emergency brake landing in the sim.
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If the L hydraulic system takes a dump you’ll have no nose wheel steering. You have anti skid available for all brake systems
 
steingar said:
I think someone isn't going to be a Captain for long. Didn't look wet, not weather to speak of. Brakes were clearly working since they got locked up. Not often you see someone drift an airliner.
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At some point you’ll need to admit that you’re not as smart as you think you are in some areas.
 
RyanB said:
At some point you’ll need to admit that you’re not as smart as you think you are in some areas.
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Don't think I claimed to be in aught but biomedical situations, and only then because of a great deal of intensive training. Just called it like I saw it. Sorry to get your panties in a wad.
 
steingar said:
Don't think I claimed to be in aught but biomedical situations, and only then because of a great deal of intensive training. Just called it like I saw it. Sorry to get your panties in a wad.
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Here’s a hint. You saw it wrong. I don’t think you are sorry about anything. You should not lie to people so much. It’s bad karma dude.
 
steingar said:
Don't think I claimed to be in aught but biomedical situations, and only then because of a great deal of intensive training. Just called it like I saw it. Sorry to get your panties in a wad.
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Panties aren’t in a wad, just stating that you speak beyond your understanding a lot of times. This incident isn’t related to biomedical science.
 
The 757 has three hydraulic systems, hydraulic nosewheel steering, hydraulic speed brakes, and hydraulic friction brakes. There are a number of different combinations of failed vs. working parts of the systems which all have different sets of what still works and what doesn't.

I saw, in one picture, that only a couple of the ground-spoiler panels were extended. It's been 10 years since I flew the 757/767 so don't remember the details of the different failure modes.
 
It would appear that the left hydraulic system failed, as the left reverser was not functioning. They might have saved the plane had they reduced thrust on the right engine to limit the asymmetrical thrust as the plane slowed. Lack of nose wheel steering became critical when the plane slowed.

Flaps, slats, and nose wheel steering are on that system too. The wheels being down indicates an alternate to hydraulic extension.

Those two were dealing with a lot of failed equipment. I do not think their jobs are at risk, but a mechanic may have some explaining to do.


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From https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/577598...-014_final.pdf
 
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I don't know anything about DHL, or the 757. But I'm willing to bet a cheeseburger that "how to get out of a ground loop" is not part of recurrent training for the 757 at DHL. :)

Cool video, though. Glad nobody got hurt. Hope nobody lost their packages. They'll make more cargo jets.
 
steingar said:
I think someone isn't going to be a Captain for long. Didn't look wet, not weather to speak of. Brakes were clearly working since they got locked up. Not often you see someone drift an airliner.
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Perhaps you missed the emergency gear, including the fire engine waiting for his arrival.

no idea what his problem was, but clearly there was an emergency declared.

they are, apparently alive and well. They done good.

it’s not for us to judge when we know next to nothing.
 
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