Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours • Hacker News Board

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#31

Post by captain_perl » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:15 AM UTC

14 wrote: post #25

I have been trying to go over how this could happen. The damage to the wall seems so severe that I would image even over the sound of the engine the pilot would hear and notice that they had hit a wall. Flying the plane at this point would be risking their life. The first thing that came to my mind was the only reason a pilot would risk his life is if his life was already at risk and if he had been drinking when he h…

After V1, the accelerate-stop distance, the pilot is committed to continue flying.

The cargo area of most airliners is not pressurized, so the gash is not an immediate problem.

In a case like this, the pilots would want to climb to several thousand feet and evaluate the situation before landing.

Looks like the pilot did a great job once it was realized the airplane was damaged of remaining calm and flying the airplane.

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#32

Post by captain_perl » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:16 AM UTC

burfog wrote: post #29

decasia wrote: post #4

The obvious mystery is why you would keep flying for so long after an incident like this...

A good reason would be fuel weight on possibly damaged landing gear. Also, the airport wasn't good anymore. They had just destroyed the Instrument Landing System at the end of the runway. Nobody should land there.

The ILS is not necessary for landing in VFR conditions, although non-USA pilots tend to rely on it as a crutch.

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#33

Post by lavrov » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:17 AM UTC

captain_perl wrote: post #31

14 wrote: post #25

I have been trying to go over how this could happen. The damage to the wall seems so severe that I would image even over the sound of the engine the pilot would hear and notice that they had hit a wall. Flying the plane at this point would be risking their life. The first thing that came to my mind was the only reason a pilot would risk his life is if his life was already at risk and if he had been drinking when he h…

After V1, the accelerate-stop distance, the pilot is committed to continue flying. The cargo area of most airliners is not pressurized, so the gash is not an immediate problem. In a case like this, the pilots would want to climb to several thousand feet and evaluate the situation before landing. Looks like the pilot did a great job once it was realized the airplane was damaged of remaining calm and flying the airplan…

Not a pilot, and not trying to be an armchair pilot, but why would he have ascended all the way to 36000 feet? Isn't there a real risk of depressurization with hull damage?

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#34

Post by ams6110 » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:18 AM UTC

cycrutchfield wrote: post #10

irrational wrote: post #2

It wasn't clear from the article. What kind of wall did they hit?

It's in the linked Twitter thread. It was a brick wall. https://twitter.com/shukla_tarun/status/1050581391828836352

Well a single layer, unreinforced brick wall isn't really that strong, especially near the top edge. It's perhaps plausible they didn't feel anything or at least nothing very alarming. I mean, the gear presumably still retracted properly and deployed later for landing, so it wasn't damaged too badly.

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#35

Post by voodooranger » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:22 AM UTC

captain_perl wrote: post #31

14 wrote: post #25

I have been trying to go over how this could happen. The damage to the wall seems so severe that I would image even over the sound of the engine the pilot would hear and notice that they had hit a wall. Flying the plane at this point would be risking their life. The first thing that came to my mind was the only reason a pilot would risk his life is if his life was already at risk and if he had been drinking when he h…

After V1, the accelerate-stop distance, the pilot is committed to continue flying. The cargo area of most airliners is not pressurized, so the gash is not an immediate problem. In a case like this, the pilots would want to climb to several thousand feet and evaluate the situation before landing. Looks like the pilot did a great job once it was realized the airplane was damaged of remaining calm and flying the airplan…

the cargo hold of a 737 is indeed pressurized https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/8252/are-cargo-...

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#36

Post by userbinator » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:23 AM UTC

The AVherald article: http://avherald.com/h?article=4bedd321&opt=0

As some of the others have mentioned, the reason the plane survived is likely because that was not a pressurised area. If it had breached the pressure vessel they would've noticed it very quickly (lack of pressurisation).

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#37

Post by ehnto » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:25 AM UTC

codeisawesome wrote: post #30

14 wrote: post #25

I have been trying to go over how this could happen. The damage to the wall seems so severe that I would image even over the sound of the engine the pilot would hear and notice that they had hit a wall. Flying the plane at this point would be risking their life. The first thing that came to my mind was the only reason a pilot would risk his life is if his life was already at risk and if he had been drinking when he h…

How will the alcohol ‘leave his system’ in the 4 hours it takes to fly to Dubai from India?

Pilots would have to blow 0.0 but that doesn't mean zero evidence of alcohol. In 4 hours you can metabolise around 4 standard drinks out of your bloodstream. It's not like drugs where any trace is bad because it's illegal.

That said, I'm not sure I am on board with the explanation. It could just be that with everything going on in a cockpit it wasn't noticed.

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#38

Post by praneshp » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:29 AM UTC

nirav72 wrote: post #20

Air India, an old antiquated government subsidized airline that should die.

Right, there have been no incidents in privately run airlines over the past few years.

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#39

Post by 14 » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:30 AM UTC

captain_perl wrote: post #31

14 wrote: post #25

I have been trying to go over how this could happen. The damage to the wall seems so severe that I would image even over the sound of the engine the pilot would hear and notice that they had hit a wall. Flying the plane at this point would be risking their life. The first thing that came to my mind was the only reason a pilot would risk his life is if his life was already at risk and if he had been drinking when he h…

After V1, the accelerate-stop distance, the pilot is committed to continue flying. The cargo area of most airliners is not pressurized, so the gash is not an immediate problem. In a case like this, the pilots would want to climb to several thousand feet and evaluate the situation before landing. Looks like the pilot did a great job once it was realized the airplane was damaged of remaining calm and flying the airplan…

@ codeisawesome If he only had a small drink he might have though a couple hours flight time is all his body needed to metabolise the alcohol to where it wouldn't be detected. Again I hate to speculate here and hope that there is a more rational explanation as to why things went the way they did. For example like captain_perl said at a certain speed the pilot is commited to take off. Ok, but why continue flying and not get enough height to turn around and land immediately? Was he following some protocol that states continue climbing then assess damage? Did air traffic tell him to proceed as planned? To the casual observer here, things don't add up. I am hoping there is some explanation but at this point something weird seems to have happened or we are missing a part of the picture. Very interesting.

Re: Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours

#40

Post by comex » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 12:33 AM UTC

14 wrote: post #39

captain_perl wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After V1, the accelerate-stop distance, the pilot is committed to continue flying. The cargo area of most airliners is not pressurized, so the gash is not an immediate problem. In a case like this, the pilots would want to climb to several thousand feet and evaluate the situation before landing. Looks like the pilot did a great job once it was realized the airplane was damaged of remaining calm and flying the airplan…

@ codeisawesome If he only had a small drink he might have though a couple hours flight time is all his body needed to metabolise the alcohol to where it wouldn't be detected. Again I hate to speculate here and hope that there is a more rational explanation as to why things went the way they did. For example like captain_perl said at a certain speed the pilot is commited to take off. Ok, but why continue flying and n…

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