Conjecture on 737 crash?

[dhoward]

Electronic locks.
Double-secret code.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Mark Wilson
How would the FA get through the locked cockpit door?

Mark,

These doors are "reinforced" but a good kick or three will open any of them. All it does is slow down entry long enough that the pilots have a chance to pull their weapon or several large passengers to come forward and have a "come to Jesus" talk with the perps.

The F/A's all have keys to the cockpit doors. I have one somewhere but then I used to fly for Boeing!

Joe A

[singpilot]

Mainstream press now has the FA at the controls story.

Not been verified yet, but previous two flights reported 'cold cabins', and a couple of weeks ago, a door seal folded, and plane crash dived to 11000, injuring 3. The FO on the last day was called on short notice to do the flight. His mother is in front of the cameras now saying he didn't want to go on THAT airplane because it 'had problems'. The FO that didn't go that day outranked him, and had the same problem with the plane. Yep, in every language, it still rolls downhill.

[StevoRocket]

Another 737 problem with pressurisation....

BBc News


Holiday plane's emergency landing
A British Boeing 737 packed with 144 holidaymakers heading to Leeds has been forced to make an emergency landing.

The British owned Astraeus plane was carrying passengers from Menorca when the pilot requested the landing at Brest-Guipavas airport in France.

A spokesman for Leeds Bradford Airport said the request was made after an alarm in the cockpit alerted the pilot to a potential loss of cabin pressure.

Oxygen masks were deployed in the cabin but all passengers are said to be fine.

The AEU952 flight from Mahon was cruising at its normal altitude of 36,000ft when a technical fault within the aircraft's pressurisation system activated the alarm.

Oxygen masks

The flight crew followed routine emergency drills which included donning their own oxygen masks as the cabin pressure fell and a rapid descent was initiated.

At that time the plane was 60km west of Brest so the pilot made his request to land.

"During this time as the cabin pressure levels fell, the passenger oxygen masks automatically deployed and passengers were directed by the cabin crew to use them," the spokesman said.

The aircraft landed safely at Brest at 1830 BST.

A replacement aircraft has been sent from Gatwick to collect the passengers and is expected to arrive at Leeds Bradford at 0045 BST.

The original aircraft will remain at Brest until a full engineering examination has been carried out.

[singpilot]

That's the way it's supposed to work. I mean the way it supposed to work when it doesn't work. You know what I mean.......

[Forrest39]

My understanding is that this particular guppy was a 99 model 500 or 300, but not an NG.
I've heard speculation as to why there was no Captain on the flight deck and a flight attendant instead. - Some places stipulate this as security procedure when the other pilot takes a bio-brake.
I've also heard a rumor that the day after the accident that some airlines had a mandatory check of the oxygen valves to make sure they were open and also some pneumatic ducting inspections. Don't really know what was driving this... CYA maybe?
-4ist

P.S. Thanks Scott for the tour of the office!

[Joeaksa]

Latest on the Helio's Boeing crash:

Student Pilot Was At Controls, Says Magazine

A Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 full of unconscious or semiconscious crew and passengers ran out of fuel with a student pilot / flight attendant at the controls before crashing in Greece last week, according to a report in Flight International.

The flight's cockpit voice recorder has been recovered (in pieces), but its contents have not been publicly disclosed. The magazine said it obtained an exclusive interview with Capt. Akrivos Tsolakis, the head of the Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board, who confirmed earlier reports that a male flight attendant, identified by a Macedonian news agency as Andreas Prodromou, who had a few hours of private pilot instruction, managed to take the plane off autopilot and begin a descent.

If true, that might help explain the plane's final maneuvers, which included "a descent from 37,000 feet to 2,000 feet and then an ascent to 7,000 feet," according to a report from The Associated Press. Meanwhile, the coroner has reported carbon monoxide was not responsible for rendering the aircraft's occupants unconscious -- decompression still ranks high in suspected causes.

Late reports state that the plane ran out of fuel as it passed through 7,000 feet (and after about three hours in the air, on a scheduled 80-minute flight). It crashed about 25 miles northeast of Athens. According to Flight International, Tsolakis said Prodromou and another flight attendant were able to stay conscious by using portable oxygen tanks after the rest of the crew and passengers passed out when the air conditioning and pressurization system malfunctioned.

The magazine said Tsolakis noted that the plane's air conditioning had been fixed five times in the previous two months. On the crash flight, the captain reported air conditioning problems a few minutes into the flight but the plane continued to climb, likely on autopilot, to 34,000 feet. The last radio communication with the plane was 11 minutes into the flight.


...Radio Problems?...

One question that arises out of the flight-attendant-at-the-helm scenario is why that flight attendant, who apparently managed to disengage the autopilot, was unable to use the radio to call for help. In fact, one aviation expert interviewed by The Associated Press suggested the lack of communication was deliberate. "Someone knew how to work the airplane," said Paul Czysz. "Obviously he didn't want to contact the tower."

However, the online version of a Bulgarian newspaper, Information Agency Focus, quoting an unnamed technician for Olympic Airlines, reported that there were radio problems with the plane. The newspaper said the Olympic Airlines technician claimed that a Helios official was told that the captain of the crash airplane informed controllers of the communications problem but was told by the tower to continue the flight.

Meanwhile, the airline issued a statement insisting the aircraft was properly maintained and the crew properly trained and qualified for the flight. It said the "partial, inaccurate or sensationalist reporting of events surrounding the accident serves no purpose except to increase the confusion and distress of the families of those on board."

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/455-full.html

My question is why wasnt the oxygen bottle shared with one of the pilots early on to allow the plane to descent?

Joe A