Stuff airlines don't tell you, or doesn't make news

[Deschodt]

Personal experience here...Yesterday my niece flew from Amsterdam to SFO and I went to pick her up... She started calling me from the runway !!!
Apparently the Dreamliner (Boeing) had a serious issue with its hydraulics. She reported it was flying weird and doing somewhat brutal descents stops, more like steps than a smooth curve... They landed like a brick - harder than she ever experienced, some people on board reported possible blown tire(s), but she could not see the aircraft from the windowless jetway, regardless there stopped dead on the active runway and went no further.. the pilot reported a hydraulic failure and an inability to move any further, not even leave the runway.. (I wasn't there so I dunno if they possibly did stop on a taxiway but she said runway, landed and stopped hard)

They waited for a tow for a solid 30 min and were dragged to the gate very slowly, eventually... Took about >1 hour to get there after landing.. With AC dripping water inside etc... People scared $hitless and wondering what the hell, threatening lawsuits etc...

Not the point - stuff happens, if there truly was a hydraulics issue that may have affected controls too and maybe she was lucky as hell.

What interests me is today, ZERO news on any google/channel/aviation site I can find... If this truly took out an active runway at SFO I'd expect something. That makes me wonder what else goes unreported out there... Anyone know if that data is public anywhere and if I can find out what happened (for grins) ? (KLM 0605 aug 17)

[911_Dude]

I used to see the airline reports almost daily. There are hundreds of "emergency" traffic priority requests from part 121 airlines on a daily basis. Most of the time the passengers wont even know it. And they really dont need to know it because they aren't in any serious danger and their schedules aren't affected. I dont know what happened in this particular case, but the fact that it wasn't reported anywhere is because it wasn't really news.

[Deschodt]

Really ? Based on what makes news around here (LOL) I'd have thought a plane stuck on an active runway needing dragged out may have raised an eyebrow... Still would love to know what happened, is that ever becoming public data with FAA or ???

[Arizona_928]

Would the pilots tell the cabin if they’re about to die and/or serious mechanical failures? Let all the souls go without the panic and chaos…. I think we know the answer to this question with that flight.

[GH85Carrera]

On average is the US, there are 44,000 flights and more than 3 million airline passengers across more than 29 million square miles of airspace every day. 99.99% are no issues at all. That small percentage of a minor failure is just not real news. You local news would be nothing but car crashes or car issues in the average city if they reported evey flat, crash, and run out of gas issue, and 99.99% would not happen if the driver was paying attention to the driving and maintenance on their autos.

[unclebilly]

I fly across the Atlantic with KLM all the time. They are my preferred airline. I would like to know more…

I hate stuff like this.

[unclebilly]

Apparently SFO should have a database of run at blockages or interruptions. Not sure if this is in the public domain.

Either nothing is available yet or they deem it not serious enough to report it.

Not good regardless.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

On average is the US, there are 44,000 flights and more than 3 million airline passengers across more than 29 million square miles of airspace every day. 99.99% are no issues at all. That small percentage of a minor failure is just not real news. You local news would be nothing but car crashes or car issues in the average city if they reported evey flat, crash, and run out of gas issue, and 99.99% would not happen if the driver was paying attention to the driving and maintenance on their autos.

We have all heard the old saw, "you are safer in the airliner than you are driving to the airport"...because it is true.

The only thing I care about is how the failure mode, and there appears to be a significant one in the OP, is that is tracked and analyzed has either a maintenance issue or a design issue leading to an Engineering Change Proposal or updates to maintenance procedures.

If you think about where you really are at 38kt feet in a machine, and all the "stuff" that got you there and all the "stuff" that can go wrong to prevent you from
getting back, commercial flight is amazing.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

I use this daily. NO mention at all of the SFO incident

https://airlive.net/

[Kraftwerk]

The most amazing airline factoid I ever heard, not sure if its even true.. is that TWA didn't make any profit for the first 35 years of service..I guess it is Gov't subsidized kind of like the USPS to promote business well being.

airlive.net shares astonishing information! ..and frightening (!) & i love flying.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by 3rd_gear_Ted

I use this daily. NO mention at all of the SFO incident

https://airlive.net/

yeah I'm on that, saw nothing.. that's what interests me because this is not hearsay.. I'm not trying to start $hit, I just happened to be talking to her on the phone "live" supposedly stuck on an active runway (out of 2) at a major airport, awaiting a tow for 30 min... Maybe they made a taxiway ? (she says no, runway, super hard landing, immediate full stop, pilot said he could not maneuver at all) but *I* was not on the plane so just looking for information out of curiosity. I like the technical aspect of airplanes and am curious if the hydraulics failure was also affecting the flying (she suspects it was not flying "normal" earlier), what they found, or if indeed it was peanuts... Also said once under tow the AC started leaking water and drenching people on one side of the plane... sounded like a bit of as cluster for KLM - just would love to learn what happened from an engineering standpoint. Could be nothing, could be stuff happens a lot more than we're told, interesting.. (aside from that she loved KLM)

Me, I was once in an aborted takeoff... That was impressive. If you thought planes could decelerate fast on landing, you have no idea how hard they can brake when aborting a takeoff, we all ate the front seat...

[911_Dude]

Im glad every little glitch on an airplane isnt public knowledge. In general, modern commercial aircraft are are some of the most complex machines ever created. Frankly, Im surprised more arent falling out of the sky all the time. But they dont. If the plane comes to a stop and you dont see fire trucks outside, then just let the process work. **** happens and there isnt anything to worry about. If the pilot announced that the #2 Phister valve quit and they cant taxi back, does that help anyone? In all likelihood noone on the plane has a clue what its for or what the implications are. So why?

I can think of a couple of reasons why an airliner may not taxi back on its own, Im sure there are lots more: Nose wheel steering failure, brake failure, landing gear unsafe... Its not a big deal. People are always surprised when the perfect world isnt perfect. I dont know, Im done with soap box.
.

[A930Rocket]

Glad to hear your niece made it to see you.

I worked at Boeing in Charleston for a year or so, way back when. Seeing some of the people there and the complexity of the airplane, myself and a few friends said we would never fly one of the 787s.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Sometimes the worst friends to have are airline pilots and doctors. They talk about work too much and knowing how the sausage gets made is not my idea of fun.

[David]

I've never been on a plane that had an issue but I have seen a few passengers have one.

Recently coming back from Europe we first heard the call for a doctor and then when we were past England and heading out over the Atlantic the plane turned around and landed in Scotland. Full ground emergency crew on landing. Plane taxied to remote area, ambulance pulled up, paramedics entered plane and passenger walked off.

Weirdest or worst was also coming back from Europe years ago. I don't sleep well on a plane so I went back to the galley for another beer. When I stepped through the curtain there was a young lady crying on the floor and several stewardesses standing around her. They asked me to go back to my seat. After a few minutes, they brought the girl up to my section and sat her in an empty pair of seats next to me. The stewardess leaned down to me and said a guy had touched her in coach and they were moving her up to get her away. When the plane landed, the pilot asked everyone to stay in their seat while the FBI took care of something. A couple of full gear FBI agents went to the back to get the guy and I assume the highest ranking female Lufthansa representative (she looked important ) at the airport got the girl. I checked the news later and there was nothing.

[ted]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

What interests me is today, ZERO news on any google/channel/aviation site I can find... If this truly took out an active runway at SFO I'd expect something. That makes me wonder what else goes unreported out there... Anyone know if that data is public anywhere and if I can find out what happened (for grins) ? (KLM 0605 aug 17)

We had an American MD80 land with one engine shut down.
Pilot asked us in the tower how it looked when he taxied past the tower.
The jet engine was missing because it had sheared off over AZ.
The fact the plane still could fly was shear luck. lol
In my 30 years in atc if the news did report an incident at the airport they never got it right.
Don't expect to find any accurate reports on your aircraft.

[ted]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

Sometimes the worst friends to have are airline pilots and doctors. They talk about work too much and knowing how the sausage gets made is not my idea of fun.

Was working in the tower late one night.
Commercial aircraft checks in with "Guess who?".
Controller turned off all the runway lights and said "guess where".

Single runway we ran squeeze plays all day.
If the departure was slow to roll plan B was to send the AC short final around.
Then you have a piggy back over the runway followed by a star burst as they merge and separate.

You know why women have a hard time as atc?
All their lives they have been told this is 6 inches now its 6 miles.
Here to I------------------------------------I here was 6 inches now 6 miles.

[KNS]

Originally Posted by David

I've never been on a plane that had an issue but I have seen a few passengers have one.

You possibly have. There's plenty of little issues that the flight crew simply isn't going to inform the passengers about. There's no point in alarming the pax about a mechanical write-up, the aircraft has still been determined safe to fly.

[Deschodt]

This one at least made the news today.. Seriously, Boeing is on a streak !!!

[Jeff Higgins]

After a long career in AOG I guarantee I could tell you guys stories that would scare you off of flying for the rest of your days. Except for Ted and Seahawk. I'm sure nothing I could say would even mildly surprise them. The rest of you would all be taking the train. Or a boat.