Manglore Air Tragedy – Part 2

Manglore Air Tragedy – Part 2<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />​

After I posted the blog in the morning of Sunday, at night , after cards, I went thru the papers deeply, as nothing great was coming on TV, and I happened to see this on the front page of the TOI dated 23/5/10, Sunday.






I have enclosed the clipping but u cant read it, as it is too long and wont come in one scan. Now this is a very strange report, which only TOI has reported and no one else among the 4 papers that come on Sunday.


When the pilot lands with a bump, we call it a hard landing, and when the pilot lands smoothly, it is called a soft landing.We praise the pilot in the first instance and curse him or her, (we have lady pilots too these days don’t forget that ) , correct ? I am guilty of this crime, hence I assume most of u react the same way as me.



Now here is something unusual . Last year Air <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on"><ST1LACE w:st="on">India</ST1LACE></ST1:COUNTRY-REGION> issued a diktat to pilots to avoid hard landings, and go for soft landings, meaning passengers must have that smooth landing effect. Did this diktat force the pilot of this flight to make the error ?


Now what is the difference between the two landings, and which is better and safer ?


In a hard landing, where passengers complain, the plane touches near the end of the runway with a 2 G force, which means the force of twice the weight of the Aircraft, hence the thud, and the bump we feel, but the plane gets a longer runway to slow down.


In the case of a soft landing, the pilot has to glide in the air over the touchline for a longer time, and distance, meaning he flies inches over the runaway, and then touches down, giving a soft landing, but in the process goes way beyond the baseline, where he is supposed to land, so he needs an extra long runway for that.


In the case of the <ST1LACE w:st="on"><ST1LACENAME w:st="on">Manglore</ST1LACENAME> <ST1LACETYPE w:st="on">Airport</ST1LACETYPE></ST1LACE>, it being hilly and a short runway, the best was the hard landing, whereby the pilot got more curses from the passengers, but also got more runway to negotiate.


Ixedoc in his blog has said that he has had many bumpy rides while landing, and I think those bumps saved his life that often. Here is what he had to say in his blog

( Ixedoc is blogger at another site.His is a senior doctor in the Manglore Govt Hospital, where most of the bodies were taken of this aircrash)

So I guess it is better to have a hard landing and bruise yr Bums, than lose your life in a soft landing ! the next time I have a hard landing, I will applaud the pilot in front of everyone.

Finally here is what the TOI said at the end of the article

“It is indeed pilot error, but it is an error that was forced by the management policy for smooth landings.A hard landing may be uncomfortable landing, but sometimes it is safer than a smooth landing “


I just hope all the pilots, passengers and Aircraft Managments all over the world, agree to hard landings, and I hope air India remove this diktat on soft landing immediately, so that pilots are not pressurized.


The newspaper says, I f a pilot has a few hard landings, and the passengers complain he is taken off duty, maybe his salary suspended, and he is retrained for some time, to give soft landings, I think cruel in the given circumstances of what happened at Manglore.


When will wiser counsel prevail ?


And please remember u readers know more of flights than me, for I am a train traveler mostly, and u guys travel so much, this is little from what I read in the papers. I don’t travel much, by flights, too expensive for me, I preferred a 36 hour train journey from Chennai to Jaipur last year, at 2000/- second AC, than a 7000 flight.

Maybe I am penny wise pound foolish, but too late to change myself now. Not that I am scared of flights, for if I have to die , I will someday, and even trains have accidents, but money matter to me a lot, and when I am retired and in no hurry to reach anywhere fast, and with no boss to foot my Fight Bill, I count each penny, time being of no essence to me these days.


Reminds of an old Mehmood joke “ In plane where u are , in train there u are “, meaning in plane God knows where <ST1:CITY w:st="on"><ST1LACE w:st="on">ur</ST1LACE></ST1:CITY> body will be, in a train, there will be yr body , somewhere reachable.


KAMAL MAHTANI

 

Dear Monifa,

i did not mean to imply that one travels by train, and u cant do so from Australia to India, but we can in india itself, we have a choice.

Even i was not aware of these landings, till i read in the papers.There are less accidents in planes than in cars and trains, statistics prove that.

But if we have to prefer safety at landing, then i would personally go for a hard landing.:biglaugh

Thanks.kamal

 

Dear CL,

it would require a month to ravel from USA to india by train, if there is one that is:biglaugh

Dont be scared, these thigns happen sometimes.rare these days.planes have become pretty safe.Relax.

Regards

kamal

 

Dea rKelly,

Lucky u , u get to fly so often eh ! poor me sticks to trains.:biglaugh
Yes see u learnt something from me, about the landings, which i learnt from the papers.This is called passing of knowledge eh !:biglaugh

Yes i agree with u, pilots should be left to take their own decisions.

And i think it is time, All Airlines inform passengers of these landings, and tell them tht hard landings are good for their health and safety, so please dont compalin to us.

Regards

kamal

 

Dear Ami,

Agreed , it an differ from Airport to airport.But as for a smooth landing, the pilot has a shorter runaway to negotiate, he will have to brake harder, which can result in risk to tyres bursting in the process.

Once u the wheels touch the ground, it is diffficult for the pilot to take off again, so i think.

Regards

kamal