Post by kuragiman on Jan 12, 2015 21:59:13 GMT -5
"Welcome aboard Southwest flight 4551, non-stop service from Nashville to Louisiana. The weather is looking a little bleak in the Bayou country but nothing that will delay our departure or our arrival at Louis Armstrong Intentional. We aren't anticipating any delays and we'll be pushing back from the gate shortly. In the mean time enjoy this fine entertainment brought you by our excellent cabin crew. Take it away!"
That was the message I gave my PAX before we pushed from the gate for this night flight to the swamp lands of Louisiana. We were the proud crew of the newly christened Pocahontas One, the newest livery design to get slapped on one of our company 737-800NG aircraft. I had to admit the designers had really outdone themselves with this one. The plane was colorful to the say the least and you could almost feel it alive with the spirit of the wind. This was her 6th flight in service and it was almost her last one.
The departure from Nashville was routine and we climbed up to our cruising altitude. The rest of the flight was smooth sailing until we arrived over Louisiana. As we began to descend out of FL400 on our STAR everything seemed to be going according to schedule. There was some moderate rain and turbulence reported at Armstrong but nothing we couldn't handle. The feet clicked off. 38000...37000...36000. Looking good. VNAV was giving us a smooth ride down into the building grey overcast below. 24000...23000...22000. *THUNK* *SHAKE* *WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrummmmmble* A/T Disconnect warning? Oil pressure dropping in #2. N1 spooling down. Oh..... damn it.
"Looks like we have a flame out on #2."
Fantastic. Our new Disney princess plane is broken already? That can't be right. We try a mid-air engine restart. Nothing. #2 was silent and then I noticed something else was wrong. It wasn't just that #2 was out but I could see the fuel gauge was eating gas like the Cookie Monster ate cookies.
"Houston Center, Southwest 4551, Mayday Mayday Mayday, Engine #2 flame out and possible fuel leak. Requesting direct to Armstrong."
"Southwest 4551, Copy. Fly heading 220, descend and maintain 9000. Expect runway 10 arrival."
A quick calculation of our fuel burn on one engine vs. the leak vs. the total miles left. A big red X formed in my mind. I ran the numbers again. We were dead, crashing into the ground a few miles short of runway 10.
"Houston Center, Unable. We're going to need runway 19 direct in."
METAR data showed winds to be blowing 15mph with gusts of up to 22 straight south. The wind would push us in to the airport with only pounds to spare on the tanks... I hoped. It was never a good idea to land with a tailwind but the options didn't exist for anything else.
"Southwest 4551, copy. Turn left heading 200. Expect runway 19. Contact Approach on 123.85. Good luck sir."
We switched frequencies and got on the horn with approach who lined us up with a long final straight in for runway 19. The wind was really kicking us in the butt now. I got on the box to inform the PAX about the situation, just to keep them calm but I am pretty sure what ever good I did was erased by what happened when we sank into the clouds. With one engine screaming at 99% power the wind was starting to kick us left and right. I could hear the PAX gasping through the cockpit door. It was not the best ride in the amusement park I am sure. Both tanks were glowing yellow. Then the left tank went red. Eight miles out. We were passed off to tower who informed us that emergency equipment was standing by. I didn't like the image of my beautiful Pocahontas in a 7000 foot long pile of parts that 'reassurance' conjured up. No... not losing my plane or my PAX tonight. I defy you FSCAPTAIN!
We fought the wind all the way in. It was for us. It was against us. The extra speed it was giving us was going to save us. The extra turbulence it was hammering us with was going to kill us. Six miles. Couldn't see the runway. We passed JASPO at 2000 feet and started the slow fall to salvation or a one way ticket to Heaven. Still couldn't see the runway. The feet ticked off slowly. The fuel was down to 300 lbs. Then... we broke from the overcast at 600 feet. There was the runway. Two miles. Rudder don't fail me now. Watch the speed. We are doing 160KTs. Couldn't be helped. That's what you get when Mother Nature pushes you around like a playground bully. Don't lose it now K-Man. 200. 100. 50. 40. 20. 10. Hold on to your butts. *WHAM* -350/FPM. Brakes! Stop you big pig! 6000 feet to stop... on a rainy runway. Can't use reverser. Only have one. Don't need to go disco spinning off into the grass. Whoa mule. Whoaaaaaaaaa.....
"Southwest 4551, turn right on Whiskey. Welcome to Armstrong. Excellent job."
We limped up to the gate and just as the Marshallar gave us the 'Cut Engine' gesture it died on it's own from fuel starvation. Then the power went out. No fuel to run the APU. We just missed death by a minute.
We get praised by the office. Hailed as heroes by the PAX and probably made a headline or two. Pocahontas One went out of service for repairs on Engine #2. The engine itself was okay but the fuel lines feeding it had been damaged by whatever that *THUNK* was. It was a simple fix and 48 hours later she was ready to roll again.
Now this would normally be where the story would end only. Most captains will go their entire lives without ever encountering a major problem but just 7 flights later, going from Philly to Atlanta, the same thing occurred. Engine #2 flame out on descent into yet another storm, only this storm was worse. Ceilings reported at 200 feet with visibility of a mile. What the hell did you maintenance guys fix the plane with? Bubblegum?! How can the same thing happen to the same guy twice? A rhetorical question asked once by super cop John McClain and now asked by me... can't handle much more. My nerves are shot. We landed again and got the PAX safely to the gate but now I need to start drinking like Denzly in Flight.
(Seriously... with failures set at .5% how am I lucky enough to get TWO engine failure events in just 7 flights? This is why I don't play the lotto. My luck sucks!)
That was the message I gave my PAX before we pushed from the gate for this night flight to the swamp lands of Louisiana. We were the proud crew of the newly christened Pocahontas One, the newest livery design to get slapped on one of our company 737-800NG aircraft. I had to admit the designers had really outdone themselves with this one. The plane was colorful to the say the least and you could almost feel it alive with the spirit of the wind. This was her 6th flight in service and it was almost her last one.
The departure from Nashville was routine and we climbed up to our cruising altitude. The rest of the flight was smooth sailing until we arrived over Louisiana. As we began to descend out of FL400 on our STAR everything seemed to be going according to schedule. There was some moderate rain and turbulence reported at Armstrong but nothing we couldn't handle. The feet clicked off. 38000...37000...36000. Looking good. VNAV was giving us a smooth ride down into the building grey overcast below. 24000...23000...22000. *THUNK* *SHAKE* *WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrummmmmble* A/T Disconnect warning? Oil pressure dropping in #2. N1 spooling down. Oh..... damn it.
"Looks like we have a flame out on #2."
Fantastic. Our new Disney princess plane is broken already? That can't be right. We try a mid-air engine restart. Nothing. #2 was silent and then I noticed something else was wrong. It wasn't just that #2 was out but I could see the fuel gauge was eating gas like the Cookie Monster ate cookies.
"Houston Center, Southwest 4551, Mayday Mayday Mayday, Engine #2 flame out and possible fuel leak. Requesting direct to Armstrong."
"Southwest 4551, Copy. Fly heading 220, descend and maintain 9000. Expect runway 10 arrival."
A quick calculation of our fuel burn on one engine vs. the leak vs. the total miles left. A big red X formed in my mind. I ran the numbers again. We were dead, crashing into the ground a few miles short of runway 10.
"Houston Center, Unable. We're going to need runway 19 direct in."
METAR data showed winds to be blowing 15mph with gusts of up to 22 straight south. The wind would push us in to the airport with only pounds to spare on the tanks... I hoped. It was never a good idea to land with a tailwind but the options didn't exist for anything else.
"Southwest 4551, copy. Turn left heading 200. Expect runway 19. Contact Approach on 123.85. Good luck sir."
We switched frequencies and got on the horn with approach who lined us up with a long final straight in for runway 19. The wind was really kicking us in the butt now. I got on the box to inform the PAX about the situation, just to keep them calm but I am pretty sure what ever good I did was erased by what happened when we sank into the clouds. With one engine screaming at 99% power the wind was starting to kick us left and right. I could hear the PAX gasping through the cockpit door. It was not the best ride in the amusement park I am sure. Both tanks were glowing yellow. Then the left tank went red. Eight miles out. We were passed off to tower who informed us that emergency equipment was standing by. I didn't like the image of my beautiful Pocahontas in a 7000 foot long pile of parts that 'reassurance' conjured up. No... not losing my plane or my PAX tonight. I defy you FSCAPTAIN!
We fought the wind all the way in. It was for us. It was against us. The extra speed it was giving us was going to save us. The extra turbulence it was hammering us with was going to kill us. Six miles. Couldn't see the runway. We passed JASPO at 2000 feet and started the slow fall to salvation or a one way ticket to Heaven. Still couldn't see the runway. The feet ticked off slowly. The fuel was down to 300 lbs. Then... we broke from the overcast at 600 feet. There was the runway. Two miles. Rudder don't fail me now. Watch the speed. We are doing 160KTs. Couldn't be helped. That's what you get when Mother Nature pushes you around like a playground bully. Don't lose it now K-Man. 200. 100. 50. 40. 20. 10. Hold on to your butts. *WHAM* -350/FPM. Brakes! Stop you big pig! 6000 feet to stop... on a rainy runway. Can't use reverser. Only have one. Don't need to go disco spinning off into the grass. Whoa mule. Whoaaaaaaaaa.....
"Southwest 4551, turn right on Whiskey. Welcome to Armstrong. Excellent job."
We limped up to the gate and just as the Marshallar gave us the 'Cut Engine' gesture it died on it's own from fuel starvation. Then the power went out. No fuel to run the APU. We just missed death by a minute.
We get praised by the office. Hailed as heroes by the PAX and probably made a headline or two. Pocahontas One went out of service for repairs on Engine #2. The engine itself was okay but the fuel lines feeding it had been damaged by whatever that *THUNK* was. It was a simple fix and 48 hours later she was ready to roll again.
Now this would normally be where the story would end only. Most captains will go their entire lives without ever encountering a major problem but just 7 flights later, going from Philly to Atlanta, the same thing occurred. Engine #2 flame out on descent into yet another storm, only this storm was worse. Ceilings reported at 200 feet with visibility of a mile. What the hell did you maintenance guys fix the plane with? Bubblegum?! How can the same thing happen to the same guy twice? A rhetorical question asked once by super cop John McClain and now asked by me... can't handle much more. My nerves are shot. We landed again and got the PAX safely to the gate but now I need to start drinking like Denzly in Flight.
(Seriously... with failures set at .5% how am I lucky enough to get TWO engine failure events in just 7 flights? This is why I don't play the lotto. My luck sucks!)
