Just watched this account from Captain John Hutchinson on the tragic crash of the Air France Concorde and what he said shocked me to the core!
I know it happened years ago and probably should be forgotten but just wonder, if the captain of Air France had not requested a full fuel load whether this accident might have been prevented. Also the aircraft was overweight, c of g out of balance and it took off downwind when it should have been into wind.
.... and trying to make up time, aeroports de paris, omitted the runway sweep that was supposed to be carried out before every Concorde departure. That would have found the debris that fell off the departing DC10 moments earlier...
Ttfn
Pete
An Elephant is a Mouse designed to
a government specification.
Thanks for posting Nigel - that was a very compelling account of the crash and all its causes by John Hutchinson. I really think I should have a read of his biography [ISBN: 978-0-9562176-2-2]: apparently it's available on Kindle for just £3.99 at the moment. He's certainly led an eventful life, including acting as Second Officer on the fatal crash of BOAC Flight 712.
Hi Nick, thought you might be interested in these two videos in which John Hutchinson talks about his flying career from the early days of the RAF right through to Concorde.
That was very interesting and shows how no one event leads to a disaster but when several coincide that such an event is almost unavoidable. Up until today I was under the impression that it was caused only by hit the object left behind on the runway by the DC10.
That was very interesting and shows how no one event leads to a disaster but when several coincide that such an event is almost unavoidable. Up until today I was under the impression that it was caused only by hit the object left behind on the runway by the DC10.
Its what we call the swiss cheese model, when all the holes line up you get an incident/accident
Ttfn
Pete
An Elephant is a Mouse designed to
a government specification.
That's quite a revelation. I too had assumed that the accident was entirely down to the debris on the runway. I do remember meeting up with Ed Walters, of Plane Design, and he told me about the missing wheel spacer, but up until now I hadn't realised how much it contributed to the accident.
Hi Nick, thought you might be interested in these two videos [...]
Thanks Nigel - I'll certainly make time to watch them once the summery weather departs! In fact, that whole "aircrew interviews" Youtube channel had passed me by and there looks to be some very interesting stuff on there.
