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Topic: All Four Engines Have Failed
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Graham Ritchie
Film God
Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted September 03, 2013 06:32 PM
I am reading a book at the moment, found lately in an old book store called "Verdict on Erebus" written by Peter Mahon.
He was known then as Mr Justice Mahon, a judge of the high Court of New Zealand and was the Royal Commissioner appointed to report on the cause of the tragedy on Mt Erebus, when a Air New Zealand DC10 crashed on the slopes killing all 257 on board back in 1979.
It makes chilling reading...especially during his summing up, when he stated that he had heard a "Orchestrated Litany of Lies" from the company...that really stirred things up.
The company was quick to blame the pilots, however it was the judge that discovered that a serious mistake had been made on the nav computor track, which had been changed the night before the flight, that was to place the aircraft 30 miles of course and in direct line with the mountain instead of McMurdo Sound. This was never passed on to the pilots.
So many other factors came into play as well, including "whiteout conditions" the crew were not familiar with.
I was working at the airport that day when the news spread, that the the DC10 was overdue on its return scenic flight from over Antarctic to Christchurch. It wasn't till late in the afternoon that it was stated, that the aircraft by this stage would have run out of fuel.
Soon after an american helicopter pilot discovered wreckage on the slopes of Mt Erebus.
Air New Zealand stopped all scenic flights to Antarctic and soon the DC10 was replaced with the 747.
Although many years have passed, Peter Mahan book "Verdict On Erebus"..makes very interesting reading by a judge determined to get to the truth.
Graham.
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted September 03, 2013 06:58 PM
Graham, many years ago I read a book about air disasters, and the author compared the designs of the three major jumbo jets, the Boeing 747, the Lockheed Tristar, and the Douglas DC10. He concluded that the Lockheed Tristar was number one, closely followed by the 747. He though both were superbly designed aircraft. But he really went to town on the DC10, making it perfectly clear that, in his opinion, the DC10 was an inferior design aircraft with a host of design issues and major safety issues. Cargo doors falling off in midflight, causing depressurization of the cargo hold and collapse of the cabin floor and crushing of the hydraulic lines being just one of them. You may also recall that catastrophic DC10 crash at Chicago O'Hare airport when the engine literally fell off the plane right at the point of take off. They were all grounded for a while as the company made a design change to the single bolt that held the engine up against the fuselage . I have never trusted the plane, or its successor the MD11 ever since. Once, flying back from the UK a few years ago, I forgot to check the aircraft for my flight and was horrified when I took my seat to find I was on a DC10! It was a nail biting 9 hour flight for me, to say the least!
-------------------- The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection, Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted September 04, 2013 10:35 AM
Robert, I am sure that all of the early safety issues on the DC10 have now been put to bed. I still see them flying out from Orlando International on a daily basis so I dont think that any of the airlines would be flying unsafe planes. Its just that, for me personally, based on its early history, it is not a plane I choose to fly on, in fact I will go out of my way to avoid it. Everytime I look at one, the horror of that Chicago crash comes back.
-------------------- The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection, Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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