Airborne
Connections
Cabin Crew Focus
|
Airborne | Flying home | Lifestyle | Feedback | Gallery |
| Air Safety | |
 |
Flight Attendant sees 'near miss' |
|
Cabin Fires in Flight |
|
In Flight Fires - how long do you have? |
|
Health and Lifestyle |
|
|
In Flight Health Issues |
|
What's on at your overnight stop? |
|
Why we don't use Astrology and Gambling |
|
Health, Humour, Poetry, Products, Links |
|
Keeping the Faith |
|
|
Does God have a Call on your life? |
|
F/A Francis Murphy (ANZ) - Following the Spirit |
|
F/A Valerie Ong (SQ) meets Michael Jackson |
|
Finding Love |
|
Whose Millennium is it anyway? |
|
Flying On Course - Growing your Faith |
| Contacts | |
|
Crew Fellowship Contacts around the world |
|
Missions supported by Airborne |
|
Airborne Registration |
|
First the Chief Pilot relates the story On Monday 3 August 1998, a Sunstate Dash-8 operation QF2420 NTL to BNE, came to within 1 km horizontally and 200 ft vertically from an Ansett 737. This occurred when under radar surveillance whilst manoeuvring to land on RWY 19 at Brisbane. Without going into too much detail, there were three aircraft being radar-vectored during their approach from the south-east of the airport. The first aircraft was an Ansett BAE 146, then our Dash-8, and the Ansett 737. When the aircraft broke clear of cloud and reported visual, the Dash-8 was instructed to ‘sight and follow a 737 in their 10-o’clock position'. The crew sighted an aircraft (the BAE 146 as it ultimately turned out to be) some 7 - 8 miles ahead in the nominated relative position and reported ‘traffic sighted The Dash-8 was instructed to follow that aircraft. The B737 was in fact abeam to the left and slightly behind the Dash-8. The controller did not tell the Dash-8 they were to be number 3 in the landing sequence. The Dash-8 crew understood they were following the ‘sighted’ aircraft, which they thought was a 737. The Dash-8 crew was instructed to make a close approach to land on RWY 19 and turned the aircraft to the left which placed the real 737 and the Dash-8 on a collision course. The radio frequency was busy with the controller handling many other aircraft. When the controller saw the aircraft getting closer and when he could get a word in (due to the radio chatter) he asked the Dash to confirm they were number two to the 737. The Dash responded with ‘affirm, that the one that just landed'. The controller then realised the Dash-8 did not have the 737 sighted at all and told the Dash-8 to immediately turn right. Both aircraft subsequently landed without further incident.
The Flight Attendant’s Perspective "This is to inform you of an incident I experienced on a flight recently. The only reason I want to share this with you is so that everyone can hopefully learn from my experience. Everything seemed normal. Sixteen passengers with approximately 15 minutes flight time left. I was talking to a passenger seated in 2A when I noticed another aircraft out of the window. I decided to sit in 1A and take a closer look. It was an Ansett B737 flying parallel with us, but it seemed a little slower. I sat and stared at this 737. The more l looked at it, I couldn’t help but think how strange it was to see another aircraft flying along beside us. I’ve seen aircraft this close when flying around Europe, but not here in Brisbane. It’s amazing what can go through your mind all at once. I thought, ‘That aircraft looks close, but is it really?’ (After all I’m not a pilot who am I to say it’s close, and it wasn’t like I could see into their cabin or anything, but it looked strange for some reason to me). I then thought to myself, ‘I wonder who is going to land first?’ Finally I thought, ‘I hope that air traffic controller who stuffed up with the Air NZ flight a couple of weeks ago, isn’t on today'. The double chime went for me to sit down, so I did my PA, and secured the cabin for landing. However, I wasn’t quite ready to take my flight attendant seat just yet. I jumped back into lA to take one last look at the Ansett B737. 1 spotted it in the same sort of position and thought I had better sit in my seat for landing as we were getting close. As I neared my seat our aircraft suddenly veered off to the right and I found myself scrambling to reach my seat. I knew in my mind there and then that something had happened. But what? Had we swerved to avoid an incident? Was it something to do with that Ansett 737? I had to know more. Once safely in my seat I asked the passenger in 2A whom I knew as frequent flier: ‘Can you still see that Ansett aircraft? Due to the sudden right-hand turn it was out of view and he answered ‘No, - I was satisfied for the moment. Once on the ground amongst all the confusion of a quick turnaround I temporarily forgot the incident and put it to the back of my mind. It wasn’t until the flight back to Newcastle that I got the chance to find out more. I asked the crew what had happened with that Ansett 737 on landing into Brisbane. They were surprised that I was actually aware of the incident in the first place. The captain and first officer explained briefly about the incident. The captain said to me that he wished I had come forward and voiced my concerns. My response to that was, ‘Captain, how can I as a flight attendant come up to the flight deck after the double chime for landing and say, ‘Excuse me, have you seen that 737 to our left?". How could I have gone up and stated such a thing without them telling me, ‘Of course we know it’s there’. The captain also said that with my experience I should feel confident to gauge such things. Fair comment I thought, but as I said, I’m not a pilot and just because I thought the situation wasn’t normal, who am I to judge what’s a safe distance and what’s not? A few days later a meeting was held by BASI at the airport and I was asked to attend. I was looking forward to seeing exactly what happened on that morning. They had the screen that ATC had been monitoring with all the aircraft movements at that time, and the voice recordings between ATC and the aircraft. It wasn’t until I saw the two aircraft moving towards one another on the radar screen and heard ATC suddenly blurt out, ‘Turn right immediately...turn right immediately’ that I realised how serious the situation had been. I suddenly felt sick. I then had a chat with Sunstate’s inflight services manager and told her I felt like I had failed. I didn’t follow my instinct and just did it. I thought I was the one over-reacting and I let my own self-doubt get in the way. We are all encouraged to go to the flight deck if an abnormal situation arises. I don’t think any of us have a problem doing this. However, how do we decide what is normal and what isn’t? In this situation I found it hard to do so. My advice, in such situations, would be to follow your instincts no matter how trivial or silly it may seem. After discussing this with our CRM training co-ordinator, I told him I would feel better if everyone in Sunstate knew about the incident and could somehow lean from this. I didn’t want to wait until you did a CRM course to find out about this. I felt you needed to know now so we can learn from this and avoid such instances happening in the future. Next time there may be no story to tell." Credit: BASI Asia-Pacific Air Safety, March 1999, page 18 |
"Passengers saw the window panels crack and melt, then immediately panicked as the toxic smoke made each breath feel ‘solid’ in their throats."
ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO A British Airtours Boeing 737-236 at Manchester International Airport was engulfed in flames while getting ready for take-off.A 7kt wind carried a fire in the left engine onto and around the rear fuselage, rapidly penetrating the hull. Shortly before the aircraft came to a halt the aft right door was opened, allowing transient flames into the cabin, which developed quickly into a fire. The smoke disoriented and incapacitated the 137 passengers and crew - with some rendered helpless from the effects of inhaling toxic fumes.
Most fatalities in aircraft fire occur when passengers are overcome by heat or by the effects of smoke toxicity (or smoke inhalation) rather than from the fire itself. The toxic gases produced by burning seats, plastic, carpet and other parts of the cabin are so strong that they incapacitate passengers and crew, which impairs performance and obscures vision, and can cause death after only a few minutes of exposure.
Survivors of the Manchester accident related the fear and panic created by the heat and smoke produced by the fire. Passengers saw the window panels crack and melt, then immediately panicked as the toxic smoke made each breath feel "solid" in their throats. Many passengers stumbled and collapsed in aisles, forcing others to struggle over seats and delaying evacuation. Only 45 per cent of passengers escaped before the smoke had reached them.
Action to take
A cabin fire, no matter how small, is potentially the most dangerous situation you will confront. Any sign of fire, even signs that are not visible, such as smell, smoke or sound - should always be investigated immediately.
Apply these basic procedures to all fires:
· Fight the fire... you can fight the fire by removing an element from the fire circle:
starve the fuel source, eg, by removing paper from a waste-bin fire.
remove the source of ignition by cooling the heat, eg, by dousing embers with water or a non-alcoholic beverage.
remove the oxygen from the fire, eg, smother the fire with a blanket.
· Advise the flight deck; and keep them informed on the status of the fire.
· Never leave the fire unattended; you should ask another flight attendant to report it.
· Never turn your back on a fire; always ensure scene control - check for possible reignition and ensure appropriate management of passengers.
It is vital that cabin crew remain alert and conscious in the event of a fire. To limit the effects of toxic fumes, a wet cloth should be placed over your nose and mouth (a headrest cover or any other available fabric is suitable). Use water, soft drink or other non-alcoholic beverages to moisten the fabric. Some toxic gases are water soluble and will dissolve in the fabric, reducing the volume of toxic gas entering your system.
The heat and toxic gases will rise to the ceiling, so you should get as close to the floor as possible to restrict inhalation and avoid heat. Instruct passengers to do so, if necessary.
Credit: CASA Austrtalia Flight Safety Magazine, April 99.
Further Info... On Board Fires - How long do you have?
Sources of Toxic Gases GAS SOURCE SYMPTOMS CARBON
MONOXIDECabin furnishings Tears, physical incapacitation, disorientation, headache, dizziness, dimmed vision, disturbance of judgement, coma, death from cardiotoxicity. HYDROGEN
CYANIDEWool, silk, nitrogen containing synthetics Tears, physical incapacitation, disorientation, convulsions, nausea, vomiting, weakness, dizziness, nausea, convulsion, coma, death. HYDROGEN CHLORIDE Wiring insulation, other cabin materials Irritation to eyes, nose, mouth. CARBON
DIOXIDECabin furnishings Increases respiration rate causing an increase in the uptake of other combustion gases.
Why we don't use Astrology
We Worship the One who Made the Stars!
"God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars." (Gen 1:16)
"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." (Isaiah 40:26).
"And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars - all the heavenly array - do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven." (Deut 4:19)
The Bible teaches us not to use Horoscopes, Astrology and gambling. "Horror" is the right word, for the following reasons:
We must not put our trust in other people telling our future. We put our hope in God. To look elsewhere is idolatry.
We must not put faith in created things ~ but in the Creator. To take our leading from the stars is idolatry.
We do not trust to luck (gambling). We bring our needs to the Lord in prayer and with faith.
Astrology is the realm of evil spiritual forces. We do not get involved with the devil or any of his ways. This includes Tarot cards, Fortune tellers, Tea readers, Seances and anything to do with the Occult.
If you have ever participated in these areas, then know that there is freedom available from God for our wrong involvements. If this applies to you, then...
Your first step is immediate apology to God and seek his forgiveness. Give Him your commitment never to go back to those wrong ways.
It is then your responsibility to seek out Godly counselling. You need to see your Pastor for prayers of deliverance - to support your seeking the ways of God. This is essential.
On Course
Flying the Line
Airborne Homepage
