Originally published at: NTSB Schedules Investigative Hearing On Deadly UPS MD-11 Cargo Crash
Session will take place over two days in May.
I had one year of experience in the L1011 as FO with EAL between B727 FO and Capt. After L1011 simulator training we went on a local flight and were taught the proceedure for single engine flight at altitude as the engines had shown to get out of balance and cause explosive failures. Luckly the center engines never failed and since then the engines are powerful enough not to need 3 engines.
The proceedure was simply, All throttles full power, Falps and gear up! If the ground was avoided it worked.
I still want to stress that flying experience will make the routine flying better - But non recurring understanding and proceedures will drift away!! Future AI training may be an answer to avoid the expense of a SO course every 5 years. Small video cameras can quickly verify problems. My son who has a college degree in welding sent me a report about 3 workers in a room above an open oil tank could not interpret that the guages for the tank showed the tank was about to overflow and when it did the 3 were creamated in the insuing fire!
Certainly this MD-11 accident was caused by the maintance depts., but it may have been salavgeable.
Arnold Allison, pushing age 90.