Cockpit error sent 737 into Pacific nose dive

CBS/AP ^ | 09-29-2011 | CBS/AP

[boop]

Sorry about the double post!

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Most large aircraft are designed to survive a roll. I don't know about recent history but it used to be if a plane did one, most likely it would never fly again. Airframe is too warped and important areas were overstressed. Several static display aircraft ended up that way because of a roll.

A B-66 is on static display at Shaw AFB. During it's first flight the pilot did a roll in it just to see what it would do. Warped the airframe beyond repair and strained almost every fastener. Damage was so bad that it never flew again. Was said the the pilot got a court martial and ended up in Leavenworth Prison.

[RVN Airplane Driver]

Ahhh.....unlocking the cabin door and hit the wrong button. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on the flight deck of a Boeing airplane but I don’t recall anything remotely connected to the flight controls being near the cockpit door. On the old three holers (727) there was a panel of circut breakers.... My guess is that the autopilot dumped and everyone got a helluva ride. Opening the cockpit door had nothing to do with the plane’s maneuvers. A roll if properly done puts little G forces on the airplane and most loops are done with a positive 3 G pull up...well within the design parameters of any airplane...now having said that doing it in an airliner would make the aisles awful slick and smelly.

[Grumplestiltskin]

“The rudder trim knob and the cockpit door lock control are actually right near each other on that 737-700. Very easy to turn the wrong one.”

Now that’s human engineering for you.

Might it not be a good idea to consider relocating one or the other?

Just sayin’...

[nikos1121]

Was on an Airtran flight the other day, and for some reason it veered only a few degrees, not much at all, and the plane was corrected within a fraction of a second, but I thought at the time, what if it didn’t correct and we went into somekind of dive, you for several thousand feet until the pilot corrected? I cannot imagine what it would feel like to fly inverted for any length of time...

[wizzardude]

"A little over engineering saved them."

I think you mean "a lot of over engineering saved them" :)

[TSgt]

Here’s an A380 doing it!

Airbus a380 Does a Barrel Roll as part of a Demonstration Flight Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIX9XVSU3kE

[mjp]

A Japanese airline says one of its jets nose-dived and rolled almost upside down earlier this month because the co-pilot hit the wrong controls while trying to open the cockpit door

I hate it when that happens

[PapaBear3625]

Youtube video: test pilot for 707 flying inverted

[Publius6961]

“Mistakenly hit the rudder controls instead of the door lock” - well, hasn’t that happened to all of us? I guess I need to start teaching at pilot school. “This is the rudder control, and this is the door lock. Bob, where is the door lock? No, you stupid sh_t.....that’s the rudder control. Come up to the front of the class so I can hit you in the head with this dead salmon.”

I've noticed how easy it is always to blame the pilot.

Reminds me of a famous obscure tome, "The Psychology of Everyday Things" which, among other things, discussed the tiny problem of a new expensive light aircraft where the designers placed the retractable gear lever next to the flaps lever. And they never thought it necessary to disable retraction while on the ground...
Yes, a few settled on the ground with expensive damage before the "pilot problem" was fixed.

[ltc8k6]

I suspect the arrangement is because of retro-fitting the door locking systems to existing panels, per gov’t regs, resulting in different locations, depending on panel layouts.

Inevitably, some are not ideal.

[blackdog]

Great clip. When men were men.

[Grut]

Hmpf! In MY day, pilots didn't need to take 'comfort breaks', that was what co-pilots were for. These youngsters need to learn how to delegate.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

The rudder trim knob and the cockpit door lock control are actually right near each other on that 737-700. Very easy to turn the wrong one.

Whoa! That doesn't seem to be a good design. Thanks for the information. :)

[ltc8k6]

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/1/3/1970311.jpg

There’s an example.

On the panel between the seats, at the rear, to the right of the cup.

Bigger white knob is the rudder trim, small white knob directly behind it is the cockpit door lock control knob.

Close up of the rudder trim knob and it’s label.

http://www.b737.org.uk/images/trimmers.jpg

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

On the panel between the seats, at the rear, to the right of the cup.

Thanks for the pics.

I'm really surprised to see something that would allow such an easy mistake to happen.

Ergonomics in aviation holds that all important controls be unique both to the visual and tactile senses, so that the pilot will know what control he's grasping even in the dark. (A landing gear handle is shaped like a wheel and a flap handle is shaped like a control surface)

[ltc8k6]

Yeah, I think it’s because these lock controls are retrofits. They were located wherever there was space, and they aren’t in the same place, even on the same aircraft models.

Here the door lock switch is placed further away, and the panel itself is arranged differently.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/8/0/4/1876408.jpg