Florida plane accident: Landing feature failed on aircraft

[nitpicker]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48172777

Florida plane accident: Landing feature failed on aircraft

8 hours ago

A landing feature was "inoperative" on a passenger plane that slid off a runway in the US state of Florida on Friday, investigators have said.

The Boeing 737, operated by Miami Air International, ended up in a river after landing during a thunderstorm.

Officials said 21 people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, and at least four pets kept in the hold died.

They are now looking into the failure of the "thrust reverser", as well as a request by the pilot to change runways.
(snip)

"The aircraft had been in maintenance and the maintenance log noted that the left hand thrust reverser was inoperative," Bruce Landsberg, vice-chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board, told a press conference on Sunday.

Mr Landsberg added that shortly before they landed, the pilots had asked to change to a runway which had equipment set up on it, and which therefore had less space available. "We don't know what they were thinking or why that was their choice," he said.

He also confirmed that several dogs and cats travelling in crates in the cargo hold were presumed to have drowned, and that the US Navy has arranged for divers to recover their bodies from the plane.
(snip)

[uponit7771]

1. They flew the jet without a thrust reverser working !? OMFG ... If the runway is wet TR are what is

... used to stop the aircraft.

Just fuckin wow !!

[Baclava]

2. I'd bet more on pilot error, late approach, poor visibility, bounced several times on landing

"The plane literally hit the ground and bounced - it was clear the pilot did not have total control of the plane, it bounced again"

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. Thrust reversers aren't required equipment.

The landing distances are calculated without reversers.

[uponit7771]

9. On a wet runway? tia

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. Yes.

All that gets calculated in the flight computers.

Weight, temperature, field elevation, wind speed and direction, required landing speed and runway conditions. All that gets plugged in and the pilots are given the required distances.

They pick a runway based on that. A margin of error is factored in.

With all that, the plane should be able to land safely without reversers.

Sure, reversers can help save a bad landing. But if the landing is good and on speed, the plane stops safely.

The plane bouncing is an indication of an unstable approach and/or over-speed landing.

The rain certainly didn’t cause the plane to bounce.

[LibFarmer]

3. Shouldn't they have grounded the aircraft?

I was once flying to DC and they grounded the aircraft because one of the toilets was not working.
If that is the standard, shouldn't a thrust reverser be even more critical than a toilet?

[rusty fender]

4. Who takes their pet to Cuba?

[SoCalDem]

5. More likely they adopted a stray there, and fell in love with it

they chose to not abandon it when they returned to the US.. We flew a parrot home from Panama when we came home, and of course, he was "lost" in the air freight area.. so we had to traverse the building hollering "PANCAKE" (his name)..we found him

[rusty fender]

13. Thanks for the info

I thought that these might be Canadian tourists who took their pets on vacation to Cuba.

I am a

[csziggy]

7. These were military service people and family coming back from Guantanamo Bay

Miami Air International regularly transports military service members and their families from the base in Guantánamo Bay to naval air stations in Jacksonville and Norfolk, Va.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/04/us/jacksonville-plane-crash.html

I expect that service families think of just being transferred from one base to another so take their pets with them as they go.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. My dad retired from American Airlines.

He said he would never check a pet in to the cargo hold. Too many stories.

[csziggy]

12. I don't travel with my pets even though we drive most places

My guys like their territory and are not good travelers - well, guy since I am down to one aging cat.

[Blue_Tires]

8. These are military families living on base

pets aren't unheard of...