Another Boeing goes down

[Workingman]

Flighradar reports loss of height from 10,900 ft to 500ft in under a minute before it disappeared. That's a nosedive!

Something catastrophic must have happened, but at least for the passengers and crew it was quick. God rest their souls.

For Boeing it is really bad news. It was a 737-500 and not a 737-MAX, but it was of the same family and that will make passengers nervous. The MAX has only just been certified to fly again and you can bet good money that questions will be being asked.

Indonesia is politically stable so it is highly unlikely that it was some sort of terrorist attack and that leaves technical or pilot failure. The Java sea off the coast is shallow so the black boxes should be recovered fairly soon.

[Kaz]

Just dreadful

[cromwell]

What a dreadful way to go. RIP.

[Suff]

Heart-rending as it is, if you take a quick look at the airline reputation indexes, compared to the UK, it tells an all too predictable story.

In the UK, out of 7 stars, only 2 airlines get 6 stars.

In Indonesia no airline gets more than 5 and only one at that. Sriwijaya Air gets 1 star.

[Workingman]

I see they have located and are in the process of recovering the black boxes, both of them. They will probably be sent to France for analysis so it should not be too long before it is known what happened.

[Workingman]

They have recovered one box and located the other but there is debris to move.

It turns out that the aircraft had been mothballed between March and December and that was my original concern. I know from experience that it takes a lot of work to wake a tired aircraft up. It is not simply a case of firing up the engines, wiggling the joystick and pedals, flicking a few switches or putting it on jacks and lowering and rising the undercarriage. Systems need thorough checks to get them back up to spec. That work will be looked at long and hard as there are hundreds of planes on the ground all round the world that have been there for months.

It's like sitting for ages watching a film and then when you get up you're a bit light-headed, knees hurt, hips are stiff, bum a bit numb, you need a few bends and twists to get going.

[Suff]

Not just that WM, cable connectors, connecting correctly because the vibration kept them clean but which fur up when left lying. My father was an aircraft electrician for 4 decades, told me a LOT of stories.

Ditto hydraulic systems with potential foreign matter in the pipes which may settle in pipes to form a blockage or distort seals in valves when they close with the dirt/particles under the seals.

The amount of flushing and cleaning we had to do on long term storage vehicles in the Army was quite high.

The litany could go on a long way, including seals that dry and shrink, et al. The more I think about it the more I remember. Doesn't bring confidence and the low star rating for the airline included auditing activities for maintenance.

Pretty horrific really. You really have to trust your airline when they keep planes stored for a long time.

[cromwell]

I know from experience that it takes a lot of work to wake a tired aircraft up. It is not simply a case of firing up the engines, wiggling the joystick and pedals, flicking a few switches or putting it on jacks and lowering and rising the undercarriage. Systems need thorough checks to get them back up to spec. That work will be looked at long and hard as there are hundreds of planes on the ground all round the world that have been there for months.

It's like sitting for ages watching a film and then when you get up you're a bit light-headed, knees hurt, hips are stiff, bum a bit numb, you need a few bends and twists to get going.

From what you and Suff are saying WM, it is going to take months for all of these aircraft to be checked over, even if the pandemic finished tomorrow?
So it will be months after the pandemic ends before airlines are back to normal?

[Suff]

Certainly thousands of man hours of work checking and validating systems.

Lots of overtime going for a while there.

[Workingman]

Cromwell, it will probably be on a last in - first out basis on the assumption that those grounded for the shortest period can be up and running again asap. Even that will take months. Those on the ground the longest will, as Suff suggests, need a deep service.

They are not going to get a quick once-over and be off. Some will need parts stripping and reassembly, filters changed etc.. Not only will it take time it will be very costly. Jet2 have planes parked at LBA and every so often some take off and do circuits and bumps just to keep the logs up to date.

It is not only the planes. The crews will also need refreshing as well. Don't forget, they have also been grounded with some doing other jobs, they too will be rusty.