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The SWISSAIR Flight 111 Accident

and

Cockpit (CREW) Resource Management

in Airline Long-Haul Flights

 This site contains a commentary on Swissair Flt 111's accident near Halifax on  2 September 1998.

The intention is to draw public attention to the unsatisfactory over-tasking of a two-man flight crew when

an emergency such as "Smoke in the Cockpit" occurs.
 

BRING BACK the THIRD CREW MEMBER  

   (call him a Flight Engineer)

There is a consensus developing that the Swissair pilots were "designed into" this
tragic accident. The MD-11 was always mooted as a two man operation, largely on the
strength of its electronic surveillance monitoring and action system, full
authority digital engine control (FADEC) and glass cockpit (flight and engine
instruments on six CRT screens). There was a limited amount of backup analogue and
manual reversion available -but evidently not enough to allow a daring duo to cope
when the volts were misdirected by malfunction. "In Zurich, Swissair's chief
pilot-designate, Rainer Hiltebrand, said Tuesday a total loss of power was virtually
unthinkable." If there had been a "THIRD MAN" systems supervisor, would he have
been a help or a hindrance? Notwithstanding the emerging revelations of Kapton
wiring design faults, flammable metallized mylar insulation blankets and foolishly connected Inflight Entertainment Systems, the author is advocating a return to a three-man cockpit -at least for Long Haul RPT (Regular Public Transport). The contention is that a flight engineer just may make the critical difference in off-loading the flying pilots when things start to come unglued.
  The Author is a veteran of three Air Forces, two wars and holds an
ATPL. He has thousands of four-engined flight hours in the company of flight
engineers and still wouldn't leave home without one. He doesn't trust designers and
ventures that pilots often have to abide by what they're offered to fly. He
is convinced that a widened, honest internet debate on air safety issues will stop
the constrained, inhouse, litigation-aware  investigation outcomes that have,
together with cut-throat competition, security issues and airline deregulation, made the
travelling public ever more concerned for their flying safety.  

The Virgin Bus Index

INDEX BY TOPICS

Go to the MEMO SITE (an admonition to another MD11 Operator)

AVIATION SAFETY LINKS

1.   At Next to No Cost	2.   The IFEN - its progenitors
3.   A Fraudulent Contrivance?	4.   The Wiring Evidence Photos
5.   That 1992 GAO/FAA Letter	6.    MD11 Cockpit Photos - EVAS considerations
7.    EVAS Yes or No (for SR111)?	8.    EVACU8 Smoke Hoods
9.    Smoke Density Ratings	10.  Redundancy is a Good Thing
11.  TSB Report 28 Jan	12.  It should Ring Bells
13.  MD11's chequered history	14.  VisionSafe (the EVAS Home Site)
15.  An OXY-FED Wiring FIRE	16.  The Accident's Timing
17.  Photos of MD11 IFEN Wiring	18.  Divers Recalled to Search Cove
19.  The Safety Gain	20.  The Lyn Factor
21.  The Careless Tipple	22.   The BAD WIRE
23.  ROCKETTING COSTS	24.   Personal Smoke-Hoods
25.   Flap/Slat Disparity	26.   9 YEARS LATER : ACTION
27.  Encrypted and Entombed	28.  The BLAKE & CAHILL Reports
29.  New CVR & DFDR Rules	30.   BOEING Limits Liability
31.  FAA-on Dense Continuous Smoke	32.   A Synopsis
33.  FIVE YEARS LATER	34.   Geriatric Jets
35.  Fire in the Sky Transcript	36.   Your Iridium Legacy
37.   Flight OPS Quality Assurance	38.   What is a Black Box?
39.   Smokehoods           (a frequent flier must read)	40.   KAL MD11 Crash 16 Apr 99
41.    What Price a Flight Engineer?	42.   More MD11 Wiring AD's
43.    Taming Automation	44.  Trapped in the Middle
45.    Boeing now ex-World Leader	46.   False Reports
47.    FAA Advisory Circular 25-16	48.   Sampson Comment on AC 25-16
49.    RAFKapton	50.   Flight Safety Stats

ORIGINAL

ARC TRACKING SITE

The SR111 site

Atlantic Aviation Assistance Coalition

24.   The TINDER	25.  The KINDLING	26.  MD11 Cockpit Views
27.   Cabin Views	28.   Nov 6, 1998	29.  Smoky Landings
30.   Mixing Wire	31.   Kapton as a Fuse	32.  That Straight-In Approach
33.   Some FAQ's	34.   Melted Plastic	35.   It's a Gamble
36.  That Flawed Checklist	37.   CVR Photos	38.   DFDR Photos
39.   Closer to the Cause	40.   A Wiring Fix	41.   Fire melted aluminium
42.   Nose Reconstruction Jig	43.   Recovery Photos	44.   EVAS "visibility in smoke" device
45.   Mary Schiavo's Speech	46.   The Invalid Test	47.   Checklist Revelations
48.   Dereg Beats FAA	49.   MD-11 History	50.   "Accident waiting to happen"
51.   The Doors	52.   Scaled Back	53.   Fly By Wire
54.   Not Plausible	55.   Buy 4 More	56.   The Sequence of Events
57.   Mixed Wire Bundles	58.   MD11 Burning	59.   Checklist "A Death Sentence"
60.   It was always the Wire	61.   Pilot Forum Opinions	62.   Smokey Airline Accidents
63.   FAR on SMOKE	64.   The Laboratory	65.   The Swissair Story
66.   Mobile Phone Risk	67.   MD11 Commentary	68.    Safety Issues
69.   The FAA Credo	70.   Litigation Views

Initial Article

                               Revised Comments

                                                                         Experts News                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                           Likely Developments

 Interesting POSTS

MD11 Technical Discussion                                                                                          FAA Submission

Flight Engineer/Second Officer Statistics

Boeing MD11 Blurb

More Detail on the MD11

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