Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is Colorado's Morning News.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
A scary moment for one hundred and seventy three passengers
a boarding American Airlines flight at the Denver International Airport
on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Soon as we've heard the boom, the captain of the
plane starts slowing down the plane, and when the plane
was almost stopped, we've seen one of the wheels from
the plane actually pass on the left of us, on
the left of the plane, so we knew right away
something was wrong with the landing gear.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The Boeing seven thirty seven Max eight headed to Miami,
and it reached speeds of one hundred and fifty miles
per hour before a boarding takeoff due to a wealth
what they're calling a possible landing gear incident.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
During departure, passengers had to exit on emergency slides and
smoke billowed into the air, some even attempting to carry
their bags with them as they were evacuating. Joining us
now on the KA COMMT Spirit Health Studios, our aviation
expert Steve cowle See, thank you so much for your
time in joining us. As always, I want to start
with the videos that we're seeing right now, because you
look at them, you shake your head a little bit,
(00:51):
because it really puts into perspective while why they say
on and on again, leave all your belongings in case
of an emergency, because the video literally shows a man
attempting to hold his child and his bag at the
same time as they're.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Going down the slide.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
It's a good way to die, and it's a good
way for other people behind you and ahead of you
to die as well. Airplanes are certified, you know, based
on an evacuation time of ninety seconds or under to
the capacity that that airplane is going to carry with
one blocked exit. When you go ahead and you take
one extra second, just one second, and you've got one
(01:26):
hundred and fifty people on board an airplane. Okay, so
multiply one times one fifty. That's one hundred and fifty
extra seconds. It's two and a half minutes. That airplane,
if it were to catch on fire, would be fully
engulfed in less than three minutes. So you've got a
(01:49):
really really strong chance of not making it out of
the airplane if you take your bag with you. Believe me,
the airline is going to act like a valet. They're
going to get you your bag. You're not going to
be without it. You're not you know, they're not going
to keep it and say bowl, wait, look what we've got.
But you're going to get your bag. Just get out
of the airplane. Give yourself a chance to save your
(02:10):
own life. The landing gear on this was it the nose.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Of the tire rule? Well, this is a main gear.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It was a main So what exactly would lead to
this kind of incident? This boom this if you want
to say explosion or bang with this.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
They're going to be investigating this.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And you know, anytime there's maintenance done on the airplane,
a mechanic has to sign off on it. Their employee
number is written into the log book. It's also written
into the computers, so they are fully able to trace
when a maintenance person worked on this landing gear. They're
(02:48):
going to look at their procedures. They're going to look
at exactly what was done. They're going to look at
the parts to make sure nothing had broken, because if
something broke and cause the incident to happen, you know,
has this happened on other Boeing seven thirty sevens. If so,
(03:08):
the FAA is going to issue an air worthiness directive
to correct this issue, but I suspect it was more maintenance.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Talk about the timing of discovering the issue, I mean
they talk about how it was like they were about
one hundred and fifty miles per hour at their takeoff,
but obviously did not take off, which probably saved a
more severe situation from happening. But could it have been
found even before they began to ramp up speed, you.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Know, that's that's to be found in the investigation. A
high speed rto, as it's called a rejected takeoff, is
a very very dangerous maneuver for a pilot. I've been
through one of them, and it was very early in
my career when I was first flying Boeings. I was
a flight engineer. They used to have that third position
(03:56):
on airplanes. They don't anymore. That said, the airplane said,
it's heaviest, you are going very high speed, so there's
a lot of energy that needs to be dissipated by
those brakes, and that's why we had the fire. But
it was a very very fortunate situation that you know,
the hilot made a good decision. He has a lot
(04:20):
of resources here at Danver International Airport, and everything worked
out very, very well.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So bound it back up a second, because you mentioned
you were a flight engineer, they've eliminated that position. Would
would someone like you found this ahead of timers. It's
just one of those situations you don't know till you're
in the situation.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
No, if you go out to Deia to catch a
flight and you watch the pilots, every single crew has
one of the crew members do what is called a
walk around. In other words, they're going to do a
visual inspection. They're actually going to be looking at the
landing gear. Specifically, they're looking at a pin that extends
through the brakes to see if you know, the brakes
(04:57):
are not aren't out in other words, that there doesn't
have to be a brake change or wheel change. So
that's they're looking at a thing called a breakwear indicator pin.
But that said, when they do the walk around, they're
doing an inspection of the plane and they're looking for
anything unusual, any fluids, anything at all that might have
(05:19):
them call maintenance. In this situation, that didn't happen, so
they did a pre flight inspection.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
So back in March we were chatting with you, I
was at the Denver International Airport when we were talking
about the American Airlines flight that suffered an engine failure
from the Springs to Dallas. It had the emergency landing
at DIA. I know these obviously, and you can tell
us very different situations, but the videos feel very similar.
Of you see the smoke billing, and you see people
(05:47):
almost like running off, but then kind of standing around.
I mean, people were even able to shoot a video
of showing people going.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Down the slide.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
In the situation once you're off the plane, are we
seeing like a little bit of a stay and wait
of what to do next?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
In the passengers?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Because we know how to exit a plane flight a
ton to tell us all the time, But what do
you do when you exit?
Speaker 5 (06:08):
You get away from the plane. You know, as I mentioned,
you don't know if that plane is going to suddenly
become engulfed in flames. So number one, get away from
the plane. Usually by the time you begin your evacuation,
the r if the airport rescue firefighters, they're very very
close and they're going to assist in getting you to
(06:31):
a safe area away from the plane. So get as
far away from that aircraft as you possibly can. You know,
too many times we've got citizen journalists. Everybody with an
iPhone wants to be the first one to take the video.
This is not that time. You know, it's very tempting,
but this is not that time to get your ten
(06:52):
seconds of fame.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Final question from us when you have a situation like this,
regardless of what the failure is is how often is
it human error with a mechanical failure? How often is
it just the mechanics of whatever failed failed.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You know, it really depends on the situation.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
And in this case, you know, they're going to be
looking at all aspects, but they're also going to be
looking at the cockpit crew communication prior to the evacuation.
You know, they're going to be pulling the flight data recorder,
the voice recorder. It's recorded many many data points throughout
that airplane. If American subscribes to a service that Boeing has,
(07:34):
they're going to have hundreds more data points because from
the time that that airplane really starts up, it begins
transmitting hundreds and hundreds of data points to Boeing, which
is stored. But you know, it really is situational. It
just depends on you know, the type of failure that occurred.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Aviation expert Steve Cole appreciate your time as always, thank you,
It is Colorado's Morning News.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
A scary moment for one hundred and seventy three passengers
a boarding American Airlines flight at the Denver International Airport
on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Soon as we've heard the boom, the captain of the
plane starts slowing down the plane, and when the plane
was almost stopped, we've seen one of the wheels from
the plane actually pass on the left of us, on
the left of the plane, so we knew right away
something was wrong with the landing gear.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
The Boeing seven thirty seven Max eight headed to Miami,
and it reached speeds of one hundred and fifty miles
per hour before a boarding takeoff due to a wealth
what they're calling a possible landing gear incident.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
During departure, passengers had to exit on emergency slides and
smoke billowed into the air, some even attempting to carry
their bags with them as they were evacuating. Joining us
now on the KA COMMT Spirit Health Studios, our aviation
expert Steve cowle See, thank you so much for your
time in joining us. As always, I want to start
with the videos that we're seeing right now, because you
look at them, you shake your head a little bit,
(00:51):
because it really puts into perspective while why they say
on and on again, leave all your belongings in case
of an emergency, because the video literally shows a man
attempting to hold his child and his bag at the
same time as they're.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Going down the slide.
Speaker 5 (01:04):
It's a good way to die, and it's a good
way for other people behind you and ahead of you
to die as well. Airplanes are certified, you know, based
on an evacuation time of ninety seconds or under to
the capacity that that airplane is going to carry with
one blocked exit. When you go ahead and you take
one extra second, just one second, and you've got one
(01:26):
hundred and fifty people on board an airplane. Okay, so
multiply one times one fifty. That's one hundred and fifty
extra seconds. It's two and a half minutes. That airplane,
if it were to catch on fire, would be fully
engulfed in less than three minutes. So you've got a
(01:49):
really really strong chance of not making it out of
the airplane if you take your bag with you. Believe me,
the airline is going to act like a valet. They're
going to get you your bag. You're not going to
be without it. You're not you know, they're not going
to keep it and say bowl, wait, look what we've got.
But you're going to get your bag. Just get out
of the airplane. Give yourself a chance to save your
(02:10):
own life. The landing gear on this was it the nose.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Of the tire rule? Well, this is a main gear.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
It was a main So what exactly would lead to
this kind of incident? This boom this if you want
to say explosion or bang with this.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
They're going to be investigating this.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And you know, anytime there's maintenance done on the airplane,
a mechanic has to sign off on it. Their employee
number is written into the log book. It's also written
into the computers, so they are fully able to trace
when a maintenance person worked on this landing gear. They're
(02:48):
going to look at their procedures. They're going to look
at exactly what was done. They're going to look at
the parts to make sure nothing had broken, because if
something broke and cause the incident to happen, you know,
has this happened on other Boeing seven thirty sevens. If so,
(03:08):
the FAA is going to issue an air worthiness directive
to correct this issue, but I suspect it was more maintenance.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Talk about the timing of discovering the issue, I mean
they talk about how it was like they were about
one hundred and fifty miles per hour at their takeoff,
but obviously did not take off, which probably saved a
more severe situation from happening. But could it have been
found even before they began to ramp up speed, you.
Speaker 5 (03:36):
Know, that's that's to be found in the investigation. A
high speed rto, as it's called a rejected takeoff, is
a very very dangerous maneuver for a pilot. I've been
through one of them, and it was very early in
my career when I was first flying Boeings. I was
a flight engineer. They used to have that third position
(03:56):
on airplanes. They don't anymore. That said, the airplane said,
it's heaviest, you are going very high speed, so there's
a lot of energy that needs to be dissipated by
those brakes, and that's why we had the fire. But
it was a very very fortunate situation that you know,
the hilot made a good decision. He has a lot
(04:20):
of resources here at Danver International Airport, and everything worked
out very, very well.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So bound it back up a second, because you mentioned
you were a flight engineer, they've eliminated that position. Would
would someone like you found this ahead of timers. It's
just one of those situations you don't know till you're
in the situation.
Speaker 5 (04:36):
No, if you go out to Deia to catch a
flight and you watch the pilots, every single crew has
one of the crew members do what is called a
walk around. In other words, they're going to do a
visual inspection. They're actually going to be looking at the
landing gear. Specifically, they're looking at a pin that extends
through the brakes to see if you know, the brakes
(04:57):
are not aren't out in other words, that there doesn't
have to be a brake change or wheel change. So
that's they're looking at a thing called a breakwear indicator pin.
But that said, when they do the walk around, they're
doing an inspection of the plane and they're looking for
anything unusual, any fluids, anything at all that might have
(05:19):
them call maintenance. In this situation, that didn't happen, so
they did a pre flight inspection.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
So back in March we were chatting with you, I
was at the Denver International Airport when we were talking
about the American Airlines flight that suffered an engine failure
from the Springs to Dallas. It had the emergency landing
at DIA. I know these obviously, and you can tell
us very different situations, but the videos feel very similar.
Of you see the smoke billing, and you see people
(05:47):
almost like running off, but then kind of standing around.
I mean, people were even able to shoot a video
of showing people going.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Down the slide.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
In the situation once you're off the plane, are we
seeing like a little bit of a stay and wait
of what to do next?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
In the passengers?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Because we know how to exit a plane flight a
ton to tell us all the time, But what do
you do when you exit?
Speaker 5 (06:08):
You get away from the plane. You know, as I mentioned,
you don't know if that plane is going to suddenly
become engulfed in flames. So number one, get away from
the plane. Usually by the time you begin your evacuation,
the r if the airport rescue firefighters, they're very very
close and they're going to assist in getting you to
(06:31):
a safe area away from the plane. So get as
far away from that aircraft as you possibly can. You know,
too many times we've got citizen journalists. Everybody with an
iPhone wants to be the first one to take the video.
This is not that time. You know, it's very tempting,
but this is not that time to get your ten
(06:52):
seconds of fame.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Final question from us when you have a situation like this,
regardless of what the failure is is how often is
it human error with a mechanical failure? How often is
it just the mechanics of whatever failed failed.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
You know, it really depends on the situation.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
And in this case, you know, they're going to be
looking at all aspects, but they're also going to be
looking at the cockpit crew communication prior to the evacuation.
You know, they're going to be pulling the flight data recorder,
the voice recorder. It's recorded many many data points throughout
that airplane. If American subscribes to a service that Boeing has,
(07:34):
they're going to have hundreds more data points because from
the time that that airplane really starts up, it begins
transmitting hundreds and hundreds of data points to Boeing, which
is stored. But you know, it really is situational. It
just depends on you know, the type of failure that occurred.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Aviation expert Steve Cole appreciate your time as always, thank you,
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