'Are you going to make it sir?': Hero United Airlines pilots land stricken plane 'blind' after instruments fail and cockpit fills with smoke
Pilots navigated via land marks as instruments failed
Smoke filled cockpit as pilots landed on back up systems
Accident comes after Southwest airlines plane springs 5 ft gash mid flight
Pilots navigated via land marks as instruments failed
Smoke filled cockpit as pilots landed on back up systems
Accident comes after Southwest airlines plane springs 5 ft gash mid flight
The pilots of a United Airlines flight were forced to land 'blind' when smoke began to fill the cockpit after a massive instrument failure.
Flight 497, with 109 passengers on board, ran into difficulties at 7am yesterday, only 20 minutes after taking off from New Orleans' Louis Armstrong airport.
Dramatic voice recordings of the pilot talking to air traffic controllers show how the ground crew had to guide the aircraft in via voice instruction as the pilots battled to steer the crippled plane home.
Speaking after the miraculous landing, Copilot Ronald Lee Young said the Airbus 319 landed on backup systems, with minimal steering and braking ability, after the plane lost all electronics.
He said:'When things start to go wrong, there’s always a system … we can go back to.'
FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said he had not been told about any electronic failure.
He said the pilot had declared an emergency because of smoke in the cockpit.
To make matters worse, the plane was heavy with fuel for the cross-country flight.
When the plane landed, the crew said the aircraft had lost its anti-skid braking and nose-wheel steering, and ran off the runway.
As soon as the plane was on the ground, flight attendants shouted 'Leave everything. Get out' as passengers slid down the front and back slides.
A few passengers walked to an ambulance after a call for anyone with injuries. The injuries appeared to be minor, such as abrasions from the slide.
The pilots were flying 'blind', and with a catastrophic instrument failure, had no way of getting back to the airport on their own.
Air traffic controllers then resorted to guiding the plane turn-by-turn via land marks such as the Mississippi river.
A controller tells the stricken pilots: 'United 497, just continue the left turn, I will tell you when to stop, sir.'
The pilot responds: 'We've got water contact. What vector are we from the airport.'
To make matters worse, the pilots needed the longest runway possible as their backup systems did not have the stopping power available under normal conditions.
Unfortunately, runway 19 - the airport's longest - had construction work going on and was full of safety cones and vehicles.
Ground crews then had race against time to clear the runway as the stricken plane rapidly approached.
A ground crewman on runway 19 can be heard saying: 'We need three minutes to get the runway clear.'
Just before landing, and after talking the pilots back to the airport for nearly 10 minutes, the air traffic controller asks: 'You going to make it sir.'
Showing incredible calm, the pilot responds simply: 'Yes.'
Passenger Jonathan Woods said: 'It's scary up until the point I got off the plane and started running.
'I didn't know how much fuel was on the plane is what worried me.'
The FAA has launched a full investigation into the incident.
Flight 497, with 109 passengers on board, ran into difficulties at 7am yesterday, only 20 minutes after taking off from New Orleans' Louis Armstrong airport.
Dramatic voice recordings of the pilot talking to air traffic controllers show how the ground crew had to guide the aircraft in via voice instruction as the pilots battled to steer the crippled plane home.
Speaking after the miraculous landing, Copilot Ronald Lee Young said the Airbus 319 landed on backup systems, with minimal steering and braking ability, after the plane lost all electronics.
He said:'When things start to go wrong, there’s always a system … we can go back to.'
FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said he had not been told about any electronic failure.
He said the pilot had declared an emergency because of smoke in the cockpit.
To make matters worse, the plane was heavy with fuel for the cross-country flight.
As soon as the plane was on the ground, flight attendants shouted 'Leave everything. Get out' as passengers slid down the front and back slides.
A few passengers walked to an ambulance after a call for anyone with injuries. The injuries appeared to be minor, such as abrasions from the slide.
The pilots were flying 'blind', and with a catastrophic instrument failure, had no way of getting back to the airport on their own.
Air traffic controllers then resorted to guiding the plane turn-by-turn via land marks such as the Mississippi river.
A controller tells the stricken pilots: 'United 497, just continue the left turn, I will tell you when to stop, sir.'
The pilot responds: 'We've got water contact. What vector are we from the airport.'
To make matters worse, the pilots needed the longest runway possible as their backup systems did not have the stopping power available under normal conditions.
Unfortunately, runway 19 - the airport's longest - had construction work going on and was full of safety cones and vehicles.
Ground crews then had race against time to clear the runway as the stricken plane rapidly approached.
A ground crewman on runway 19 can be heard saying: 'We need three minutes to get the runway clear.'
Just before landing, and after talking the pilots back to the airport for nearly 10 minutes, the air traffic controller asks: 'You going to make it sir.'
Showing incredible calm, the pilot responds simply: 'Yes.'
Passenger Jonathan Woods said: 'It's scary up until the point I got off the plane and started running.
'I didn't know how much fuel was on the plane is what worried me.'
The FAA has launched a full investigation into the incident.
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