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Message started by Starlifter on 04/30/13 at 19:40:52

Title: They All Died
Post by Starlifter on 04/30/13 at 19:40:52

A National Air Cargo 747 flying for the US Mobility Command stalled and crashed soon after taking off Monday from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Seven crew members died in the crash, which was caught on video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IFhiG-ksd4&feature=player_embedded

Title: Re: They All Died
Post by raydawg on 04/30/13 at 20:32:32

Goodness, looks like he lost his starboard engine, which caused it to yawn to the left, resulting in lost of lift.....just my guess. So sad....

Title: Re: They All Died
Post by Starlifter on 04/30/13 at 21:12:31

It seemed to roll to the left before the nose came up, although that might just be an illusion from the angle of the shot.

Perhaps that was a planned roll to the left and that precipitated a shift in the load. It appeared the plane was under control until that roll to the left. That seems very quick for a load to shift radically. But again, the angle might be really deceptive. It probably was already stalling before the plane came into that video frame.

One thing that seems fairly certain is that none of the engines flamed out. It may be my imagination, bit it appears right at the 7 second mark that there is a puff of dark exhaust off both wings. I wonder what could cause that. Perhaps the pilot went to 100% throttle, or maybe the stall caused the engines to lose their air supply.

I would speculate that it was the cargo shifting on takeoff causing the weight and balance to shift to the rear of the aircraft.

This plane was carrying vehicles and other heavy items. If something broke loose on takeoff it could cause the center of gravity of the aircraft to shift too far to the rear for the elevators to be able to control it. It's possible that the elevator itself malfunctioned, but heavy cargo breaking loose is much more likely. This was a 747-400 model and it had a modern flight data recorder which is probably still readable. If so, investigators will know for sure what happened in a matter of days.

Since this was in Afghanistan, sabotage is a real possibility. A deliberately weakened link on a few of the tie down chains could give the appearance of a properly secured load. The investigators will be able to determine that as well.

Just from the video it can be seen that the ailerons and rudder were functioning and that the engines were audibly running at high power. Also, the landing gear was still extended, indicating that the problem was big, the crew was fully occupied with it, and it happened right at liftoff.

Title: Re: They All Died
Post by Midnightrider on 04/30/13 at 22:52:39

Prayers and condolences to the crewmembers and their loved ones. Heroes, everyone. May they RIP and enjoy the peace they deserve.

Title: Re: They All Died
Post by Jerry Eichenberger on 05/02/13 at 12:00:07

Star -
My initial thought agrees with your load shift theory. Aerodynamic ( not engine) stall ( I know that you know the difference; others may not ), fell off on a wing ( the rolling that you see ), and insufficient altitude to regain flying speed prior to impact. He just "ran out of sky".

Title: Re: They All Died
Post by scanlory on 05/04/13 at 08:59:11

Wow, what a terrible example of a well engineered system going wrong.