Pilot Skill Level Seriously in Doubt
By Robert Mark on February 13th, 2008Following close on the heels of Scott’s Monday post about a serious lack of stick and rudder skills comes this video of a BAE 146 landing at London City Airport. Attaching the word “hard,” to the word “landing” here almost seems an understatement. I
was waiting to see the mains leave the airplane.
What you’ll see here is a great example of no rudder control, no flare and someone trying to plant an airplane by shoving the control wheel forward. The result is predictable … a porpoising aircraft. This doesn’t work on a Cessna 172 and it doesn’t work on a 146.
These basic stick and rudder skills – or the lack of them – precisely illustrate Scott’s post I think.
But what do you say?
And in case you’re wondering what a more normal landing looks like at LCY, watch this clip of a Fokker 50 on approach. Granted there is no wind, but watch how close the aircraft on short final pass to the office building on the right. I’ve tried this one in the clouds and never saw the buildings. Just as well.
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February 13th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I stumbled across this video linked from another forum (www.warbirdinformationexchange.org) today as well and couldn’t believe what I saw. The 146 is an exceptional short-field aircraft and though LCY is short and nested into a commercial zone, it still isn’t too much of a challenge to land one there. If there was a cross-wind, where was the aileron correction? It has a high-wing, so that shouldn’t have been an issue.
I get worried out here in Phoenix where I see so much flight training for European airlines… I wonder if they are just learning to fly the FMS and that’s pretty much it. Arizona isn’t exactly a place where one can practice a lot in extreme weather or at least crosswinds… are they being taught the right stuff? Do they even know who Langwieche is?
I still think that at least some introduction to conventional gear aircraft would help a lot with the S&R skills… I wish more schools offered it.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
The video is certainly interesting and impressive. However it’s hard to say anything about the cause. There is no visual clue about wind, and even less about the circumstances.
Any emergency ? Technical problem ? Windshears ? Microburst ? One engine out ?
We don’t have any clue about the date. If an incident report has been published, I’ll be happy to read and comment it. Until then, I will not say anything, parituclarly not something that could possibly give a bad image of aviation.