United Scarelines

[marmar]

WASHINGTON -- A United Airlines plane with 112 people aboard was allowed to take off last May without repairs despite indications during two previous flights that the cockpit window was overheating, a condition long known to cause fires, according to evidence gathered by federal investigators.

The Boeing 757 was about 30 minutes into a flight from New York to San Francisco, and had just leveled off at 36,000 feet, when pilots said they heard a hissing noise followed seconds later by 14- to 16-inch flames shooting from the cockpit window near the captain, documents recently released by the National Transportation Safety Board show.

Capt. Boyd Hammack, who had been flying the plane, told investigators he got out of his seat, grabbed a Halon fire extinguisher and put out the flames. But he said they quickly reignited. A flight attendant brought him a second fire extinguisher, which he emptied on the flames, putting them out again.

Shortly before making an emergency landing at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, the inner pane of the window in front of Hammack shattered, the documents show. He turned over control of the plane to the first officer, who safely landed the aircraft. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17671707?nclick_check=1

[NYC_SKP]

1. Poor crew and passengers. Forced to Land. At Dulles. ewwww.

Very glad that they're all fine, apparently.

And there are some issues of regulation and safety that need to be addressed.

I just don't care for Dulles, not a bit, would hate to have to land there.

:patriot:

[xchrom]

3. i like dulles. i can smoke there. nt

[NYC_SKP]

5. Ah, but what are the odds that your gate is right across from one of the glass walled smoke boxes?

I know I'm always 3/4 mile away.

:smoke:

[anarch]

8. I remember flying out of Dulles back when I smoked

and I also remember sitting in one of those glass-walled smoking cages, thinking "this is probably what Hell is like."

[marmar]

4. Yep, the United terminal at Dulles is an armpit.

nt

[Brickbat]

2. This doesn't surprise me at all.

It's all greed and bad management.

[petronius]

6. Airplanes are complicated, mistakes happen, and procedures are constantly evolving

However, the spokeswoman's response does nothing to increase my confidence in United - she basically said "Meh. Whatever..." :eyes:

[Warren DeMontague]

7. "It's not like we had someone not comply with the seat belt sign, or anything"

I love it when they use that thing for crowd control, and don't let people pee for 3 hours.