Sunday, October 9, 2011

Fire, Smoke and Missed Approach

Day 2...err...Night 2 in the sim was a little better.

Started normal. Captain took the first leg this time. Leveling off at FL330 we had a rapid cabin depressurization. On the mask went. The Captain inititated an emergency descent while I reached for the QRH (Quick Reference Handbook) to run the required checklist. Noisy.

The oxygen mask in the cabin came down. I communicated with ATC about our issue and asked for the MEA.

ATC advised the MEA was 7000. That was our goal. Once leveled off we were vectored for an approach. Landed.

We were fixed and set up for a new takeoff. My turn.

On climb out we got a fire in the baggage compartment.

The Captain pushed the baggage fire button which shot off the extinguishers. All was fine for a moment then we got a lavatory smoke indication.

It was likely the smoke from the baggage seeped into the lavatory.

We asked a flight attendant to investigate the fire. Sure enough the lavatory was on fire and he was attempting to fight it. On went the mask again.

There have my aircraft accidents/incidents where fumes from a fire, no where near the flight deck, seeped into the flight deck and incapacitated the pilots.

I briefed the GPS approach. An ILS would be have been best...but only GPS was available.

Since the incident happened so close to the airport "ATC" didn't descend us quickly enough. The FAF altitude was 3000 while the MDA was 1700. We started at 5000 feet. I put the flaps and gear down and tried to descend quickly.

We passed over the FAF at 3500 feet. There is a limitation of 1000 feet per minute on an approach below 1000 feet AGL. I had to reduce the sink rate.

No chance of landing stabilized. Go around.

Quick vectors for the approach.

Broke out 800 AGL. My site picture was still off.

In my last plane it was nose down or level with the horizon until over the runway. The around 30-50 feet a light flare was initiated.

The new plane is the opposite. The nose is kept above the horion the entire time. See the problem?

I was pitching the nose down to the horizon when going visual. This caused me to go below the VASI. I landed firmly.

Later we did more approaches. My next landing was better. I forced myself to keep the pitched attitude up. I'll get it eventually.

Tonight we will work on precision approaches and stalls.

3 comments:

  1. A great series of posts, Geek.  Keep them coming.  I know that the transition course and sim time are a challenge, but it is part of the program - and a darn sight  cheaper than the fuel-burning machine.  And a great (safe) place to get that motor memory functioning for the new airplane. Work hard now and your line check will be a breeze.  Thanks for keeping us up dated. -C.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like someones upgrading from a -200 to a -700.  Enjoy it.  Much more plane, but also a much better flyer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish... But nope not going to a 700...

    ReplyDelete

If you are a spammer....your post will never show up. Move along.