Subject: Fwd: Forward and aft
cargo door pictures of Boeing 747s, including China Airlines Flight
611
Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2002 12:54:39 -0700
To:
ksmart@aaib.gov.uk, kfchou@asc.gov.tw, Lyle.Streeter@faa.dot.gov,
WILDEYJ@ntsb.gov, DICKINA@ntsb.gov
From: John Barry Smith
<barry@corazon.com>
Subject: Forward and aft cargo door
pictures of Boeing 747s, including China Airlines Flight
611
Cc:
Bcc:
X-Attachments:
:AuxMaster:70597:SmithAAR800PartIII.pdf:
K.F. Chou
Accident Investigation
Division
Aviation Safety Council
16th Floor, 99 Fu-Hsing North
Road, Taipei 105,
Taiwan, R.O.C.
Ken Smart
Chief Inspector
of Accidents,
Air Accidents Investigations Branch
AAIB
DRA
Farnborough
Hants GU14 6TD
United Kingdom
W.T. (Bill)
Tucker
Director General,
Investigation
Operations
Transportation Safety Board
Canada
Lyle
Streeter
FAA AAI
Aircraft Accident Investigator
FAA National
Headquarters
800 Independence Avenue, S.W
Building FOB 10A, Room
838,
Washington D.C 20591
James F. Wildey II
National
Resource Specialist
National Transportation Safety Board
490
L'Enfant Plaza East, SW.
Washington, DC 20594
Al
Dickinson
Investigator,
National Transportation Safety Board
490 L'Enfant
Plaza, SW.
Washington, DC 20594
Sgt. B. Blachford
Air India Task Force
5255
Heather St.
Vancouver, B. C. V5Z 1K6
Dear Mr. Chou, Mr. Smart, Mr. Tucker, Mr. Wildey,
Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Streeter, Sgt. Blachford, 3 August
2002
Regarding the pictures of the top part
of aft cargo door of China Airlines Flight 611 and below of forward
cargo door of Trans World Airlines Flight 800; aft edge of cargo door to
left picture and right edge of cargo door to right picture, hinge at
top:
Note match of shapes, tears, outlines,
and twisted metal.
The point is that both identically
sized, shaped, and function doors opened in flight uncommanded and
inadvertently. That fact needs to be agreed upon. The probable cause of
the 'why' is open and I suggest the shorted wiring/cargo door
rupture/explosive decompression/inflight breakup explanation as detailed
on www.corazon.com.
Analysis of ASC (Aviation Safety
Council) picture of ACD (Aft Cargo Door)
above:
Vertical skin tears above door in
fuselage? Yes.
Paint transfers? None apparent.
Hinge
recovered? Yes.
Is hinge connected to top half? Yes.
Are midspan
latches recovered? Unknown.
What is the position of the pressure
relief doors, open, shut, jammed in between? Missing.
What is the
position of the manual locking handle in door itself? Unknown.
How
many latches recovered out of ten? Unknown.
How many locking sectors
recovered out of eight? Unknown.
Is door skin peeled back from either
or both of the midspan latch locations? Unknown.
Is there petal
shaped outward ruptured skin in midspan latch locations? Unknown.
Any
wiring recovered from door area and if so, any evidence of chafing,
cracking, or arcing? Unknown.
Are torque tubes in door bent?
Unknown.
What percent of door is missing? 70%.
The
significance of the above observations is in the matches to other cargo
door on Boeing 747s that have opened in flight for whatever
reasons.
The hinge is always intact and
attached to skin above. (Pictures on website,
www.corazon.com and attached as PDF file to
this email.)
There are always vertical tear lines
at the ends of the door.
The relief doors are always jammed
open or missing. They are mechanically driven when locking sectors start
to unlock.
And most of the door hardware is
missing including manual locking handle, midspan latches, and door skin
around those latches revealing the peeled back outward petal shaped
skin.
The aft cargo door could have been
intact with all ten latches latched, all eight locking sectors locked,
manual locking handle stowed snugly, pressure relief doors closed, and
no vertical tear lines in the fuselage skin around the
door.
But it wasn't. It was found looking
like other cargo doors from Boeing 747s that suffered a sudden sound on
the CVR followed soon thereafter by a power cut the FDR which occurred
when the forward cargo door opened in flight for official reasons
ranging from bomb, fuel tank explosion, missile strike, improperly
latched, and of course electrical.
It appears to me, pending
further evidence, that the ACD for China Airlines Flight 611 opened in
flight. The damage is not consistent with normal disintegration of the
fuselage as it fell. The two pieces of the aft cargo door were retrieved
far apart on the ocean floor. The damage which is evident matches in
significant ways the damage that occurs to a cargo door that suddenly
opens in flight such as Air India Flight 182 (now said to be a bomb
explosion in the aft cargo compartment by RCMP), Pan Am Flight 103,
Trans World Airlines Flight 800, and United Airlines Flight 811.
Pictures of all cargo doors and a normal cargo door are on
www.corazon.com.
The cause of the aft cargo door rupture/opening is
unknown for China Airlines Flight 611 but the usual suspects are: Bomb
explosion, center fuel tank explosion, faulty repair on fuselage,
missile strike, and of course, electrical.
Other possibilities
include: (Flights refer to Air India Flight 182, United Airlines Flight
811, Pan Am Flight 103, and Trans World Airlines Flight
800)
A. Bomb explosion. (Partially
accepted for two flights, ruled out for two
flights.)
B. Crew or passenger error.
(Ruled out for all flights.)
C. Electrical
fault in switch or wiring. (Accepted for two flights, ruled out for two
flights.
D. Pneumatic overpressure. (Ruled
out for all flights.)
E. Cargo
shift. (Ruled out for all
flights.)
F. Compressed air
tank explosion. (Ruled out for all flights.)
G.
Fire in compartment. (Ruled out for all
flights.)
H. Missile strike.
(Ruled out for all flights.)
I.
Midair collision. (Ruled out for all flights.)
J
. Fuel tank explosion. (Accepted
for one flight, ruled out for three
flights.)
K. Stowaway. (Ruled out
for all
flights.)
L. Electromagnetic
interference. (Ruled out for all
flights.)
M. Comet or meteor. (Ruled
out for all flights.)
N. Space
debris. (Ruled out for all flights.)
O.
Turbulence. (Ruled out for all
flights.)
P. Out of rig
door. (Ruled out for all flights.)
Q.
Lightning. (Ruled out for all
flights.)
R. Metal fatigue.
(Ruled out for all flights.)
S.
Improperly latched. (Initially accepted for one flight, then
ruled out for all
flights.)
T. Design
error. (Accepted for one flight, ruled out for three
flights.)
U. Repair error. (Ruled
out for all flights.)
V. Maintenance
error. (Accepted for one flight, ruled out for three
flights.)
W. Collision with terrain.
(Ruled out for all flights.)
Well, the evidence is everything and
more is needed, especially all the metal in and around the aft cargo
door.
Data below regarding aft cargo doors
and uncommanded openings:
March 3, 1974
McDonnell Douglas
DC-10-10 TC-JAV Turk Hava Yollari - THY
Outside Paris,
France
Mechanical Failure due to Design Flaw/Human
Error
Occupants: 346
Fatalities: 346
The latch mechanism of the
aft cargo door, the design of which was susceptible to damage, had been
damaged before the accident. Before takeoff the door had not been
secured properly. Shortly after takeoff from Paris, the door failed. The
resulting depressurization led to the disruption of the floor structure,
causing six passengers and parts of the aircraft to be ejected,
rendering No.2 engine inoperative, and impairing the flight controls so
that it was impossible for the crew to regain control of the
aircraft.
'UAL records for N4713U indicated that SB-747-52-2097
had been complied with and the shrouds had been installed on the forward
and aft cargo doors. However, examination of the aft cargo door on
N4713U revealed that the shrouds were not in place. UAL could not find
records to verify if the shrouds had been installed or if they had been
removed from either door.
There was no evidence of the pressure
relief door shrouds found on the forward door; however, most of the
inner door lining to which the shrouds attach was
missing.'
1.17.6
Uncommanded Cargo Door Opening--UAL B-747, JFK Airport
On
June 13, 1991, UAL maintenance personnel were unable to electrically
open the aft cargo door on a Boeing 747-222B, N152UA, at JFK Airport,
Jamaica, New York.
The airplane was being prepared for flight at the
UAL maintenance hangar when an inspection of the circuit breaker panel
revealed that the C-288 (aft cargo door) circuit breaker had popped. The
circuit breaker, located in the electrical equipment bay just forward of
the forward cargo compartment, was reset, and it popped again a few
seconds later.
The aft cargo door was cranked open
manually, the C-288 circuit breaker was reset, and it stayed in place.
When the plug was reattached to the J-4 junction box, the door began to
open with no activation of the electrical door open switches. The C-288
circuit breaker was pulled, and the door operation ceased. When the
circuit breaker was reset, the door continued to the full open position,
and the lift actuator motor continued to run for several seconds until
the circuit breaker was again pulled.
From FAA incident reports:
narrative
Operator
code:
TWAA
Operator:
Trans world airlines inc -
twaa
Owner
name:
Trans world airlines
inc
Narrative
Aft cargo door light illuminated on
climb out. Door differential flapper
Door open due to iced-up master lock
pin.
Operator:
American airlines inc -
aala
Owner
name: American
airlines inc
Narrative
Rapid decompression at cruise
altitude. Found fatigue failure of the Fuselage skin forward of the aft
cargo
door.
John Barry Smith
www.corazon.com
barry@corazon.com
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