Boeing
Flight Ops Bulletin - Summary & Critique
1.
Since Sep 98 Boeing has been re-examining MD11
design and operation (incl smoke procedures). Company is unsure which procedures
sr111 crew used but has decided to review existing procedures and offer alternatives
(because several operators [KLM?] have requested that they should do so).
2.
Smk?Elec/Air switch (SEAsw) was designed to
consolidate and fulfil the multi-step
procedure in use in the DC-10 (which was almost totally an FE drill).
3. If an electrical fault produces a fire, isolation and powering down the source will not necessarily extinguish the fire. The SEAsw can be used to isolate electrical components in groupings but cannot be used to prevent all the possible hazards that may result from electrical short-circuiting.
4.
5.
If the a/c is in a position of being
able to land ASAP (Boeing's preferred solution) then switching off all generators
and opening all bus-ties would revert to the EMERG BUS (very basic stuff only on that
- no ability to fly in IMC or at night). ADG could be
deployed in electrical mode to sustain the battery. (This
assumes, quite optimistically, that the battery hasn't been taken out via a
dead short). However Boeing is loathe to yet formally
publish or actually propose this alternative course of action as it would make
matters very complex for crews in deciding which is the most appropriate course
(i.e. they'd have to get a phone-patch to a retired Flt Eng who had indepth
systems knowledge). ? "
6.
However, as a supplement to the existing Flight
Crew Operating Manual here's the best advice that the Boeing Company can give.
(i)
Training programs for fighting inflight fires.
Seek guidance from professionals. (real throwaway stuff this). No
mention of pilots using hand-held fire-extinguishers.
(ii)
Are inflight fires different from ground fires?
Should cabin altitude be raised to starve fires of oxy? (nil significant
effect at all I would suggest)
(iii)
Consider using cabin crew in the cockpit (in the absence of a FE)
(iv)
Do crews have a fire plan? Designate a fire
marshal (huh?) (after
it starts it's too late) [ bit of a waste of space. If it's not in the checklist or
SOP's, crews are unlikely to standardize across an airline]. Maybe they could
offer passengers frequent flier points to participate in the fire-fighting effort
(instead of panicking and invading the cockpit).
Boeing intends to forward
the above recommendations to the appropriate agencies.
Summary: (By IASA Australasia)
The DC-10 was always a three-man
show and the re-systemed MD10 is simply a make-over of the DC-10 to this dubious
MD-11 standard (in order to eliminate the third man). Tom Melody is presently
the overseer test pilot on that project. I'll bet he's had a lot of post-sr111
second-thoughts about it. Cathay had a quiet ceremony last month, before the
pilots' dispute, that saw off their very last Flight Engineer. They are now
a dead (not dying) breed. The residue fly in B727's, Classic B747's, L1011's
and DC-10's (only) in regular airline service. The Flight Engineer knew 'his'
aircraft. Captains and First Officers don't have any in-depth tech knowledge.
They are operators only. That's the real regret about the passing of the FE.
However the Document talks
about pilots using their systems knowledge to work their way through the intricacies
of "recommendations" that have essentially reverted to a manualization
of the smoke procedure. i.e. they expect the pilots to utilize all the knowledge
and complex procedures (once familiar to the FE and in his province exclusively)
to cope with the deficiencies now manifestly obvious in the MD-11's systems
controllers. You know, the computerized gadgets that were supposed to offload
the pilots by automatically coping with system's outages. And the pilots are
expected to do all this now (the three-man task) whilst still tied umbilically
to their seats. Bloody impossible, and
that's why the aircraft will more than likely end up in Peggy's Cove or a borough
of Greater London or a precinct of New York - whilst overloaded pilots attempt
to cope with an imponderable task. And just how are China Air and KAL going
to make out? That would be truly in the lap of the Gods. Relying upon the system's
controllers during an arc-tracking event is like putting your faith in a fire
engine that is itself on fire (I'm sure you'd have heard that one before). I
think the real reason why Boeing is very reluctant to actually endorse the "alternative"
procedure is that it would be a tacit admission of all that I have said - as
well as a pointer to the desperate need for a proper Virgin Bus. The difference
is that a design
Virgin Bus would give true electrical redundancy and a life-saving fall-back
position - whilst their proposal here (Emergency bus off the battery) is the
classic "straw to a drowning man". (hardly a viable alternative -
and certainly no real option when you're mid-Pacific on a dark and rainy night).
Boeing's attempts at a solution
here simply highlights what a nightmare the MD11, in its original conception,
has become. No wonder they've decided to cease production. After reading this
document you wouldn't be happy about sending your family off across the ocean
in a two-man MD11 - I think not. For me, that is the bottom line. They should
all be converted to freighters and give the remaining Flight Engineers a carry-on
career. The MD11's are excellent freighters, quite capacious and very fuel efficient.
Most of the MD-10's will thankfully not carry pax (but some will). That MD-10
flight-test program will end in late 2002.
You are correct in assuming
that the document is as valuable for what it doesn't say. The exclusions
merely demonstrate what an agony they must have gone through deciding what to
include and what to exclude whilst still making it a meaningful guide for pilots.
It
Is a desperate attempt to reconcile the post sr111 facts with continued operation of the MD11 in airline passenger-carrying service. I think that that is really their Achille's Heel. It is NOT actually airworthy under any concept of airworthiness - as a two man crewed aircraft (under these amended guidelines). If this was the best Boeing could come up with after 10 months deliberations, it only goes to show how cornered they are on the whole subject of survivability of a two-man crew in a Kapton-ridden MD11 smoker.
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