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New York, 1:53 PM
Tue Dec 15
82 posts in the last 24 hours

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    747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Shamoononon: I shave my legs. Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    "The Herald understands that the two aircraft were separated by only a few thousand metres as weather updates were sent across to the Qantas plane, and that Qantas passengers could see the other jet through their windows."


    Can somebody ask the Herald what a metre is?

     Reply
    Shamoononon: I shave my legs. was starred Shamoononon: I shave my legs. was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    10/29/08

    @shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog: It's slightly smaller than a meter.
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of Shamoononon: I shave my legs. Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
    10/29/08

    @Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...: Huh, 2 years of college physics and never once did I hear a meter referred to as a metre. Ah well, you learn something new. I thought it was a typo, thanks.
     Reply
    Shamoononon: I shave my legs. was starred Shamoononon: I shave my legs. was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    10/29/08

    @shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog: No that's the snobby non-American way of spelling it. For the rest of us who ride the short bus it's meter..
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    Well, to be more accurate, he flew "weather blind" across the Pacific. He knew where he was, he just didn't know the weather conditions ahead of him, so he didn't know if there was a storm or turbulence ahead, so he stayed behind the plane in front of him. This is like when I travel in the wheel ruts of the car ahead of me in a snow storm at night. I know where I am, just not what the conditions of the road ahead of me are. Still cool though.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was starred GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was unstarred
    Image of - -
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    Recall that these planes are flying at 1,000 Kilometers/hour. So they would cover the distance they're flying apart in about 5 seconds.


    I'd rather not fly within 5 seconds of crashing into another plane, but hey, if the alternative is death, i'll take it.

     Reply
    - was starred - was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
    10/29/08

    @chrism123: @1.21Gigawatts: The planes were not right behind each other, but parallel. Even if one plane slowed to 100mph, there was no chance of collision. IIRC, isn't planes flying close behind another plane bad because you can get caught in their wash/wake, and might go into a flat spin?
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was starred GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was unstarred
    Image of 1.21Gigawatts 1.21Gigawatts
    10/29/08

    @Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: I don't think you're aware of the power that a plane has. Even flying parallel one plane can bank and quickly cover the distance needed, not just for a collision, but enough for one of the planes to get caught in the other planes trail. As someone who has felt the wash of medium turbine engines, I can tell you that it's enough to fling school buses without hesitation. Hell there's even a myth busters episode covering it to some extent.
     Reply
    1.21Gigawatts was starred 1.21Gigawatts was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
    10/29/08

    @1.21Gigawatts: Well, a meteorite could have smacked a plane as well. Barring a catastrophic event on one of the planes, the way they were flying was "was vertically separated according to operating procedure at all times". I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the chances of them having a problem flying the way they were were only beaten by my chances of not being single tomorrow.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was starred GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE was unstarred
    Image of ucbeecs97 ucbeecs97
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    1 thousand meters is a kilometer,

    1 mile = 1.609 kilometers


    so if they were a "few thousand meters" apart, sounds like they were a mile apart. Sounds like a pretty safe enough distance.

     Reply
    ucbeecs97 was starred ucbeecs97 was unstarred
    Image of jayhawk11 owns property now!!! jayhawk11 owns property now!!!
    10/29/08

    @ucbeecs97: Now, factor in that the 747 cruises around 565 mph.


    Still seem safe? Great ingenuity on the part of the Qantas captain and the Air New Zealand crew, but this is getting very sketchy on the safety side of it. 565 mile per hour doesn't leave you a lot of time to react if something goes wrong.

     Reply
    jayhawk11 owns property now!!! was starred jayhawk11 owns property now!!! was unstarred
    Image of nutbastard nutbastard
    10/29/08

    @jayhawk11:


    good point - that's a mile every 6.15 seconds!

     Reply
    nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred
    Image of nutbastard nutbastard
    10/29/08

    @nutbastard:


    on the other hand, the front plane isn't going to stop dead in an instant. even if it could, they were vertically separated, and 6 seconds is a decent enough amount of time to make SOME kind of cautionary alteration.

     Reply
    nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred
    Image of Lite: hates Illinois Nazis Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
    10/29/08

    @nutbastard: Hey ya'll! Watch this!
     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was starred Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was unstarred
    Image of KinOfCain KinOfCain
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    "only a few thousand meters" is plenty of space.
     Reply
    KinOfCain was starred KinOfCain was unstarred
    Image of IN THE FACE! IN THE FACE!
    10/29/08

    @KinOfCain:

    Duh...


    a few thousand meters = a few kilometers.


    TO CLOSE FOR MISSILES; SWITCHING TO GUNS!!!

     Reply
    IN THE FACE! was starred IN THE FACE! was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    So how exactly did they string the two tin cans between the planes at 35,000 feet??
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of IN THE FACE! IN THE FACE!
    10/29/08

    @Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...:

    They got this kid to do it:
     Reply
    IN THE FACE! was starred IN THE FACE! was unstarred
    Image of jrronimo jrronimo
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    That's pretty rad, actually. I'm glad everyone was safe and that the two planes could work together.
     Reply
    jrronimo was starred jrronimo was unstarred
    Image of strider_mt2k strider_mt2k
    10/29/08

    @jrronimo: It actually speaks a lot to the the preparedness and professionalism of everyone involved.


    Good work people.

     Reply
    strider_mt2k was starred strider_mt2k was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    What? You mean the pilot couldn't just use his iPhone to check the weather?
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of Purple Dave Purple Dave
    10/29/08

    @ripfire:
    No way, man. The copilot surfing porn on his iPhone is probably what shorted out the weather rader in the first place.
     Reply
    Purple Dave was starred Purple Dave was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    10/29/08

    @Purple Dave: Really? I thought Quantas blocked porn on their mile-high internetz.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of Purple Dave Purple Dave
    10/30/08

    @ripfire:
    And now you know _why_ they do. Must not have a firewall or antivirus software running on those planes...
     Reply
    Purple Dave was starred Purple Dave was unstarred
    Image of WilCon WilCon
    10/29/08

    In reply to 747 Electronics Fail, Pilot Flies Blind Across the Pacific Piggy-Backing to Another Plane
    So let's hang the pilot for being resourceful, getting everyone there safely, on time it sounds like, and explaining it all in flight so people understood.

    Sounds to me like both pilots were great and that while people should be worried, everyone again was OK.
     Reply
    WilCon was starred WilCon was unstarred
    Image of Null42 Null42
    10/29/08

    @WilCon: No kidding. All of the intelligent and resourceful people these days are being crucified in order to sate the public's growing fear and paranoia.
     Reply
    Null42 was starred Null42 was unstarred
    Image of IN THE FACE! IN THE FACE!
    10/29/08

    @Null42: They would have rather crashed into the sea? Or flown into a storm?


    *old Jewish granny voice*

     Reply
    IN THE FACE! was starred IN THE FACE! was unstarred
    Image of Lite: hates Illinois Nazis Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
    10/29/08

    @Null42: Isn't this what happened to Oceanic Flight 815
     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was starred Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was unstarred
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