Drama as Pilot is Sucked out of Plane at 23.00 FT (The error that could not happen)

EMERGENCY

UNIT 10

Topics for Discussion

Answer the questions.

1.How is the notion of civil aviation security defined?

2.Do you remember any recent acts of unlawful interference into civil aviation activities?

3.By whom and how is the threat to aviation monitored?

4.How and by whom is the level of possible countermeasures established?

5.What is a responsibility of the engineer preparing the aircraft for service?

6.What must be ensured by the airport operator?

7.What must be ensured by the provider of air navigation services?

8.By whom is screening of persons and their baggage carried out?

9.When is the aircraft pronounced "security clean"?

10. What is meant by passenger and baggage reconciliation?

1. Non-standard situations which can occur during the flight.

2. Aircraft hijackings. Why are they committed?

3. Black box.

4. Emergency codes.

5. Main reasons for aircraft accidents.

6. Investigations of aircraft crashes.

7. TCAS system.

8. Aviation piracy.

9. Unlawful interference.

10. Loss of separation.

Exercise 10.1.1 Read and translate the text.

The June 1990 incident in which a British Airways Captain Timothy Lancaster was almost blown out of the cockpit of a British Airspace one-eleven (BAC-1-11) by the explosive decompression following a windscreen section failure at 23,000ft is a classic example of the danger of human error in maintenance.

Despite wearing a lap-strap, the pilot was saved from death only when a steward Nigel Ogden managed to grab his legs as he was being sucked out of the hole in the nose of the plane. The force of the blast flew open the cookpit door behind him. Captain Lancaster had been dragged out of his seat by force of pressurized cabin air leaving the airplane.

But the force of air on the plane was too strong for the cabin crew to pull Captain Lancaster back in.

As they struggled to hold on to him for 15 minutes, co-pilot Alister Atchenson made a Mayday call and dived the plane downwards. He landed the aircraft at Southampton Airport with the pilot still hanging out of the plane.

During his 18 minute ordeal Captain Lancaster had to face a temperature of minus 32 degrees Centigrade as well as a chill factor from the wind that made it much colder. He was treated in hospital for frostbite, severe shock, cuts, bruises and a broken elbow, wrist and thumb.

The windscreen was new and had been put in just two days earlier during regular checks on the airplane. A British Airways outstation shift-maintenance manager had used under-sized retaining bolts to secure the windscreen. The replacement windscreen had been installed with 84 bolts, the diameters of which were 066 mm less that the diameters of the specified bolts, and six bolts which were of the correct diameter, but 2.5 mm too short.

The windscreen fitting process was characterized by a series of poor work practices, poor judgments and perceptual errors, each one of which eroded the factors of safety.

Although an independent final inspection would have had a high probability of detecting the error, the task of the windscreen installation was not designated a vital point and, consequently, no duplicate inspection was called for and none took place.

Exercise 10.1.2 Answer the questions.

1. What was the reason for the June 1990 incident?

2. At what altitude did a windscreen section failure happen?

3. What saved the pilot from death?

4. What prevented Captain Lancaster to be pulled back in?

5. What did co-pilot Alister Atchenson do as the cabin crew struggled to hold on to Captain Lancaster?

6. What did Captain Lancaster have to face during his 18 minute ordeal?

7. What did a British Airways outstation shift-maintenance manager use to secure the windscreen?

8. What eroded the factors of safety in that incident?

9. Was the duplicated inspection called for?

10. Was the error detected?

Exercise 10.1.3 Write T if the sentence is true and F if the sentence is false.

1. ______ Captain Timothy Lancaster was almost blown out of the cockpit by the explosive decompression followed by a windscreen section failure.

2. ______ A steward Nigel Ogden managed to grab his legs.

3. ______ The force of the blast blew open the cockpit door behind him.

4. ______ Captain Lancaster had been dragged out of his seat by force of the air entering the airplane.

5. ______ The cabin crew struggled to hold on to Captain Lancaster for 15 minutes.

6. ______ Co-pilot landed the aircraft at Southend Airport.

7. ______ Captain Lancaster was treated in hospital for frostbite, severe shock, cuts, bruises and broken shoulder.

8. ______ The windscreen was new and had been put in two days earlier.

9. ______ The replacement windscreen was installed with 85 bolts.

10. _____ The windscreen fitting process was characterized by a series of poor work practices.

Exercise 10.1.4 Give the English equivalents for the following.

Разгерметизация в результате взрыва лобового стекла; ошибка человека в техническом обслуживании; в носовой части самолета; сила порыва ветра; воздух герметизированного салона; суровое испытание; фактор охлаждения; регулярные проверки; маломерные крепежные болты; правильный диаметр; процесс установки лобового стекла; плохие расчеты; факторы безопасности; независимый окончательный осмотр; высокая вероятность определения ошибки; повторный осмотр.

Exercise 10.1.5 Find in the text synonyms for the following words and word combinations.

Mistake; flighdeck; depressurization; windshield; risk; flight attendant; grasp, violence; compressed; violent; flight; examination; finding.

Exercise 10.1.6 State what part of speech the following words belong to.

1. flats
a) verb	b) noun	c) adverb	d) objective
2. downwards
a) verb	b) noun	c) adverb	d) objective
3. ordeal
a) noun	b) conjunction	c) preposition	d) verb
4. secure a) noun	b) adjective	c) preposition	d) verb
5. consequently
a) adverb	b) verb	c) pronoun	d) preposition

Exercise 10.1.7 Match the words and word combinations in column A with those in column B.

A	B
1. maintenance	a. отморожение
2. lap-strap	b. локоть
3. frostbite	c. техническое обслуживание
4. cuts	d. ремень для крепления бедер
5. bruises	e. запястье
6. elbow	f. синяки
7. wrist	g. большой палец руки
8. thumb	h. факторы безопасности
9. factors of safety	i. важный пункт
10. vital point	j. порезы

Exercise 10.1.8 Fill in the gaps with the words from the text choosing from the ones given in brackets.

1. A steward Nigel Ogden managed to ______________ (pull, grab, blow) Captain’s legs as he was being ____________ (sucked, dragged, dived) out of the hole in the nose of the plane.

2. The force of the ______________ (air, pressure, blast) open the ___________ (cabin, cockpit, airplane) door behind him.

3. Co-pilot Alister Atchenson made a ____________ (‘Mayday’, distress, emergency) call and dived the plane __________(upwards, downwards, towards).

4. Captain Lancaster had to face a temperature of minus 32° C as well as

the _________ (cold, chill, cool) factor from the wind.

5. He was __________ (cured, held, treated) in hospital.

6. The windscreen was new and had been put in just two days earlier during _________

(maintenance, pre-flight, regular) checks.

7. A British Airways outstation manager had used under-sized retaining bolts to __________ (secure, install, fix) the windscreen.

Exercise 10.1.9 Fill in the gaps with the related words.

1. He was treated in hospital for ______________ (BREAK) leg.

2. The diameters of the bolts were 066 mm ________ (LITTLE) than the diameters of the ____________ (SPECIFY) bolts.

3. The windscreen __________ (FIT) process was characterized by a series of poor work practices.

4. All this eroded the factors of ___________ (SAFE).

5. An _________ (DEPEND) final __________ (INSPECT) would have had a high _______ (PROBABLE) of detecting the error.

6. The task of the windscreen ________ (INSTALL) was not designated a vital point.

Exercise 10.1.10 Make up sentences using the given words.

1. The (error) is/ example / incident /a /in / maintenance / the / of / of / danger / classical /human.

2. The / was/ from / pilot / saved / death.

3. Force / the / was / strong/ of/ too / air/ plane/ the/ on.

4. Handing / the / still / out of / plane / pilot / was / the

5. Had / 84 bolts / installed / been / the / windscreen / with / replacement.

6. Was / no / inspection / called / duplicate.

Exercise 10.1.11 Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Происшествие в июне 1990 является классическим примером ошибки человека в техническом обслуживании.

2. Стюарду удалось схватить капитана за ноги.

3. Капитан был вытащен со своего места силой воздуха герметизированного салона, который покидал самолет.

4. Сила воздуха в самолете была слишком большой, чтобы обслуживающий экипаж смог втянуть капитана обратно.

5. Второй пилот резко снизил самолет.

6. Лобовое стекло было новое и было установлено всего лишь двумя днями раньше.

7. Руководитель смены технического обслуживания использовал маломерные крепежные болты, чтобы закрепить лобовое стекло.

8. Диаметры болтов были на 066 мм меньше, чем диаметры болтов, которые необходимы для крепления.

9. Шесть болтов были на 2,5 мм короче.

10. Установление лобового стекла не рассматривалось в качестве “важного пункта”.

Exercise 10.1.12 Retell the text.

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