[Peetwo]

Mountains out of molehills - A how to?

I have read and observed with interest the media 'beat up' and then 'letdown' by the Qantas  PR machine of the QF 94 wake turbulence incident...

Via the Oz:

Qantas A380 jet in sudden dive

MATTHEW DENHOLM
Eddie McGuire describes 10-second nosedive that terrified passengers after Qantas flight struck wake turbulence.

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Wake turbulence suspected in Qantas jet’s sudden dive

A “terrifying” mid-air incident ­involving two Qantas A380 jets this week forced one of the aircraft into a 10-second “nosedive”, in which passengers held hands ­believing they were about to die.

The plunge above the Pacific Ocean, about two hours into QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne, was believed to have been caused by the vortex, or “wake turbulence”, generated by another A380, QF12, which was flying from Los Angeles to Sydney and took off two minutes before QF94.

Qantas did not report the incident to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, but after questions from The Australian, the safety watchdog last night sought an ­explanation from the airline and promised to review the response.

Among the passengers was Channel 9 star Eddie McGuire, who spoke this morning of the on-board scare.

“Somebody described it as the feeling of going over the top of a rollercoaster, slightly, not the fall — just a little, ‘what’s going on there?’. There was a little bit of turning of the plane as well and a little bit of downward,” he said on his Triple M radio show.

“It was one of those ones that got your attention. Then it levelled off.”

Fellow QF94 passenger Janelle Wilson said the “three-quarters-full” plane, with a seat capacity of 484, suddenly entered a “free fall nosedive … a direct decline towards the ocean” for about 10 seconds.

“It was between 1½ and two hours after we left LA and all of a sudden the plane went through a violent turbulence and then completely up-ended and we were nose­diving,” Ms Wilson told The Australian yesterday.

“We were all lifted from our seats immediately and we were in a free fall. It was that feeling like when you are at the top of a rollercoaster and you’ve just gone over the edge of the peak and you start heading down.

“It was an absolute sense of losing your stomach and that we were nosediving. The lady sitting next to me and I screamed and held hands and just waited but thought with absolute certainty that we were going to crash. It was terrifying.”

Flight track details show QF12 took off from Los Angeles at 11.27pm Sunday night (US time), 57 minutes behind schedule. QF94, which departed at 11.29pm, 49 minutes late, landed safely but 30 minutes late in Melbourne at 8am on Tuesday.

While Qantas said no one was injured and no damage sustained, the incident traumatised some passengers. It is the latest in a string of mid-air scares potentially linked to the wake turbulence of the giant A380s.

Aviation consultant and experienced pilot Byron Bailey last night called for a review of standards that are meant to safely separate A380s from other aircraft. “It’s a serious problem — they are going to have to really think about this,” Captain Bailey said.

An ATSB spokesman said: “Following our correspondence, the ATSB has made inquiries with the operator (Qantas) and they are voluntarily submitting a notification. Once received, we will ­review the information to determine whether any further action is required.”

Qantas suggested there had been no breach of separation standards, as the two A380 aircraft were understood to be apart by 20 nautical miles and 1000 feet in ­altitude.

“We understand that any sudden turbulence can be a jolt for passengers but aircraft are ­designed to handle it safely,” said Qantas fleet safety captain Debbie Slade. “As the captain explained to passengers at the time, this A380 experienced a short burst of wake turbulence from another A380 flying ahead and above it.”

Ms Wilson said Qantas staff on the flight described it as the worst incident they had experienced on an aircraft.

“Everyone was pulled up from their seats by the ferocity of it; it happened so quickly with no ­notice and just shocked everyone,” she said. “There were glasses, plates, bottles that were all smashed at the back of the plane.”

Ms Wilson said that, once the plane was stabilised, the captain addressed the passengers.

“He said we had been caught in a vortex due to the A380 Qantas flight on its way to Sydney ahead of us and that they were contacting air traffic control to request an ­alternative route,” she said.

“There were three flights we knew of that were leaving from LA to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (within close proximity) and we were delayed by just under an hour, so I don’t know whether that played a part in it.

“We thought ‘how do two Qantas flights get so close?’ There was a lot of anger and curiosity after we all recovered from what was ­clearly a terrifying incident.”

Ms Wilson said it was fortunate dinner had just finished, with most passengers still wearing seatbelts.

Last year, Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation called for an urgent review of aircraft separation standards after a near disaster when a ­private jet was hit by wake turbulence from a Sydney-bound ­Emirates A380 above the Arabian Sea.

Wake turbulence was also ­blamed for the near-stall of a Qantas 747 flight from Melbourne, about 110km from Hong Kong, in April last year. ATSB’s investigation into that incident, in which 15 passengers were injured, was “nearing ­completion”.

Captain Bailey said that, from the witness descriptions, it ­appeared as though QF94 lost autopilot control after being hit by the wake turbulence and was momentarily uncontrolled. “It’s possible that the autopilot exceeded the breakout threshold and has disconnected,” he said.

Captain Bailey said Qantas might need to adopt a different ­approach to separating A380s on the busy Los Angeles route. “It might be a smart move to stay with the airway but to have each aircraft flying staggered, two to three miles off the centre line,” he said.

And the letdown:

Qantas hails safety after drama

ANDREW BURRELL
Qantas has rejected claims that an A380 jet ‘nosedived’ during a mid-air ­scare that passengers described as a 10-second free fall.

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Qantas hails safety in A380 jet wake turbulence drama

Qantas has strongly rejected suggestions that one of its A380 jets nosedived during a mid-air ­incident this week despite terrified passengers reporting they experienced a 10-second free-fall that felt like being on a rollercoaster.

The Australian revealed yesterday that the scare above the ­Pacific Ocean, about two hours into a QF94 flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne, is believed to have been caused by “wake turbulence” generated by another A380.

The second jet, QF12, was ­flying from Los Angeles to Sydney and took off two minutes before QF94

It is the latest in a string of mid-air scares potentially linked to the wake turbulence of the giant A380s.

Qantas said yesterday that QF94 was about 37km behind and 1000 feet below QF12 when it encountered disturbed air.

“It may have felt bumpy for the passengers, but the data shows the total up-and-down aircraft nose movement was three degrees,” chief pilot Richard Tobiano said.

“The reports of a nosedive or a plunge are wrong.”

Former commercial airline pilot Byron Bailey questioned why the pilot of QF94 was only 1000 feet below the other A380 and called for better aircraft separation standards.

“One thousand feet is asking for trouble,” he said yesterday.

But Qantas said the 1000-foot limitation reflected a global air traffic control standard for aircraft flying in the same direction and in the same corridor.

“It’s not a decision made by (Qantas),” a spokesman said. “These are the rules that air traffic controllers manage to and apply to all airlines.”

The spokesman said the two aircraft were significantly in ­excess of the required standard because they were also 37km apart.

The editor-in-chief of the Airline Ratings website, Geoffrey Thomas, described it as a “freak event” that was likely caused by “very still air”.

Among the passengers on QF94 was Nine Network presenter Eddie McGuire, who said yesterday the drop seemed to last about 10 ­seconds.

“For about 10 seconds there was a drop, it did have that feel of, you know, when you just go over the top of the rollercoaster, you just get a little bit of that feeling,” McGuire told the Today show.

“It just had that uneasy feeling as it pitched forward and to the side,” he said. “The most reassuring part about the whole thing was the Qantas pilot came on immediately and said we’ve gone up the back of the turbulence of the ­Sydney plane that had been ahead of us.”

Fellow QF94 passenger Janelle Wilson said the plane entered a “free-fall nosedive … a direct ­decline towards the ocean” for about 10 seconds.

“We were all lifted from our seats immediately and we were in a free-fall. It was an absolute sense of losing your stomach,’’ she said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said Qantas had reported the occurrence.

“The operator submitted a notification this morning, which is within the required 72-hour time frame for routinely reportable matters,” it said.

“The information contained in the notification has been reviewed and the ATSB has determined that it will not be investigating.”

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Plus:

Turbulence nothing to fear
RICHARD TOBIANO, QANTAS CHIEF PILOT
Recent reports on QF94 show that turbulence is probably one of the most misunderstood elements of flying.

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Turbulence nothing to fear if passengers wear their seatbelts

Recent reports on QF94 show that turbulence is probably one of the most misunderstood elements of flying. For pilots, it’s an everyday part of our job and nothing to fear. Aircraft are engineered to deal with levels of turbulence well beyond anything they would realistically encounter. But we’re conscious that turbulence can put passengers on edge — especially if it’s a sudden jolt.

And because it is misunderstood, those jolts can be wrongly perceived as a “plunge” or “massive drop”. It helps to understand why turbulence happens.

Some causes are sudden changes in wind direction and speed, particularly as aircraft climb to their cruising altitude; turbulence associated with large, dense clouds; and wake turbulence, which QF94 experienced this week over the Pacific Ocean. Large jet aircraft (like the A380 or 747) disturb the air behind them, similar to the wash from a boat. It’s uncommon but that disturbed air can cause bumps for nearby aircraft, even if they are a significant distance away.

QF94 was about 37km behind and 1000 feet below the other Qantas A380 when it encountered some disturbed air. The two aircraft were well aware of each other, but wake turbulence can be hard to predict and often arrives as a sudden jolt when you’re flying smoothly. The turbulence lasted for about 10 seconds and caused the nose of the aircraft to pitch up slightly. The “plunge” that a few passengers have described was actually the A380 immediately returning itself to a steady state. Aircraft are designed to fly level and if turbulence disturbs that, the aircraft will adjust — including going back to the right altitude.

QF94 performed exactly as it was supposed to in this scenario and so did its highly trained crew. The total movement in pitch was about three degrees. The captain knew how this would have felt to passengers, so made an announcement to explain what happened and why it wasn’t cause for concern. The rest of the flight was uneventful.

Serious aviation incidents need to be reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau within 24 hours. Non-serious events like QF94 need to be reported within 72 hours and Qantas did that — one of hundreds of reports we and other airlines make each year that help make our aviation sector one of the world’s safest.

A lot of effort goes into avoiding turbulence. Detailed weather reports, state-of-the-art weather radars, talking to other pilots flying along the same corridors and spacing between aircraft all help to smooth things out. Turbulence can be unexpected and uncomfortable, but provided you have your seatbelt on whenever you’re seated, it’s not something to fear.

Qantas chief pilot Captain Richard Tobiano regularly flies the A380. 

Speaking of 'nose dives', one wonders how much of this heightened public/media beat ups were partly due to the recently revived interest in the 7 October 2008, QF 72 occurrence - stirred up by the not long released National Geographic Air Crash Investigation episode on QF 72?

See here (Ps Not the best copy version available -   ):    

Just saying...



MTF...P2