The financial struggles of the major airlines are sometimes blamed on the six-figure salaries many pilots receive for the relatively few hours worked each month, but two American Airlines veteran pilots demonstrated last week why flight crews are well compensated.
Minutes after takeoff on Thursday, the pilots flew a McDonnell Douglas Super 80 carrying 107 passengers back to O’Hare International Airport on the power of one engine after a bird was sucked into the other engine.
Passengers who peered out their windows and saw flames shooting from the left engine were later quoted as saying they were sure they would die, and some media breathlessly labeled the pilots as heroes for landing the plane safely.
Did the crew exhibit the “Right Stuff” in an emergency? Absolutely, the airlines insist on it. But were they heroes? Not really.
The incident might not have had the same happy ending if the plane were just leaving the ground and the engine failed. But the aircraft was already up about 3,000 feet when birds were encountered and, flying fairly level at a healthy 250 knots, it was not in danger of becoming uncontrollable.
The two pilots, who asked to remain anonymous and declined interview requests, were the first to say they were not heroes, American Airlines officials said. They calmly implemented the emergency training that American pilots undergo in flight simulators every nine months. There was never a question–in the minds of the pilots or air-traffic controllers–that the plane would return to O’Hare.
“Everything went right and the captain attributed the success of the emergency landing to the training program. It was strictly out of the book,” said American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan. “It may sound nasty to white-knuckle fliers, it may smell and frighten passengers, but we know this type of event is a possibility, and we train for it.”
Denis Breslin, an American captain who flies Boeing 777s, added: “The pilots did a tremendous job, but the situation they faced did not call for a hurried motion. You fly the airplane and methodically go through your checklist for engine failure and engine fire.
“You shut off fuel to the engine, you try to extinguish the fire and before shutting down the engine, you make sure the integrity of the other engine is intact,” said Breslin, a 26-year American veteran and the communications chairman for the Allied Pilots Association, the union that represents American pilots.
On some aircraft models, the pilots must jettison fuel for the aircraft to be at an acceptable weight during landing. But the fuel-dumping capabilities on the MD Super 80 have been deactivated because the aircraft is able to land at its maximum gross weight, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Continuing down the checklist, you prepare the cabin, brief the flight attendants and call for the fire department crash and rescue squad,” Breslin said. “Meanwhile, air-traffic control is clearing out the airspace for you and opening up runways.
“And then you land.
“Sensationalism will only make the frightened passenger more afraid to fly. With the airline industry working hard to rebound, we want all our customers to know safety is No. 1.”
Holiday traffic deaths decline
Expanded law-enforcement and education efforts are credited for a drop in traffic deaths in Illinois over the Labor Day weekend. Twelve people died in road accidents, the lowest fatality rate since 1981, state officials said. There were 20 deaths over Labor Day in 2003.
A more aggressive campaign to arrest drunk drivers and a state law enacted in mid-2003 that authorizes police to stop drivers for seat-belt violations combined to reduce the death toll, according to the Illinois State Police. Almost 500 people have died on Illinois roads over the Labor Day weekend in the last 24 years.
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Over Labor Day weekend this year, state police issued 458 tickets related to alcohol and 2,381 for safety seat violations. Over Labor Day 2003, 3,681 citations were written for seat-belt violations.
Study: Don’t keep on truckin’
Shifting 25 percent of the freight transported by trucks onto rail cars instead could save Chicago-area commuters 81 hours of travel delays each year by 2025, according to a new study. Independent researcher Wendell Cox estimates that each commuter would save 494 gallons of gas annually and congestion costs for the Chicago-area economy would be reduced by $1,103 per household.
The study comes on the heels of a Texas Transportation Institute report showing that Chicago-area drivers waste 56 hours a year because of traffic delays caused by congestion.
The statistics point to the need to move forward with a proposed $1.5 billion overhaul of the Chicago region’s freight rail system. City and state officials are seeking federal funding for the freight modernization project. Chicago is the center of the nation’s freight rail universe, but the region’s overloaded, antiquated system results in average freight train speeds of only 9 mile per hour.
Amtrak on sale
Amtrak is launching a new campaign to promote its lower fares from Chicago’s Union Station. Sample one-way coach fares start at $23 to Ann Arbor, $80 to Denver and $66 to Washington, D.C. For more information, call 800-USA-RAIL or go to www. Amtrak.com
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