Air Disaster (Vol. 2) (Paperback)

by Macarthur Job (Author), Matthew Tesch (Author) "Southern Airways' Flight 242 from Muscle Shoals, in northwestern Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, with an en route call at Huntsville, was but one of a..." (more)
Key Phrases: reverser sleeves, thrust reverser system, pylon bulkhead, Matthew Tesch, Air New Zealand, Ross Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Air Disaster Volume 2 continues the theme established in Volume 1, examining the way the unforeseen hazards of jet age aviation progressively came to light through costly real world experience - often with an inevitable toll in tragedy and human lives.

Yet for all their grim, spectacular consequences, these harsh lessons have helped to evolve a global transport system on a scale beyond anything the world has ever seen, and at a level of safety that statistically surpasses even the normal hazards of everyday life.

Despite all of aviation's quite astonishing technical successes, and the overall standards of safety it has achieved, the art and science of advanced aeronautics and their associated technologies are not yet fully perfected. This book examines instances in which flying conditions were so adverse that accepted aviation wisdom, even after so many years and countless thousands of flying hours, was shown to be lacking. The fate of a DC-9 enroute to Atlanta in April 1977, a Boeing 727 taking off from New Orleans in July, 1982, and a Boeing 747 which flew into a cloud of volcanic dust over the Timor Sea in June of the same year, all further attest to the truth so clearly spelt out in Volume 1, that air safety standards are won at a price.

Nor has the complex relationship between technological progress and expertise on the one hand, and human frailty on the other, been fully resolved. In aviation, perhaps more so than in other fields of human endeavour, mankind remains as much a victim of himself as of the elements around him. It is ironic that while one facet of the world airline industry was operating supersonic aircraft designed to stretch one foot in length as a result of atmospheric frictional heating at Mach 2 airspeeds, another was "saving" time and effort by using a forklift to change the wing engines of a widebodied trijet - with fatal consequences to all on board a DC-10 at Chicago in May 1979. Other tragedies examined in this book, in which human failings negated state-of-the-art technology in either flying operations or engineering maintenance, tell of similar contradictions.

In this second volume, covering the years 1977 to 1991, specialist air safety author Macarthur Job and noted aviation artist Matthew Tesch continue their collaborative efforts, combining their skills and flying experiences to provide detailed, lucid analyses of the stories behind a further 15 significant jet airline disasters - and one amazing near tragedy.

Based primarily on official investigation reports, supplemented by extensive external research, each of these events has been carefully selected to exemplify the problems encountered, both operational and human, as jet airline flying moved into its second quarter century. Liberally complemented with photographs and diagrams, Air Disaster Volume 2 continues the unique style set in Volume 1, with many specially drawn diagrams and explanatory graphics. Clear and accurate, they blend actual piloting experience with artistic skill to enable readers to properly visualise the compelling events related in the text.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
On the flightdeck

The smoke haze on the 747's flightdeck had become considerable, and accompanied by the smell of electrical arcing.

Watching his systems instrument panel closely, Flight Engineer Townley-Freeman had checked and re-checked for any indication of fire, but could find nothing. The smoke could be the result of an electrical or airconditioning problem without there actually being any fire, and the smell strongly suggested that it was electrical.

He was about to begin the Airconditioning Smoke Drill procedure when one of the pneumatic supply "valve closed" warning lamps began to flicker. A moment later No 4 engine surged and flamed out. In accordance with standard emergency procedures, the Flight Engineer immediately called: "Engine Failure Number Four!"

Captain Moody responded at once with the command: "Fire Action Number Four!" He then wound in rudder trim to compensate for the asymmetric thrust.

Together the first officer and flight engineer immediately carried out the memory items of the Engine Fire/Failure Drill emergency shutdown procedure, subsequently confirming their actions from the emergency checklist. They then quickly completed the One Generator Inoperative Drill to ensure that the aircraft's electrical system would not be overloaded

Only a minute later Townley-Freeman suddenly announced a second engine failure. "Number Two's gone!" he called. The failure of a second engine was serious indeed - but the Boeing 747 would still be capable of maintaining flight and diverting for an emergency landing.

But before the crew even had time to begin the emergency shutdown procedure for No 2 engine, the unbelievable occurred - almost simultaneously, the remaining Nos 1 and 3 engines surged and flamed out!

Incredulously, Townley-Freeman called: "I don't believe it - all four have failed!"

Product Details

• Paperback: 217 pages
• Publisher: Australian Aviation (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1875671196
• ISBN-13: 978-1875671199
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #400,480 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the 1st one; better than the 3rd., June 1, 2002

By	Dr. Leslie Brown "Doc Brown" (Tenerife, Spain, Canary Islands.) - See all my reviews

If you really liked the first Air Disaster book, then get this one, because it is fascinating stuff.

In my opinion, the most tragic accidents are the ones outlined in chapters 2 to 7 and 9 & 10. For me, the most interesting read was concerning an American Airlines DC10; just after takeoff at Chicago O'Hare airport - the left engine ripped off by itself and separated from the wing, tumbling out of control down the runway. As you can imagine, the subsequent scene as the aircraft careened out of control were horrific.
It was eventually found that this incident was caused by Continental's air maintenance crews, who removed the engines and mounts as one piece instead of the way that McDonnell Douglas had specified them to be removed separately, and consequently the engine mounts were damaged. So there you go: human error after all!

Yet another unique crash involved a collision between a 727 and a Cessna. How could two planes collide you wonder? Only one way to find out...
And also included is the infamous Air New Zealand DC-10 that crashed into Mt Erebus during a scenic flight over Antarctica.

This edition includes two photos (one is especially spine-chilling) of planes that are within [split]seconds of crashing. One can only imagine how the crew and passengers felt at that time.

This book also made me aware of one very ubiquitous misconception: people think that if you're flying on a 747 at 37,000 feet and all four engines fail, you'll hit the ground like a dart. This simply isn't true. A 747 with no engines takes roughly 23 minutes with a 3-degree glide slope to reach the ground from this altitude! Moreover, it can resume level flight on only one engine! Incredible.

If there's something else that this series has taught me, it's that an accident is most likely to occur immediately after takeoff, or sometime within half an hour of takeoff.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indulge a bit of "own trumpet-blowing"...?, November 21, 2004

By	Matthew Tesch (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's perhaps not the done thing for the artist to comment on his work, masquerading as a "review", but I'm pleased to note the other reviewers' comments about the effort which Mac Job and I put into this series.
Enormous effort by us both was invested in these books ~ on Mac's part to bring the dry bones of the official investigation reports (and other sources) to life in an intelligently readable manner; on mine, to flesh these out with a visual context designed to enrich his text and, almost, tell a 'parallel story'.
The many explanatory graphics, maps and diagrams were, in almost all cases, redrawn ~ or re-crafted from scratch ~ to bring a clear and dramatic visual emphasis to the stories.
The Erebus chapter (a particular personal passion of mine) was an exhaustive collaborative effort between us, the goal being to draw the divergent background official investigations into an appropriately balanced whole.
It was a singular honour to be able to secure the contribution of former Air New Zealand Captain Gordon Vette to write the Foreword to this volume.
Captain Vette's own investigations into the disaster contributed in no small part to the ensuing Mahon Royal Commission, and I can highly commend his own published work "Impact Erebus" as well.
Matthew Tesch

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is turning out ot be a great series, April 7, 2002

By	Gene Johannsen (Mountain View, Ca United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This volume lives up to the standards of the previous volume, and I highly recommend it. The text and illustrations are clear and tell you exactly what happened to these air liners (as far as it can be determined from the available evidence, of course). Explicit in each description is information on what was learned from the accident, and what was done to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I am actually old enough to remember some of these accidents. The Aloha 243 I remember seeing on the evening news and I remeber reading about the Sioux City accident in the papers. Now I have the rest of the story.

For cons, I really feel that a visual dictionary should be included. There is a glossary, but like in the first volume, it doesn't describe what things like pitch, roll or yaw are, which I think would really help me understand more of what the air craft went through in flight. Also, a picture describing salient features on the body of the aircraft would aid understanding of the descriptions as well.