Jump to content

Comments:Schiphol airliner crash blamed on altimeter failure, pilot error

Add topic
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Latest comment: 15 years ago by Blood Red Sandman in topic Altimeters and autopilots

Back to article

This page is for commentary on the news. If you wish to point out a problem in the article (e.g. factual error, etc), please use its regular collaboration page instead. Comments on this page do not need to adhere to the Neutral Point of View policy. You should sign your comments by adding ~~~~ to the end of your message. Please remain on topic. Though there are very few rules governing what can be said here, civil discussion and polite sparring make our comments pages a fun and friendly place. Please think of this when posting.

Quick hints for new commentators:

  • Use colons to indent a response to someone else's remarks
  • Always sign your comments by putting --~~~~ at the end
  • You can edit a section by using the edit link to the right of the section heading


Altimeters and autopilots

[edit]

I find this article highly dubious.

  • "the faulty altimeter indicated that the airliner's height was at minus eight feet. Because the autopilot and autothrottle were running from this flawed data the plane automatically reduced engine power as it would in the final seconds before landing."

-so you're telling me that an autopilot recieving data that the plane is underground is not going to disengage and alarm, but instead it will simply try to land the plane? Nonsense.

PerryWhite (talk) 19:38, 6 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

Here what ABC News wrote: "At 1,950 feet above the ground, the altimeter showed the plane to be at negative-8 feet instead, according to safety board chairman Pieter van Vollenhoven."
I don't know aviation terminology, but perhaps Vollenhoven is indicating that there is an 8 feet discrepancy. --SVTCobra 19:51, 6 March 2009 (UTC)Reply
The altimeter indicated eight feet underground. I agree that in such circumstances the autopilot should disengage, but it seems no-one at Boeing thought of that as the report doesn't indicate the fact that it didn't as anything unusual. The plane has no concept of 'underground'. It only knows that below a certain height it should be about to land. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 20:03, 6 March 2009 (UTC)Reply
I am quite sure this is something Boeing 'would have thought about' when designing the autopilot. If it hadn't, then that is what would be the news story, not this dubious rubbish. PerryWhite (talk) 19:17, 9 March 2009 (UTC)Reply
Care to read the report? The safety board's website is at http://www.onderzoeksraad.nl/en/ and the page on the crash is here. Both the press release and the report dated March 4 state -8 feet. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 20:09, 9 March 2009 (UTC)Reply