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Turkish airliner crashes near Amsterdam airport
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Posted February 25, 2009
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Location
Schiphol Airport , Amsterdam, Netherlands
Schiphol Airport , Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Turkish Boeing 737 Airplane crashes near Schiphol Airport - Amsterdam - Whole Story + 34 Updates !
Latest Update - 34 - WARNING TO BOEING ! (Wednesday 4 March 2009 - 15:50 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) Telephone numbersNational Coordination Centre: 0800-1351 (31-800-1351) Schiphol Calamities: 0900-1852 (31-900-1852) Main SourcesNews-reports and eye-witness reports and reports from passengers from 3 Dutch Television Channels (Nederland-1 + RTL7 + TVNH). Earlier Updates + First Picture Updates 1 - 12 from + - 12:00 till 19:00 (from Wednesday 25-02-2009) on the iReport page of the famous London journalist Alun Hill : *http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-219604
- =========================================================== Expert's info Flying is a matter of velocity (=speed) and height. A plane is changing height into velocity, and vice versa. When flying too slow a plane will drop down vertically to the ground ( = aerodynamic stall) because the wings won't produce enough upward lift. To gain height a plane can rise it's nose upwards (and tail downwards) , but it will experience more resistance from the air, which will decrease it's forward speed.. To gain speed a plane can lower it's nose downwards, but then the plane will lose more height. Just before the crash the engines were accelerating and the plane's nose rose ( more ? ) upwards to try gaining height. Therefore the tail of the plane hit the field first. ========================================================== Latest Update - 34 - WARNING TO BOEING ! (Wednesday 15:50 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) The Dutch Transport Safety Board is warning Boeing to change the manual of the 737-plane. When the Left Radio Height Metre is not functioning well, the Auto Pilot and the automatic decrease of the gas-system may not be used while landing the plane !! WoooW: Perhaps not only changing the manual, but changing the automatic decreasing gas- system too ?? ========================================================== Latest Update - 33 - Press Conference - FAILING HEIGHT METRE (Wednesday 15:10 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) The plane was landing with the automatic pilot system, which is the usual way by Turkish Airlines. Landing with the auto-pilot is a normal way to land a plane. + - 80 % of the planes lands with the auto pilot. At a height of 1950 feet the left Radio Height Metre gave a height of minus 8 foot, which is a mistake. The RHM gave immediately an instruction to the gas system(throttle system) . The system reacted as if the plane was a few metres above the runway, and decreased the gas completely to the engines. In first instance the pilots didn't react to this. The voice-recorder shows that the pilots were aware of this, and that the pilots did not see this as a problem. The Black Box gave information about 8 earlier flights. There were two instanceswere the Left Radio Height System failed too ! The forward speed of the plane decreased due to the lacking gas-supply to the engines. The decreasing speed was not seen by the pilots, or they found it not important. At a height of 450 feet the control stick was shaking as a signal to the pilots the forward speed was too low. Only then the pilots gave full speed to the engines, but this was too late. ========================================================== Latest Update - 32 - Press Conference at 14:00 CET (Wednesday 11:00 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) Press conference by Master in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven, who is chairman of the Transport Safety Board. ========================================================== Latest Update - 31 - Enough Kerosene in the plane ? (Monday 18:45 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) An unofficial spokesman near the research-team said the plane had several 1000 litres of kerosene when it crashed. ========================================================== Latest Update - 30 - Tremble after accelerating ! (Monday 18:40 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) A Dutch passenger in the plane who had a week ago another crash (!) in Istanbul told: Suddenly we dropped, as if we were in an air-pocket. After that the plane was accelerating at full speed, we heard the engines working at full force. Than the whole plane trembled. ========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 29 - Horizontal Speed too low ? Monday 14:45 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam The official radar registrations from the Air Traffic Control show that: 1. at the beginning of the landing the vertical speedwas much too high. 2. at the end of the landing the horizontal speed became too low. ----- During a landing normally a plane has a vertical speed of minus 213-244metres per minute. The landing Turkish Boeing 737 first had a vertical speed of minus 410metres per minute. ----- A minute before the crash the vertical speed decreased, but the horizontal speed decreased too. The horizontal speed came below the acceptable landing-speed and the plane became in an aerodynamic stall and crashed. The horizontal speed was 153 km/h at the moment the plane crashed, the aerodynamic stall for this type of plane is between 157-185 km/h, under which a plane can't get enough lift from the wings and will drop down. The vertical speedwas than minus 175 meters per minute, which is minus 2,92 metres per second. ----- See for a detailed picture of the landing-phase:
- http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/3362805/__Boeing_zakte_veel_te_snel__.html?p=39,1 -
Remember some passengers felt a tremble of the plane at the end of the landing. This tremble probably marks a transition. Between flying and dropping due to the aerodynamic stall ? Or between dropping and accelerating the engines at the last moment ? ========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 28 - Emergency-Slides not working ? (Monday 13:30 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) The 4 slides, which are used to evacuate the passengers, at the front doors and the back doors of the plane were not working. These 4 slides must be activated by the crew during the departure. After opening a door an activated slide has to inflate itself automatically. The 2 emergency-doors above the wings don't have slides. ========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 27 - Facts and Questions (Saturday 07:45 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) Fact-1 - The Engines were functioning 1.1 Two eye-witness on the ground heard the plane coming, and they said they heard the engines. 1.2 One of them said the sound was too loud and strange. 1.3 After a sudden drop-down in the air passengers heard the engines accelerating. 1.4 If the engines were not functioning 100% earlier, that would have been reported to the Traffic Control. Question-1 - Were the engines functioning 100% in the last minute before drop-down ? -
Fact-2 The Plane flew too low 2.1 An eye-witness on the ground said the plane hardly flew over a big barn. 2.2 So at that moment the eye-witness on the ground saw the plane. Therefore the pilots could see the ground at that moment. Question-2 - Why was the plane flying so low ? 2.3 Due to misty weather the pilots saw the ground later than normal ? 2.4 The motors were not functioning 100% ? 2.5 Human fault (auto-pilot) ? 2.6 Pilots thought the runway was near ? 2.7 But the runway has a long line with many good lights, which were in the far distance of the plane. -
Fact-3 - The plane flew in an unnatural position, the tail was hanging too low. 3.1 Many eye-witness report the plane hung in an unnatural position with it's tail downwards. Question-3 - Why was the tail hanging so low ? 3.2 Due to lack of speed the tail of the plane is dropping more and more ? 3.3 Because the pilots were trying to gain height without using the engines ? This diminishes the speed, and when the speed is too low the tail starts hanging (= again 3.1). -
Fact 4 - The plane dropped suddenly 20-30 metres or more. 4.1 A passenger in the plane said suddenly she saw the ground coming very fast towards her. 4.2 Other passengers told that the plane suddenly dropped very fast some 10-30 meters. Question-4 - Why did the plane dropped so fast ? 4.3 Due to turbulence ? 4.4 An expert said that a drop of 30 metres or more may not be a problem because normally a plane has enough height. 4.5 Because the speed was so low that the plane (almost) vertically dropped down ( = aerodynamic stall ) ? -
Fact-5 - Then the engines were accelerating at high (full ?) speed. 5.1 Many passengers report that after the fast drop-down in the air they heard the engines accelerating. Question-5 - Why were the engines accelerating ? 5.2 The pilots realized the ground was too near ? 5.3 The motors started functioning again ? -
Fact 6 - Then the plane (almost) dropped vertically to the ground with a big shock and with it's tail first. 6.1 The plane hardly slid forwards over the ploughed field. Question-6 Why ? 6.2 Because the plane had few forward movement and got in an aerodynamic stall. -
Fact-7 - The right engine was found in the front of the plane. 7.1 "One of the plane's heavily damaged engines lay a few hundred metresfrom the wreckage" (news.bbc.co.uk) 7.2 WoooW: Perhaps less ? 7.3 The plane dropped almost vertically to the field. Question-7 - Why was the right engine at such a distance from the plane ? 7.4 Because the engine is roundish it easily rolled further. 7.5 The engine was working on high speed which gave it an extra forwarding force. -
Fact-8 The tail broke off completely. 8.1 See the pictures in the media. Question-8 Why did the tail broke off completely ? 8.2 The tail broke off completely because the full weight of the plain came first on the tail during the crash. ========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 26 (Saturday 02:00 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) The research of the two black boxes in France ended, and the results were sent to the Dutch Transport Safety Board. -
The received information is now being analysed and discussedbetween many experts. Master in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven (Chairman of the Transport Safety Board) expects that the analysis of the received info from the two black boxes will be finished next Wednesday. But perhaps earlier ! ========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 25 (Friday 20:45 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) The bodies of all 9 dead victims are now identified with correct names, and can be transported. ---- Did earlier landing airplane caused crash of Turkish plane ? The turbulence of the air by an earlier landing plane could have caused the crash of the plane of the Turkish Airlines. A Boeing 757 landed 2 minutes earlier on the same landing runway. But 2 minutes distance is normal, and is a good distance time. Turbulence is a well known phenomenon in the aviation-world. -
One victim is still in critical condition. -
Amongst the 9 dead are two Boeing employees. -
Turkish Airlines will be paying relatives of the dead victims 50.000 Euro per dead victim. And 5000-10.000 Euro to each wounded passenger in the hospitals. -
Cause of the crash will be made public next wednesdayMaster in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven (Chairman of the Transport Safety Board) expects that the analysis of the two black boxeswill be finished next wednesday. =========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 24 (Friday 12:50 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) Last moments of the flight A passenger tells: The plane went flying out of the clouds. Then it dropped 10-30 metres vertically. Then the motors went accelerating. Then the plane rose with it's nose upwards. Then a big noisy crash. WoooW: Official cloud-height + - 800 metres. See the Meteo-KNMI facts about Schiphol (see Update-16). There was misty weather, so the "clouds" the passenger mentioned above could be lower than the official 800 metres. Transport Safety BoardMaster in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven (Chairman of the Transport Safety Board) doesn't want to give the black boxesto the Ministery, because the independent position of the Safety Board will be undermined. It is the first time the Public Ministry (Public Prosecutor) wants to participate into the investigations. See also Update 23. Analysing-results of the Black Boxes Will be there (at the beginning of ?) next week. ========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 23 (Friday 00:35 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) Investigations During Thursday the investigations on the crash-spot were going on. The investigations are normally being held under the leadershipof the Transport Safety Board, with Master in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven as chairman (see totally at the end for al his functions). But this time the Public Ministry (Public Prosecutor) takes part in the leadership too. Why ? ============================================================ Two Repairs The crashed plane had two repairs last week on a flap of a wing (February 18), and on a not functioning intern alarm-light (February 23). The departure of the plane was therefore postponed. New Press Conference ( Thursday at 13:00 CET). Names The names of the 9 victims are known, their relatives are informed. The 9 victims are coming from Turkey (5x) and USA (4x). Identification The identification of the bodies of the victims will take some more time, because the authorities will be very sure which name belongs to which body. This is an official international procedure. The identification is done by the National Disaster Identification Team. Passengers As earlier told here, there were 135 persons on board, not 134 as mentioned in the official Turkish Airlines passengers list. In the plane there were 51 persons from Turkey, and 60 persons from the Netherlands. ============================================================ LATEST UPDATE - 22 (Thursday 10:00 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) A new press conferenceis announced at 13:00 CET (Central European Time) this day. Pilot in training The third person in the cockpit presumably was a pilot who was in training with few experience. It's a normal situation in airplanes. =========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 21 (Thursday 02:45 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) Misty weather with low hanging clouds. Due to an emergency procedure 75 ambulances were immediately called up. Landing-velocityof a plane without using it's motors is twice as fast as with working motors. The Turkish list of passengers differs from the Dutch list of passengers. This delays the official publication of victims. Normally there are 2 pilots in the cockpit. Why are there found 3 persons in the cockpit ? =========================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 20 (Thursday 01:25 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam) Eye-witness on the ground heard the plane coming, so at that time the motors were functioning. After some time he didn't hear anything. A passenger felt an oscillation (tremble, shake), the plain turned upwards, and 6, 7, 8 seconds later the plane crashed. The panel with instrumentsbehind the pilots came forward to the front of the cockpit during the crash (Master in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven - chairman of the dutch Transport Safety Board). That could have caused the death of the pilots. ==================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 19 (Thursday 00:55 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam)A well known dutch musician and politician (Henk Westbroek) rebooked his flightfrom Wednesday morning to Wednesday afternoon, but his wife didn't like that ! They had to pay 2 x 70 Euro more. They so missed the crashed airplane. Henk says he is more an evening-person ! And that it were the best 70 Euro he ever had paid. He flew back to the Netherlands together with relatives of the crashed passengers and with 9 Turkish camera-teams. ==================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 18 (Thursday 00:05 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam)The two "Black boxes" go to France to be analysed tomorrow. Over two days the results will be there. Some passengers heard the motors accelerating before the crash, others didn't. Master in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven(husband of Princess Margriet) inspected the plain inside. He is chairman of the dutch Transport Safety Board, and chairman of the International Transport Safety Board, and is a member of the European Transport Safety Council. See the end of this posting for all his functions ! ==================================================== LATEST UPDATE - 17 (Wednesday 23:30 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam)Passengers left the plane by the wing, jumped from 1,5 metres high on the field. Helpers were climbing on the wing. Passengers were standing above the wind to avoid kerosene damp Helpers heard people hitting on the cabin at the front of the plane. The pilot chose the field to land. Emergency vehicles were very fast on the spot. In AMC (?)-hospital level-3 emergency was announced. Immediately 20 help-teams were formed to help the severe casualties. =========================================== LATEST UPDATE - 16 (Wednesday 22:00 CET - by WoooW in Amsterdam)An airplane from Turkey will arrive at 22:00 at Schiphol Airport with relatives of the casualties to identify the victims. Plain was making a free fall (30 metres ?) before crashing. Misty weather. Schiphol Weather Conditions (at 10:30 CET = Time of the crash)Eyesight 5000 metres Temperature 4,5 degrees Celsius Air pressure 1027,5 hpa = milli-bar Air humidity 93 % Cloud height 800 metres Wind Force 18 km / hour Gusts of Wind 24 km / hour Wind Direction 205 degrees (South-west) Smog Conditions for Amsterdam (at 10:30 CET) Smog-Fine dust 28,5 microgram / m3 Smog-Ozon 3 microgram / m3 Smog-SO2 0 microgram / m3 Smog-NO2 63 microgram / m3 ==================================================== LATEST NEWS (Wednesday 21:00 CET) A passenger tells: Pilots stepped on the gas a few seconds before drop-down., to make a new start. The two black boxes are found. ============================================================== LATEST NEWS (Wednesday 20:37 CET) Press Conference-3 All passengers and crew members are out of the plane. ============================================================================= LATEST NEWS - EXPERTS INFO (Wednesday 19:00 CET) Situation now There are still 3 bodies of the crew in the cockpit, which is needed for research. Press Conference-2at Schiphol (16:30 CET) The passengers-list is now analysed. 84 wounded passengers were transported to 11 hospitals in Amsterdam, Haarlem, Hoofddorp, Almere, Beverwijk, Alkmaar, Leiden, Utrecht. 6 critically wounded , 25 severe wounded, 24 light wounded, 31 unknown wounded. 60 ambulances, 150 medical assistants. There are no more passengers left in the plane. There are still 3 bodies of crew-members in the cockpit. The cockpit is now analysed, the bodies of the dead crew have to stay there for research. The trace of the plane in the ploughed field is as long as the plane itself. The plane almost dropped on the field with very few forward speed. Searchis done by: Transport Safety Board Public Ministry (Public Prosecutor) Marechaussee (constabulary) Police district Kennemerland Experts info Flying is a matter of velocity and height. A plane is changing height into velocity, and vice versa. A slow flying plane rises his nose upwards. To gain speed you can turn the nose downwards, but the plane will loose more height. During the end of the landing the nose rose upwards to slow down the speed of the plane. Therefore the tail of the plane hit the field first. Next Conferenceat 19:15 CET. ================================================================================ EARLIER NEWS Situation now Firemen are still working at the cockpit. Passengers are still stuck in the plane. Press Conference-1at Schiphol (13:30 Central European Time) 9 dead (from which 2 pilots dead) 50 wounded, from which 25 heavily wounded. CrashBoeing 737 airplane crashed at 10.31 AM in moist weather, no rain, temperature 4,5 degrees Celsius. No motor activity, plane was floating. Plane flew too slow and too low (eye-witness said 80 metres, probably lower). The nose of the plain was very high upwards. Plane hardly flew over a big barn. Plane was instable, plane was shaking. The nose of the plane turned up, then downwards, and again upwards. The tail was hanging down. Plane almost dropped downwards to the ground, because of lack of speed. Then an flash of fire and smoke, fire went out almost immediately. Then gliding only 100-150 metres over the muddy ploughed field. A house at a distance of 600 metres was shaking by the impact. Landing wayBoeing 737-800 airplane flew southwards near motor-highway crossroad "Rottepolderplein" to the landing runway "Rottepolderbaan" . Drop-down spotIn a field 1,5 - 2 km before the landing runway "Polderbaan" and 200 metres to the north of highway A9. Not: runway "Rottepolderbaan" as mentioned on CNN Television ! Between the touch-down point and the plane on the ploughed field is a distance of only 100-150 metres. PlaneThe tail of the plane is completely broken off. Airplane is cracked + - 7 or 8 metres behind the cockpit, no big opening here. The left wing is broken. Motor rolled 50 (?) metres in front of the plane. Many parts are lying at the left of the plane. Expert info Passengers have to survive the impact and the fire. General crash-causes: navigation-problems, or no motor-force due to lack of fuel or flying birds in the motors. In his case probably due to lack of fuel, because the plane had no motor-force to fly normal. Pilot made a controlled landing 1,5 - 2 km before the landing-strip. Pulling up the nose is done to decrease the speed. There were two motors. The left tail was hanging down and first touched the ground. The nose and left wing are turned to the left on the field, so the left wing probably first hit the ground. Normally a plane lands at an ankle of 3 degrees, while the nose of the plane is rising a little bit upwards. Passengers135 passengers on board (128 passengers, 7 crew members). 9 dead (from which 2 pilots dead) 50 wounded, from which 25 heavily wounded. After the crash 15-20 people came immediately out of the plane. At least 50 people came out at the open end of the plane. Many people were stuck between the chairs. 4-5 full body-backs were lying on the ground. At the front and end of the plane people were stuck. Passengers are helped in sporting-centre Wildenhorst in the nearby town Badhoevedorp. Passengers were first not allowed to go home. Passengers are going home now. Aid50 ambulances on the spot, waiting in line, and driving away. Fire-brigade-car is at the spot too. Trauma-Helicopters are on the spot. In the field a tractor with a 4 wheeled cart and a 4-wheel drive car. 4 Operation rooms at the AMC made ready (Academic Medical Center - Amsterdam). At least 5 hospitals are helping (AMC, VU, ) AMC-hospital: 7 wounded people. Schiphol Airport trafficAt 10:31 all airplane activity was canceled. Later after the crash planes were flying from the runways "Kaagbaan" and "Buitenveldertbaan" . The "Polderbaan" and "Zwanenburgbaan" are now closed, other landing-runways are open. Schiphol has 5 (!) landing strips. PoliticsUp til now 14:48 nothing is heard from the Prime Minister of the Dutch Government ! Pieter van VollenhovenMaster in Law Pieter van Vollenhoven (husband of Princess Margriet) visits the spot. He is chairman of the Transport Safety Board, the National Road Safety Fund, the Society, Safety and Police Association, the Victim Support Fund, the Advisory Council of the National Victim Support Association, the International Transport Safety Board, the National Restoration Fund, the Green Fund, and is a member of the European Transport Safety Council. He is also a Professor of Risk Management at the University of Twente.
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