Turkish Airlines B737-800 accident at AMS

[DHG750R]

One thing I noticed was a distinct lack of fire in the lone picture Ive seen thus far...

Turkish plane crashes at Amsterdam airport
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
CNN Turk: Turkish Airlines plane was flying from Istanbul to Amsterdam
Airport officials: Crash happened at about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday
Photographs show plane lying in a field, broken into three pieces
(CNN) -- A Turkish airliner crashed at Amsterdam's main airport about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday local time, Dutch airport officials said.

Images from the scene of the Amsterdam crash show the plane broken into three pieces.

"Some passengers are dead, some are injured and some are alive" in the crash, a spokesman from Schiphol airport's press office said over the telephone before hanging up.
Turkish media said the plane was carrying about 135 people.
The Boeing 737-800, which originated from Istanbul, Turkey, was trying to land at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol when it went down.
Airport officials had originally said that the plane was an Airbus 380.
Pictures from the crash site showed the plane split in three parts.
Kieran Daly, of Air Transport Intelligence, said the pictures indicated there had not been a widespread fire.

He said the impact had been severe but it could have been survivable because of the lack of fire.
Daly said their had been vast improvements in the materials used to build airplanes, meaning they did not burn as easily.

[TallDutch]

Just came back from the scene, at least 9 people killed probably more.

Attached link of the aircraft involved
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=536950

[mirrodie]

Any more insight on the sequence of events. Sifting through the Anet monster thread on its 3rd page is an arduous task.

[Matt Molnar]

Survivors reported a sudden nose up, tail down situation on approach. No warning from the crew. Supposedly no wind or rain at the time.

[Matt Molnar]

ATC recording from immediately after the crash: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 802144.ece

[Matt Molnar]

* Authorities are now eying wake turbulence from a nearby 757 as a possible cause.

* Boeing said on Friday three of the dead were employees of theirs from the Seattle area. A fourth Boeing employee remains hospitalized.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29440965/

[Matt Molnar]

Raw cell phone vid from a passenger immediately after impact.

[cancidas]

Raw cell phone vid from a passenger immediately after impact.

that's pretty damn creepy. definately never seen anything like that before.

[PhilDernerJr]

[Clipper]

FROM: THE BOEING COMPANY
TO: MOM [MESSAGE NUMBER:MOM-MOM-09-0063-01B] 04-Mar-2009 05:29:01 AM US PACIFIC TIME
Multi Operator Message

This message is sent to all 737-100,-200,-300,-400,-500,-600,-700,-800,-900,-BBJ customers and to respective Boeing Field Service bases, Regional Directors, the Air Transport Association, International Air Transport Association, and Airline Resident Representatives.

SERVICE REQUEST ID: 1-1228079803
ACCOUNT: Boeing Correspondence (MOM)
DUE DATE: 10-Mar-2009
PRODUCT TYPE: Airplane
PRODUCT LINE: 737
PRODUCT: 737-100,-200,-300,-400,-500,-600,-700,-800,-900,-BBJ
ATA: 3400-00

SUBJECT: 737-800 TC-JGE Accident at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam - 25 February 2009

REFERENCES:
/A/ 1-1222489391 Dated 25 February 2009

Reference /A/ provides Boeing's previous fleet communication on the subject event. The US NTSB, FAA, Boeing, the Turkish DGCA, the operator, the UK AAIB, and the French BEA continue to actively support the Dutch Safety Board's (DSB) investigation of this accident.

The DSB has released a statement on the progress of the investigation and has approved the release of the following information.

While the complex investigation is just beginning, certain facts have emerged from work completed thus far:

- To date, no evidence has been found of bird strike, engine or airframe icing, wake turbulence or windshear.
- There was adequate fuel on board the airplane during the entire flight.
- Both engines responded normally to throttle inputs during the entire flight.
- The airplane responded normally to flight control inputs throughout the flight.


The Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) data indicates that the crew was using autopilot B and the autothrottle for an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach to runway 18R at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. During the approach, the right Low Range Radio Altimeter (LRRA) was providing accurate data and the left LRRA was providing an erroneous reading of -7 to -8 feet. When descending through approximately 2000 feet the autothrottle, which uses the left radio altimeter data, transitioned to landing flare mode and retarded the throttles to the idle stop. The throttles remained at the idle stop for approximately 100 seconds during which time the airspeed decreased to approximately 40 knots below the selected approach speed.

The two LRRA systems provide height above ground readings to several aircraft systems including the instrument displays, autothrottle, autopilots and configuration/ground proximity warning. If one LRRA provides erroneous altitude readings, typical flight deck effects, which require flight crew intervention whether or not accompanied by an LRRA fault flag, include:

- Large differences between displayed radio altitudes, including radio altitude readings of -8 feet in flight.
- Inability to engage both autopilots in dual channel APP (Approach) mode
- Unexpected removal of the Flight Director Command Bars during approach
- Unexpected Configuration Warnings during approach, go-around and initial climb after takeoff
- Premature FMA (Flight Mode Annunciation) indicating autothrottle RETARD mode during approach phase with the airplane above 27 feet AGL. There will also be corresponding throttle movement towards the idle stop. Additionally, the FMA will continue to indicate RETARD after the throttles have reached the idle stop

Boeing Recommended Action
- Boeing recommends operators inform flight crews of the above investigation details and the DSB interim report when it is released. In addition, crews should be reminded to carefully monitor primary flight instruments (airspeed, attitude etc.) and the FMA for autoflight modes. More information can be found in the Boeing 737 Flight Crew Training Manual and Flight Crew Operations Manual.

Operators who experience any of the flight deck effects described above should consult the troubleshooting instructions contained in the 737 Airplane Maintenance Manual. Further, 737-NG operators may wish to review 737NG-FTD-34-09001 which provides information specific for the 737-NG installation. Initial investigations suggest that a similar sequence of events and flight deck indications are theoretically possible on the 737-100/-200/-300/-400/-500. Consequently the above recommendations also apply to earlier 737 models.

Operators will be notified if further action is recommended.

Jack Trunnell
Director - Fleet Support Engineering
Technical Customer Support
Commercial Aviation Services
The Boeing Company

[Matt Molnar]

That's really interesting. Thanks for posting, Clipper.

[DHG750R]

Thanks for the info, nearly 2 mins at idle during an ILS approach,at low altitude thats a long time..



This is copied from today's flightglobal

"Initially the crew did not react to the issues at hand," says the board. But as the aircraft's speed fell, and it approached possible stall, the stick-shaker activated at 150m (490ft) and the throttle immediately increased to full power - too late, however, to arrest the descent and recover the aircraft.
The jet, travelling with a forward speed of just 95kt, struck the ground with its empennage first and rapidly decelerated, breaking into several sections”