United Airlines Flight 232 is cruising at 37,000 feet, when the crew is jolted by an explosion from the back of the plane. The number two engine has just blown apart, sending shrapnel into the fuselage, and totally disabling all three of the aircraft’s hydraulic systems.
The crew now have no means of controlling pitch nor bank. They have no flaps to slow the jet down for final approach. And even if they do get the airplane down on the ground, they have no brakes to stop them.
“This can’t happen…but I think it just did”
The crew is now piloting a 300,000-pound DC-10, without the luxury of being able to control it. The odds of losing all hydraulic power simultaneously are a billion to one. And, as Captain Al Haynes would tell me later in an interview, his initial thought was, “It can’t happen. You’ve been told over and over again, it can’t happen, but it didn’t take us very long to realize, I think it just did.”
Sooner or later, most of us have to deal with the dire. Something so egregious and hopeless, that we feel completely out of control. Layoff, bankruptcy, divorce, death, or serious illness, can all leave us feeling hopeless. But the way you respond to the situation can make the difference between winning or losing it all. Indeed, one of the objectives of introducing you to the people in this book, is to learn and benefit from their winning (and sometimes losing) experiences.
The United predicament was chosen because the situation is about as crazy as it gets. The fate of everyone on board appears doomed, and by all indications, there is nothing the crew can do to change the outcome. But sometimes, contrary to indications or probability, you have to buck the odds. To insist that somewhere, somehow, a solution exists.
Prepare to “get pushed”
Keep in mind you’re going to face situations in your life, where you will be pushed beyond your perceived capabilities. Where everything will appear hopeless, out of control, and so screwed up, you’ll want to pack it in and quit. However, that is precisely the time you must hunker down, hold on, and fight. In other words, don’t give up. Life has an odd way of taking us right up to the edge of the cliff, and just as we are pushed off, we get wings.
Think of it this way – each time you’re pushed off that so-called cliff, you log, “flight time.” You may have to flap like hell, but sooner or later you discover you can fly above the chaos.
With that thought in mind, let’s briefly return to Flight 232 to gain some insight. With the dilemma that faces them, the crew certainly needs some extraordinary results.
If “The Book” says it’s impossible – stop reading
The situation is much more serious than most modern-day flight system failures. The reason is simple. McDonnell Douglas, the manufacturer of the DC-10, considered the loss of all hydraulics so remote, that nothing was written in the manual to resolve the issue.
For a better understanding of the situation, let’s look at the blow-by-blow account of Flight 232.
Soon after the catastrophic engine failure, the tri-jet begins an uncontrolled descent. With no pitch control, the aircraft enters a series of phugoid oscillations – a roller coaster-like behavior of climbs and dives that gives the airplane a nearly uncontrollable flight characteristic.
The enormity of the crisis now becomes obvious, as the jet begins to have a mind of its own. Three separate times, the DC-10 nearly goes over on its back. With no hydraulics, an inverted roll will be an automatic death sentence for the lumbering jet.
When ‘packing it in,’ simply isn’ an option
Although the aircraft is now dangling on the ragged edge of uncontrolled flight, something remarkable begins to transpire in the cockpit. An incredible display of teamwork and raw determination are coming together. The cockpit becomes a beehive of ideas. “What if we try this? Do you think this will help?” The aircraft continues a series of right-hand oscillating spirals. An air traffic controller tracking the flight begs for some good news. “Can you guys hold altitude?”
“Negative,” comes the reply.
More ideas. More experimentation. Denny Fitch, an off-duty instructor pilot, asks one of the flight attendants if he can give a hand. Haynes accepts. Haynes directs the instructor pilot to control the throttles so as to free up the captain and co-pilot to work the control wheel. Through a system of trial and error, the crew work their magic.
Al Haynes, Bill Records, DJ Dvorak, and Denny Fitch, feverishly but delicately baby the big jet to behave. As they continue to corkscrew to the right, the crew finally makes a breakthrough. By jockeying the power on the two remaining engines, they gain some directional control over the airplane. Still, the nearest airport is Sioux City, Iowa, some 75 miles away, and as Haynes admitted to me, “We had absolutely no idea how we were going to get there.”
Forty-five minutes later, the crew miraculously lines up with Runway 22 at Sioux City. Although the 6600-foot runway length is hopelessly short for a DC-10, it’s their only option. The crew knows, at best, they’re going to blow through the end of the runway and skid into a cornfield. The worst, isn’t contemplated.
Replace panic with humor
As the tower controller gives the customary “cleared to land” permission, Captain Haynes gives us a snapshot of his relative calm, when he banters back, “You don’t want to be particular and make it a (specific) runway, huh?”
With the aircraft now at the runway threshold and mere seconds from touchdown, the DC-10 is cursed with another phugoid oscillation. As the jet begins an uncontrollable nose down pitch, the ground proximity recorder blasts the warning, “Pull up, pull up.” A split second later, the plane begins to roll to the right. A crew member begins to holler, “Left, left, left!” Just then, the aircraft’s right wing digs deep into the asphalt.
Impossible? You better reassess.
As the world witnesses the spectacular fireball on TV, few people comprehend the miracle that has just taken place – controlled flight was maintained all the way to the runway threshold. By the book, this was patently impossible. In fact, to this day, flight test crews have been unable to maintain control of a DC-10 when the situation is duplicated in a flight simulator.
By all accounts, the United jet should have spun in from 37,000 feet. And, as anyone in aviation knows, a graveyard spiral from seven miles in the sky, all but guarantees a 100 percent fatality rate. However, because the jet was relatively slow and in landing configuration, the crew, and the majority of passengers lived through an otherwise unsurvivable accident.
A number of factors contributed to the high survival rate of this flight. But the crucial component was the mindset of the crew. Packing it in, simply wasn’t an option.
The next time you feel you’re “going down,” remember this flight lesson. Should you find yourself in a situation that appears patently impossible, ask yourself this question: Could my assessment be – patently wrong?