QF29 VH-OJU 'stick shaker 7.4.2017' incident injures 15 passengers

[jb747]

Looking at the FR24 data, you can readily find the point where the issue seems to have happened. The oddity is a descent followed by a climb in the holding pattern. But, the speed trace doesn't seem at all unusual. The lowest IAS shown as the aircraft enters the turn is 226 KIAS. From what I recall of the 747 that would be about right for a minimum holding speed, and it should be well clear of the stall or stick shaker activation points.

The stick shaker goes off with a margin above the stall AoA. In some cases you'll actually intentionally fly right up to activation, using it to help you feel for max angle of attack. This is seen regularly in the sim, when looking at wind shear events. Momentary activation is quite common, mostly on take off on very gusty days. Activation for more than a moment is unusual, though the article's mention of two minutes could not be correct, unless the system itself was faulty. I have seen a case of simultaneous activation of the shaker (stall) and overspeed warnings...this was obviously spurious, but very annoying.

There isn't enough data at the moment.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Wow would have thought it would have appeared on social media on Friday

I saw it on Facebook last Saturday, with someone noting that the CSM went into the ceiling!

 

[JohnPhelan]

One other odd feature is that it appears only passengers were injured, not cabin crew.

Perhaps every cabin crew member was in the galley and able to hold on to a structure, or the worst effect of the sudden movement was experienced in the rear rows of the aircraft, where passengers were standing (or lacked seat belts if seated) bur crew were not in the aisles in this section of the B744.

It is a big deal because the ATSB has decided to investigate, and one passenger was conveyed to hospital by ambulance in HKG. If no one had required the latter...less of a problem.

It's all over the mainstream media now, although 'The Oz' was first with the news last night, despite its report being far more comprehensive than the AAP-issued one.

A Facebook group friend of mine was on the flight and he mentioned it last Saturday. The CSM's head hit the ceiling and ambulances met the aircraft at the gate. He knew a few passengers got thrown around but didn't know if/how many passengers actually required treatment.

 

[TonyHancock]

I was sitting in 5B on that flight and didn't notice a thing. The paramedics were not ready to board when we reached the gate so J pax were allowed to disembark. I did not realise what had happened until a crew member explained that we had suffered turbulence and people had been thrown about in the cabin.

 

[Melburnian1]

'The Australian' has just posted a further article online 'why Qantas plane stalled.' The paywall is defeating my attempts to read it.

 

[paxman]

To clarify, nothing was mentioned to me.

 

[codash1099]

'The Australian' has just posted a further article online 'why Qantas plane stalled.' The paywall is defeating my attempts to read it.

Another explanation here:

Qantas safety incident explained: What is a 'stick shaker' and how serious is this investigation? - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[jb747]

Another explanation here:

Qantas safety incident explained: What is a 'stick shaker' and how serious is this investigation? - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Pity they use a 380 as the intro picture. It doesn't have a shaker.

 

[Aus ATC]

I was sitting in 5B on that flight and didn't notice a thing. The paramedics were not ready to board when we reached the gate so J pax were allowed to disembark. I did not realise what had happened until a crew member explained that we had suffered turbulence and people had been thrown about in the cabin.

The undocumented features of flying at the front of the plane.

 

[Melburnian1]

One passenger, in what some will say is an expected, typical reaction but which others may assert is (to use the modern term) a 'clickbait' article, describes how she screamed:

'I thought I was dying': Qantas passenger describes 'stick shaker' warning

The number of more seriously affected passengers seems to have risen to two. It's unclear why earlier reports said one.

And here is another aviation expert quoted:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/avia...emed-serious-and-unusual-20170413-gvk5iw.html

 

[mannej]

One passenger, in what some will say is an expected, typical reaction but which others may assert is (to use the modern term) a 'clickbait' article, describes how she screamed:

'I thought I was dying': Qantas passenger describes 'stick shaker' warning

The number of more seriously affected passengers seems to have risen to two. It's unclear why earlier reports said one.

And here is another aviation expert quoted:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/avia...emed-serious-and-unusual-20170413-gvk5iw.html

Losing faith in QF over this = drama queen to me.

 

[codash1099]

Pity they use a 380 as the intro picture. It doesn't have a shaker.

Didn't notice that. I'm not distracted by pictures.

 

[TonyHancock]

This was taken upon disembarkation.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Well, AIUI, he's a Qantas CL.
But, perhaps, not for much longer.

He's not a CL member, so your understanding is incorrect.

 

[Melburnian1]

View attachment 95577

Losing faith in QF over this = drama queen to me.

If the turbulence went on for two minutes - yet to be formally established by a final ATSB report, and let's hope it isn't 'sanitised' - that would feel like a very long time in the air for affected passengers.

In the end, it appears to have been competently handled by the pilots, but passengers are travellers first and foremost, with most expecting a trouble-free trip.

 

[PaulST]

Would would be the purpose of an audible alarm in the main cabin that people seem to be referring to? Obviously you can't evacuate in the air so what would it achieve other than causing panic?

 

[jb747]

There are no alarms in the cabin that have anything to do with the shaker. They're just the ones you'd expect. Smoke alarms, calls, depressurisation.

 

[PaulST]

There are no alarms in the cabin that have anything to do with the shaker. They're just the ones you'd expect. Smoke alarms, calls, depressurisation.

Which is what I would have thought, so what alarms would the pax be talking about? Maybe just a lot of people pressing call bells and FAs calling each other and the coughpit?

 

[TonyHancock]

Which is what I would have thought, so what alarms would the pax be talking about?

Smoke alarms. The captain made an announcement advising pax not to worry about the smoke alarms going off. I did not feel the turbulence, and nor did I hear any alarms. I was astonished when the FA sitting opposite me on landing explained what had happened.

 

[eastwest101]

Which is what I would have thought, so what alarms would the pax be talking about? Maybe just a lot of people pressing call bells and FAs calling each other and the coughpit?

Most likely correct - there aren't any alarms in the cabin but would have most likely been pax using call bells, seat belt lights on chime, and cabin crew intercom noises and chat between cabin crews and the flight deck (afterwards). To the layman they may sound like alarms but they are all 'normal' sounds that just happened to occurr after an abnormal event.

EDIT: The smoke alarms going off could be distracting though, I guess these go off if you just look at them the wrong way huh? Or maybe a brief interruption to power supply?