Capt Al Haines passes

“If Haynes had not decided—somehow, reflexively—to steer the plane with the throttles, the crippled DC-10 would have rolled all the way over and spiraled to the ground, killing all on board. Haynes had no idea what made him use the throttles. Nothing in his training would have suggested it.”

Listen to the full audio, or watch Denny Fitch’s “Leaving the Earth”.

RIP Al. Well done, captain.

 

I disagree that he didn't have the training. He knew the physics of flight and the physics of the airplane. He realized that the only yaw control left was the application of asymmetrical thrust. This happened many times in WW2 bombers. I'm not demeaning anything about Haynes, he did a magnificent job while using his brain instead of losing it. In my early training I was challenged in the event of loosing certain controls and what I had to do to keep some control of the airplane. I don't know if that is part of the syllabus now.

 

I once attended a lecture that he gave at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Very informative and very inspirational. R.I.P., Captain.

 

Thanks for sharing. I was too young when that happened to appreciate it. Sounds like he was the "Sully" of his day.

 

Remember being glued to the radio in my office as it was happening... it originated here in Denver.

 

I recall that while working on the 777 it was decided to retain mechanical connections to the outboard spoilers and stab trim in case that some of the FBW system went out. We were chided by Airbus for not having total FBW...until one of their airplanes took over and flew into the woods or something. Maybe it was the incident when one of their airplanes elex system went completely dead for 60 seconds. Now Boeing is learning a few things about keeping a grip on system design.