"Oh dangit .... hang on a sec" "You want I should stop then?" "Yeah - back it off just for a sec I need to check something. Might have to go back" "OK - coming back down to the tarmac" "Nah I'm good. My cell phone just slipped into the seat gap - I got it now - let's go ahead and go" "OK heading back up - glad you found it!" Jedi
I guess that runway is very long and may explain why the flaps are in that position. I'm sure some passengers were freaked out...
If you check out Mentour pilot's video on YouTube regarding this flight, this seems to be a plausible explanation.
It looked to me like the flaps were still retracted when the takeoff run started but were extended while the aircraft was accelerating. Did anyone else get that impression?
I agree ! No flaps at the start of the TO. Same situation that killed an MD90 in St. Louis (if I remember.) But they never got any flaps at all on that one.
Yes, it does look like zero flaps at the start and maybe flaps 1 later down the runway. Is the 767 the only Boeing that can take off without flaps extended?
Sorry I meant only Boeing approved to take off without flaps. Looking it up I read that and the A300 are approved to do so and apparently do it often.
Actually, it was Detroit. About a year earlier, I had rented a car at the depot where the wayward MD-80 clipped a light pole, and had driven out of the airport on the road where it crashed.
Thanks, Jim. I don't remember everything now. Just flaps. That incident was a breakdown in cockpit discipline where the checklist was not visually checked. I do recall seeing the news pics of it on TV and announced to my wife that the flaps weren't deployed when I saw the lower side of the wing wreckage. For once I was correct.
Something different to mention. I don't know if you knew that John Session's Historic Flight Museum moved from Pain Field to Felts Field in Spokane. A great loss to this area of flying antiques.
I seem to remember that LE flaps are coupled with TE flaps unless a CB is pulled to disable the TE flaps.
They are (electronically), but flaps 1-2 deploy minimal TE flaps. My guess is that they were at Flaps 1 (normal) and rotated way too soon.
In the subject of no flaps TO - I strongly recommend "Whisky Romeo Zulu" movie. If you are in aviation bussiness, chills guaranteed: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356487/
The guy who wrote 30 Seconds over Tokyo forgot to lower the flaps on his B-25 taking off from the Hornet. He made it, but probably a good thing he was not first in line.