This crash is very strange to me. No flaps (even if hydraulics fail, there’s electrical backup), no gear (there’s gravity extension backup), landed way down the runway (9000’ should have been plenty, gear up landing has been done in shorter distances)… what happened?
My guess at the moment: bird strike made the pilots panic, they didn’t ensure the plane was in the correct configuration when attempting the second landing, and tried to put it down soft and ended up going long?
What do I know though, I’m not a pilot, just a fan of disasters and flight simulation. Guess I’ll have to see what blancolirio has to say.
Edit: Juan Browne, aka Blancolirio on YouTube finally posted a video on this, probably some of the best insight we’ll get at this early stage.
737 NG alt flaps work up to 230 knots, well above landing speed. Landing with hydraulics out is the primary function of the alt flaps system. It’s really slow, however, so flaps 15 is typically the most they use.
This crash is very strange to me. No flaps (even if hydraulics fail, there’s electrical backup), no gear (there’s gravity extension backup), landed way down the runway (9000’ should have been plenty, gear up landing has been done in shorter distances)… what happened?
My guess at the moment: bird strike made the pilots panic, they didn’t ensure the plane was in the correct configuration when attempting the second landing, and tried to put it down soft and ended up going long?
What do I know though, I’m not a pilot, just a fan of disasters and flight simulation. Guess I’ll have to see what blancolirio has to say.
Edit: Juan Browne, aka Blancolirio on YouTube finally posted a video on this, probably some of the best insight we’ll get at this early stage.
I don’t think whatever electrical backup has enough power to deploy flaps at landing or near landing speeds.
737 NG alt flaps work up to 230 knots, well above landing speed. Landing with hydraulics out is the primary function of the alt flaps system. It’s really slow, however, so flaps 15 is typically the most they use.
I didn’t find the speed rating for the alt flaps, but I was able to verify that it is an electrical system backup
https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1481455
There’s a placard in the cockpit with flap speed limits.