Ever wanted to take part in a race? Well, how about one… on a passenger plane? The
story I’d like to tell you now is not exactly about a race, though, but it’s as close
as it gets, given the circumstances. On December 31, 1988 (ya hear the Christmas
chimes yet?), a passenger airliner heading from Kaliningrad, Russia, to Odessa, Ukraine,
made for a landing in the destination airport. As you might know, New Year in Russia is a
big deal — a bigger celebration than Christmas, in fact. This might have been the reason for
what happened on that day with the Tu-134 flight. Because we’re all human, you know.
The weather forecast for the day was not one that would make you overjoyed: it was overcast
and stormy, with strong winds, low visibility, and low-hanging clouds. The cabin crew knew
all this: they were warned of the conditions in advance. All systems were working fine,
the airplane was cruising to its place of destination, and not even the storm could
spoil the mood of the 76 passengers plus the crew on board.
The problems began when air traffic control in Odessa gave permission to descend. The
pilots started preparing the plane, but here’s where it all went haywire right away. The
speed at which the aircraft descended was way too high — about 372 mph (600 kph).
The pilots received the first warning message at the altitude of 24,600 ft (7,500 m) but
the crew deliberately ignored it. As it turned out later, the first pilot was sure everything
was alright, and he could land the plane anyway. The “Speed too high” message was repeated
twice after that: at the altitudes of 14,400 ft (4,400 m) and 9,850 ft (3,000 m). Both
these messages were ignored as well. Uh oh. No one really knows what the motives of the
crew were back then, but the situation was gradually becoming worse. Within 47 mi (70
km) from the airport, the air traffic control finally gave permission to land. And that’s
where another misjudgment came: the pilots decided to fly directly to the runway despite
the high speed. That was a crucial error, as it turned out. The speed of the plane was
about 280 mph (450 kph), which is much faster than the recommended — and safe — landing
speed of 205 mph (330 kph). The plane was flying bullet-fast, approaching the runway
with its wheels down and ready to land. That, by the way, was also against all safety instructions
because the landing gear simply can’t bear the pressure at such speeds. They could’ve
just gone with the wind, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, the most surprising thing about the situation was that none of this was connected
with any troubles on board the airplane. Everything was working perfectly fine, no emergencies
arose, literally nothing was wrong… except the crew’s decisions. The pilots went against
all instructions of air traffic control, ignored the safety warnings, and gave commands to
the crew that were contrary to every flight safety precaution. More outrageous still,
the crew didn’t even bother to argue the flight captain’s orders, blindly following
his commands. Basically, it was pure neglect that led to the incident that followed.
Once again turning off the “Speed too high” warning, the pilots directed the aircraft
towards the runway. At a speed of 258 mph (415 kph), the plane almost crashed on the
landing strip, and went further and further ahead without stopping. Its engines were working
in full reverse, which wasn’t really effective at such a level of speed, but in the end it
helped to stop the aircraft before the worst happened. The plane stormed on through the
runway and onto the end safety area, only to come to a halt just 5 ft (1.5 m) before
touching the naked ground. As a result, no one was hurt on board, but
it was pure luck. The landing was not smooth in the least, and the passengers were frightened,
but, fortunately, everything turned out well. In fact, there was another consequence: the
airplane set the record of landing speed that has never since been broken by any passenger
aircraft. Well, a dubious achievement at best, but achievement nonetheless, what do you think?
Let me know down in the comments! The pilots and the crew received an official
reprimand for what they’d done, of course. There wasn’t a single reason for acting
like that, and decisions taken on board were wrong on more than one account. As for the
plane itself, it continued to fly with different airlines for many more years — after all,
it was a good plane, and the incident wasn’t its fault.
The Tu-134 incident wasn’t the only one like that, though, and it wasn’t the most
epic one either. For example, there was a Boeing-737 that overran the end of the runway
and ended up on a busy street! This happened on March 5, 2000. Flight 1455 from Las Vegas,
Nevada, to Burbank, California, was 2 hours behind its schedule because of the weather
conditions. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Well, at least this one didn’t fly into
the storm but was simply delayed and departed later, when the skies cleared.
The flight itself went without any trouble, but as the plane approached the Burbank airport,
air traffic control instructed the pilots to keep the speed at 267 mph (81.4 m) or higher
until further notice. Mind the turn of phrase here: it became the crucial point in the whole
affair. The flight captain acknowledged the instructions and did exactly as he was told.
Well, who can blame him for that, right? Just following orders. But what happened next went
so wrong that he couldn’t even explain his actions later.
When the flight was cleared for descent to 3,000 ft (910 m) and for further landing,
it was still cruising at the same speed it had been told to maintain. Just to make it
clear, when air traffic control gives permission to descend and land, it automatically cancels
any and all instructions regarding speed given earlier. And it makes sense: as we’ve learned
from the previous story, if a plane exceeds the landing speed limit, it could end very,
very badly. Both the captain and the first pilot knew
the rules, but something stopped them from following those. When they didn’t receive
the verbal command to slow down, they simply proceeded at the same speed they had been
cruising the whole way. Just a friendly reminder here that the maximum safe speed to land on
a runway is about 60 mph (97 kph) lower than the Boeing had. Moreover, for some reason,
the captain directed the aircraft at a sharper angle to the ground than it was allowed, adding
to the danger. The first office came to his senses first
and asked the captain what he was doing and why. The only reply he received was “That’s
all right.” In the meantime, warning lights were flashing all around the pilots, but they
both just ignored them. According to the standard procedure, if the safe landing conditions
aren’t met, the airplane is to start a go-around maneuver. Basically, it means that, if something
is wrong and the plane can’t land safely, the pilots have to fly up again and go for
another circle around the airport. In the case of Flight 1455, the thing that went terribly
wrong was its speed. Well, you might have guessed already that
the captain didn’t see the need for a go-around maneuver. Later, he couldn’t even explain
why. As for the first officer, he said that he knew they weren’t about to land safely
but believed the captain was taking steps to avoid a crash. Anyway, despite the yells
of air traffic control and the flashing warning lights, they directed the plane towards the
runway and landed. The aircraft touched the runway at a speed
greatly exceeding the allowed maximum and 650 ft (200 m) beyond the landing limiting
line. The strip was wet, and it didn’t help the unfortunate pilots either. They turned
on the reversers and applied manual brakes, but even that wasn’t enough to stop the
plane before the end of the runway. Eventually, the airplane crashed into the
metal fence and an airport perimeter wall, tearing through both, and finally came to
a halt right in the middle of Hollywood Way, a busy four-lane city street. The nose of
the aircraft was shattered, the front wheels were torn off, but the inside wasn’t damaged
much. One of the escape slides inflated right inside the plane, blocking two flight attendants,
but otherwise no one was seriously injured. And that’s nothing short of a miracle!
Why, you ask? Well, because the plane stopped right next to a gas station. If it had moved
several dozen feet further, it could’ve caused a fire, or even an explosion, and there
would’ve been victims. But the plane came to a screaming stop, nothing lit up, and nobody
was seriously hurt. Happy ending. Except for the flight captain’s self-esteem. On the
voice recording from the cockpit you can clearly hear how, moments after the accident, he said,
“Well, there goes my career.” Sorry, pal, you were right. Several months later, both
the captain and the first officer of Flight 1455 were fired because of the accident. And
the plane, as it turned out, sustained too much damage and was later scrapped. Well,
it’s kinda sad, of course, but everyone stayed alive, and that’s what really matters.
Pilots have a saying: Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. And so it
goes. So, Bright Siders, do you know any other stories
of airplane incidents? Share them in the comments below! If you learned something new today,
then give this video a like and share it with a friend.
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Stay on the Bright Side of life!