2017.02.17
Big Hub to Flyover, MD-88 (This is a flight report AND report of some funness around some minor hiccups...nevertheless, there is just a hint of the ole procedure vs fundamental vs airmanship hidden in here)
An FA is trying to work upstream against boarding Pax and the FA in the kitchen asks me to hold up...l step towards the cockpit and lean an ear in. DSGFOTM is doing a formal preflight briefing including in-route, departure, and destination weather, the route, the frequencies, speeds, the likely runway, taxi route everything...near-perfect execution of Evan procedures. (PS, I note discreet gauges in this MD-88-200b)
Then in the middle of the flight, the Captain announces that we should arrive at Graceland international a bit early (ummm, I thought we're going to Flyover?). Apparently the PAMP (PA monitoring pilot), did a really bad at PARM, since he did not correct the PAAP for stating the wrong destination...BAD PROCEDURE!...and evidence of all that procedure blocking an important fundamental of remembering where the hell you are going.
(Side note- I continued to observe the flight from the window (fundamentals) and my GPS and maping app on my smartphone...fortunately we departed BNA on the correct heading for Flyover and I refrained from hitting the FA call button, AND rushing the cockpit (since I also feared a 20-year sentence for interfering with the flight crew)
But it gets even worse...the weather is severe VMC....I can see the field 30 miles out as we were angling in on the arrival ~45 degrees from the final approach course...
some likelihood this will be a visual approach with minimum influence from ATC due to a lag in the extreme amount of traffic at Flyover...
My I-phone GPS is giving me our speed...
We get near the outer marker and we're still going nearly 200 knots......That's not a particularly stabilized approach...oh no, we are cheating the fundamental concept to be established and all configured and on-speed, at the marker...the dreaded first "side-step" of good operating procedure.
The gear comes out (probably indicating we are genuinely at the outer marker)...a few more flaps...and the speed starts a slow decline...Amazingly...right around 500 ft (rough estimate) we hit 150 knots...and the power starts coming up to stop the speed decay...speed kind of varies between 145 and 155, the threshold passes...then the aiming marks...and another set of markers and suddenly a good old solid and above average PLUNK...and some pretty hard braking as we must have been close to missing our desired turnoff for the alpha gates.
...was it a wind gust...a hiccup...or did we not have enough time to get settled and calibrated at 145 knots???
Disclaimer: I am sure that stable approach criteria were met...but conversely, it appeared to be some good ole genius airmanship to slow it up just so between the marker to arrive at the final altitude at the right speed...
Summary: A blown in-flight announcement and blowing past the outer marker to a slightly hard landing = questions about strictly following procedure vs. forgetting where you are going and making a slightly hard landing...
Important Disclaimer: I didn't died and the plane needed no repair.
Big Hub to Flyover, MD-88 (This is a flight report AND report of some funness around some minor hiccups...nevertheless, there is just a hint of the ole procedure vs fundamental vs airmanship hidden in here)
An FA is trying to work upstream against boarding Pax and the FA in the kitchen asks me to hold up...l step towards the cockpit and lean an ear in. DSGFOTM is doing a formal preflight briefing including in-route, departure, and destination weather, the route, the frequencies, speeds, the likely runway, taxi route everything...near-perfect execution of Evan procedures. (PS, I note discreet gauges in this MD-88-200b)
Then in the middle of the flight, the Captain announces that we should arrive at Graceland international a bit early (ummm, I thought we're going to Flyover?). Apparently the PAMP (PA monitoring pilot), did a really bad at PARM, since he did not correct the PAAP for stating the wrong destination...BAD PROCEDURE!...and evidence of all that procedure blocking an important fundamental of remembering where the hell you are going.
(Side note- I continued to observe the flight from the window (fundamentals) and my GPS and maping app on my smartphone...fortunately we departed BNA on the correct heading for Flyover and I refrained from hitting the FA call button, AND rushing the cockpit (since I also feared a 20-year sentence for interfering with the flight crew)
But it gets even worse...the weather is severe VMC....I can see the field 30 miles out as we were angling in on the arrival ~45 degrees from the final approach course...
some likelihood this will be a visual approach with minimum influence from ATC due to a lag in the extreme amount of traffic at Flyover...
My I-phone GPS is giving me our speed...
We get near the outer marker and we're still going nearly 200 knots......That's not a particularly stabilized approach...oh no, we are cheating the fundamental concept to be established and all configured and on-speed, at the marker...the dreaded first "side-step" of good operating procedure.
The gear comes out (probably indicating we are genuinely at the outer marker)...a few more flaps...and the speed starts a slow decline...Amazingly...right around 500 ft (rough estimate) we hit 150 knots...and the power starts coming up to stop the speed decay...speed kind of varies between 145 and 155, the threshold passes...then the aiming marks...and another set of markers and suddenly a good old solid and above average PLUNK...and some pretty hard braking as we must have been close to missing our desired turnoff for the alpha gates.
...was it a wind gust...a hiccup...or did we not have enough time to get settled and calibrated at 145 knots???
Disclaimer: I am sure that stable approach criteria were met...but conversely, it appeared to be some good ole genius airmanship to slow it up just so between the marker to arrive at the final altitude at the right speed...
Summary: A blown in-flight announcement and blowing past the outer marker to a slightly hard landing = questions about strictly following procedure vs. forgetting where you are going and making a slightly hard landing...
Important Disclaimer: I didn't died and the plane needed no repair.
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