> Which leads me to wonder if metric measurement is required for international > flight? Metric v Imperial always a problem, and not just in heights. When you load your jumbo with x000 litres of fuel instead of x000 gals, the pilot gets to fly a very very very large glider ....happened recently to one landed safely in ?was it Tenerife after gliding down from 40,000ft, I believe. Variation on a theme : http://www.me.gatech.edu/me/publicat/AugTranscript.htm The "Gimli Glider" was a 767 aircraft that ran out of fuel some 35,000 feet over the Canadian wilderness and had to make an emergency landing on an abandoned airstrip in Gimli. The question becomes: How do you run out of fuel and lose both engines on a 767? Actually, it turns out, it's fairly easy to do. The story began in Edmonton, where a mechanic boarded the aircraft to fix some problems with the cockpit instrumentation. He threw the circuit breakers so he could work on the problems. He was then distracted by being called to do something else, and he forgot to put the circuit breakers back in the "on" position. When the pilot got on for a preflight check, not knowing the circuit breakers were off, he couldn't get any indication from the fuel gauges. He concluded the gauges were broken, and, after his mechanic checked with another mechanic, decided to use the standard back-up procedure for assessing how much fuel was needed. This involved taking a dipstick out to the fuel tanks in the wings, taking the readings, and then calculating the number of pounds of fuel onboard. The pilot and co-pilot took the readings twice to make sure they got the process right. The only problem was when they converted from kilograms to pounds ... you got it. They multiplied instead of divided, ran out of fuel, and then had to glide some 40 miles before they miraculously made a perfect, dead-stick landing in a place called Gimli. Stuart ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Ferrell" To: Sent: 16 February 2002 16:57 Subject: Re: [OT]: Flying Quantas > Final responsibility always rests with the pilot. The only possible > exception would be under zero visibility conditions and that would not be a > sure thing. > > A question not likely to be answered: Was anyone on either aircraft looking > out? > > Another factor: It is recommended that aircraft on headings of 0-180 degrees > fly odd increments (or was it even?) of 1000 ft, headings of 180 to 360 even > increments of 1000 ft. > > Which leads me to wonder if metric measurement is required for international > flight? > Instrument manufacturers take note, this may be a business opportunity... > > Another consideration is whether they were in "controlled airspace. " Air > Traffic Control provides only "courtesy assistance" outside controlled > airspace. I believe the aviation writer Richard Bach described ATC's > position in this role as "dealing, but not playing." > > John Ferrell > 6241 Phillippi Rd > Julian NC 27283 > Phone: (336)685-9606 > Dixie Competition Products > NSRCA 479 AMA 4190 W8CCW > "My Competition is Not My Enemy" > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kathy Quinlan" > To: > Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2002 10:40 AM > Subject: Re: [OT]: Flying Quantas > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Jinx" > > Subject: Re: [OT]: Flying Quantas > > > > > > > http://www.clear.net.nz/news/archives/articles/00017782.html > > > > > > Nearly spoiled their good name in the worst possible way > > > > > > > Was this QANTAS' problem or was it the air traffic controllers problem ??? > > > > I thought it was the air traffic controllers job to make sure planes did > not > > crash > > > > Regards, > > > > Kat. > > > ________________________________________________________________________ ____ > > /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | K.A.Q. Electronics > > \ / - NO HTML/RTF in e-mail | Software and Electronic Engineering > > X - NO Word docs in e-mail | Perth Western Australia > > / \ | Ph +61 419 923 > 731 > > > ________________________________________________________________________ ____ > > > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: > > [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads > > > > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: > [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads > > > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads