Wed, Sep 17, 2008
Air Berlin 737-800 Suffered Flap Position Glitch
If at first you don't succeed, try again... but if you don't
succeed the second time, you'd best prepare for a passenger
revolt.
Passengers on an Air Berlin flight from Nuremburg to Portugal
came close to mutiny Sunday morning, demanding that the airline
replace the Boeing 737-800 scheduled to operate their flight after
pilots aborted two attempts to takeoff.
The Associated Press reports the aircraft experienced a problem
with the flap position indicator in the cockpit. The pilots
returned the plane to the gate after noticing the problem prior to
their first takeoff attempt, and two of the 172 passengers onboard
opted not to take the flight.
Airline spokeswoman Alexandra Mueller said the other 170
passengers boarded the airplane after the problem had been
supposedly fixed... but when the same glitch popped up a second
time, those passengers demanded Air Berlin bring in a new
plane.
Those passengers -- perhaps aware of current questions about
last month's downing of a Spanair MD-82 in Madrid,
which investigators say may have been tied to improper flap
settings on takeoff -- went so far as to sign a
petition demanded a replacement aircraft. Eventually, Air Madrid
flew in another 737 from Antalya, Turkey.
Mueller noted the incident shows "passengers are reacting very
sensitively to every kind of technical defect at the moment."
Air Berlin technicians later identified the source of the
glitch, and put the plane back in service... though on a different
route.
More News
Aero Linx: JAARS Nearly 1.5 billion people, using more than 5,500 languages, do not have a full Bible in their first language. Many of these people live in the most remote parts of>[...]
'Airplane Bounced Twice On The Grass Runway, Resulting In The Nose Wheel Separating From The Airplane...' Analysis: The pilot reported, “upon touchdown, the plane jumped back>[...]
"Burt is best known to the public for his historic designs of SpaceShipOne, Voyager, and GlobalFlyer, but for EAA members and aviation aficionados, his unique concepts began more t>[...]
"Polaris Dawn, the first of the program’s three human spaceflight missions, is targeted to launch to orbit no earlier than summer 2024. During the five-day mission, the crew >[...]
There Are SO Many Ways To Get YOUR Aero-News! It’s been a while since we have reminded everyone about all the ways we offer your daily dose of aviation news on-the-go...so he>[...]