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We are at FL 330, cofortably seated in our copkit at 24º C and just finished our dinner. It's only two hours from our departure from La Havana and we're in contact with New York Oceanic in HF. We have finished our paper works and it's only left out to receive our Oceanic authorization in VHF when we reach Bermuda, before fly into MNPS ( Minimun Navigation Perfomance Specifications), air space. We departure at night from La Havana and there is no moon at all, so the empty sensation is total.
Our alternative ETOPS is now Nassau, Bahamas and later St Johns, in Terranova cause, from a week ago, Bermuda shut out at night. Miami have cleared us direct to DEENO and there we will be in 28 minutes. The last fix we have pass for was TANIA, the limit between Havana FIR with Miami and we passed it with more than 36 tons of fuel.
Everything is quiet and we proceed to read the national newspapers that the Boss gave to us so we will be able to notice what happen since two days we're out home. Three short hoots alert us and a "Caution" message appear on the EICAS: "Low fuel" "Fuel Configuration", advise us. This "Caution" messages are not as bad as if were appear the "Warning" message but, anyway we read it with worry sensation.
We reach the fuel indicator with our eyes. The plane it's only 1000 kilos of fuel left, only a few minutes of flight. Our conservation instinct make us thing must be an indication error. How can be real what we had been advise for? Have we suffer a massive fuel lost, about 30 tons, in only a few minutes? It's not possible!!, "This fool instruments reading cannot be true".
To check if this is true, the captain go to the back side of the plane just to be able to see if he watch a fuel lost. Back to the cockpit he talk me he cannot see nothing unusual. We have only 700 kilos fuel left now. We're gettin as much nervous as the fuel lost is increasing quickly. We hope a miracle begin to work so that we can see again our 30 fuel tons. We try everything, bombs, crossfeed, breakers. Indicator reach Cero. We never imagine this could happen really during a flight.
Time run slowly, very slowly and then.....we feel the plane is yaw toward right direction. Left engine is getting off!! Cannot be real!! A seconds later, the right engine is off too. What follows it's the chaos. Plane light are getting off too. Emergency cockpit light turns on. As both engines are off power we lost the cabin pressure. The famous RAT mask falls. The boss attendant came into the cockpit with a oxygen bottle and find us both with our oxygen mask on our faces and reading the emergency Ditching list lighted with a lantern.
The captain says to the attendant she must prepare the plane for a water landing over the sea. We continues with the emergency list but it's very little what we can really do. We cannot extend flaps, variometer is not working, we only have the emergency instruments to check the descent rate, we have not landing lights, we have not….
The plane is now at 25.000 feet and we call to Control. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!" We report our position and emergency situation in all the possible available frequencies. We dress our savelife jacks and try to remember everything we have read about sea landings: sea land parallel to the waves, etc, though we know nobody has survive after a sea land in the middle of the ocean.10.000 feet. We get off our oxygen masks as there are now no need to use it. The "boss", our attendant, tell us the cabin is ready. The plane continues it's descend. We can see nothing. Now the plane is only 1.000 feet. I tell the captain all the altitudes from one hundred to one hundred. We're not sure if this altitudes readings are good cause we have not fix the QNH and we lack too of radio altimeter …
250 feet..... We can hear a big, tremendous noise!!!, all the cockpit windows get red colour!!....
The Flight Simulator have stopped. We stood there, as ice figures during a seconds than seems hours. The instructor say: "Come on man… go to have a coffee and relax" There is no reaction from us. We get off the Flight Simulator over our trembling legs and sweeding all our bodies along.
Javier is Boeing 767 and Boeing 757 first officer in Air Europa fleet and describes minutely for Avion Magazine.Com his more deep feelings when he has to, as a professional airliner pilot, have his refresh course two times a year in "the sweating box".
I can´t believe only six months have passed since my last recurrent simulator training. We have to do two every year to keep ourselves current in those maneuvers we don´t usually do but we have to be ready to execute if someting goes wrong in the airplane.
Today we´ll make a couple of LOFT (Line Oriented Flight Training) flights as a warm-up and tomorrow we´ll practice all kind of CAT II approaches and non-precission approaches, multi and single engine combined with hydraulic, electric or flight control problems.
I meet with my Captain and head for the briefing room, were we´ll meet our instructor today, also a company Captain. He explains the "profile" of the session, what we are going to do in the simulator. I´ll be the pilot flying (PF) in our first LOFT from Palma de Mallorca to Madrid and pilot not flying (PNF) in the second leg Madrid to Bilbao. We prepare the flight as a real one, with actual computerised flight plans, weather, NOTAMS (Notice to Airmen), take-off performances and we do a manual load sheet for practice, just to keep the rust off our brain!
After all th work is completed we grab the Jeppesen Airway Manual we´ll need for the flight and head for the "sweating box" It´s a FlightSafety Boeing 757 "D" Level simulator. This means it´s so realistic you can do all your flight training in the box and after that go directly to the real airplane for your first line flight. Fortunately, the real airplane flies even better.
We get comfortable in our seats and begin preparing the airplane for the flight. You´re so concentrated that you forget you´re in the simulator. You have to believe you´re in the real airplane or your training we´ll be no good. You have to do everything like you were flying a real 757.
We do the checkists and I ask for start and push-back clearance. As we are pushing back we start the right engine. Everything looks normal but the engine fails to start after twenty seconds. Must be a bad ignitor so we do the recall procedure to clear the unburnt fuel and switch to the other ignitor. This time the engine starts with no problem. The left one also starts O.K. We complete more checksists and taxi to the active runway. The Captain does the take off briefing, reviewing what we´ll do in case something goes wrong before and after our V1 speed today, 135 Knots. Basically before 135 if an engine fails the Captain will abort the take off aplying full brakes, speedbrakes and full reverse thrust. After 135 I´ll continue the take off and fly the airplane executing the engine out procedure. We are cleared for take off, more checklists and there we go!
80 knots, V1, rotate! The take off is normal, but when we are retracting the flaps and slats, the slats won´t come up. We reduce our airspeed not to exceed the limits and I call for the emergency checklist. I am the PF so I continue flying the airplane, switching the autopilot to reduce workload and taking control of the communications also to let the Captain do the apropiate procedure.
This was an easy one. We retract the slats with the alternate system, evaluating if we can continue our flight to Madrid or turning back to Palma. We decide we can continue safely the flight, advising the company of our malfunction to have a mechanic in Madrid ready to take a look.
We continue the climb to our cruising level, 350. Everything seems to be normal when suddenly the EICAS (Engine Indication And Crew Alert System) lights up and advises the left engine oil pressure is decreasing rapidly. We shut it down and ask for the checklist again. I set Maximun Continuos Thrust on the right engine but even so we don´t have enough power to mantain FL350. We declare emergency and advise we have to descend to FL230, the highest level we can mantain at this weight. We don´t rush the descent. We do a "driftdown" procedure slowly loosing altitude until we reach 230. As we reach it we begin to prepare our arrival at Madrid, listening to ATIS and programming the FMC (Flight Management Computer) with the appropiate data. I do the briefing for our single engine approach to Madrid Barajas airport, explaining the procedure we expect, frecuencies, Minimun Safe Altitudes, landing minimuns, single engine missed approach procedure, etc. The Captain calls the virtual Purser and briefs her about the situation. He asks for a coffee also, but its denied. No drinks or food allowed inside the simulator!
We are single engine but its no problem. All twin engine airplanes can fly single engine, but the 757 with its Rolls Royce RB.211-535E4 engines has power to spare. I continue on autopilot, trimming the airplane for single engine flight. We ask for vectors for a long final to configure the airplane for landing comfortably. I ask for "Flap one" and the EICAS lights up again, telling us there is a Slat Dissagree problem again, as we were suspecting. We need more time to do the emergency procedure so we enter the holding pattern. The Captain again has to do the procedure following the checklist. I continue to fly the airplane, but also follow the procedure with him. We´ll have to use the alternate system to lower slats and flaps, that means electric motors instead of hydraulic ones, which take more time.
We are ready to begin our approach again with the slat problem solved. Since we are single engine we´ll use only Flap 20 for landing, instead of 30. That will result in a higher than normal landing speed and a bit less tail clearance on landing, but nothing more. I intercept the localizer and glideslope keeping it there with the help of the Flight Director. Once established I disconnect the autopilot and fly by hand to get the feel of the airplane, triming it with every change of power. The landing is O.K. to be a simulator landing, lacking the visual clues you have on the real airplane.
We have succesfully finished this flight. Now its time for a cofee break, but we have no time to relax. We prepare again everything for the next one. Now the Captain will be PF and I´ll have to do all the emergency checklists in the next flight. Tomorrow we´ll have another four hours of simulator hard work followed by a debriefing. Now you know why the call it "the sweating box"
In the picture at your right you can see Javier the day he gets his Airline Transport Pilot license at the 757 EC-FEE first officer flight deck.
"After six and a half hours flying the Atlantic from Madrid, at 390 FL, New York Center requested us to contact Boston Center in the HF frequency. It´s a sunny wonderful day and very soon we can see the New England coast far away in the shoreline. I have been studying all the charts of our arrival airport: Kennedy. Not every day one "come in" one of the more mythics airport in aviation history. ATIS service is reporting the runway 31R for landings. We get ready all the aprox documentation, frequencies charts, minimal heights, headings, and "write" all to the FMC but, any way, we must be alert because we can be surprised by the changes of the landing runway if NY control request so. As it´s said: In New York you don´t land but they land you.
The TOP (Top Of Descent) is nearer at each minute of fly, but before we can request for a descend, Boston Center requested us to do so an to maintain Mach .81. We must maintain this speed in a very meticulous way to avoid the rows at arrival :)).
We began, at Boston Center Request, to be directed to Kennedy . We have an Olympic 747 very near in front of us in the TCAS and so will be until landing. It´s very impressive the way they control you. Boston Center request us to contact Kennedy aprox frequency We must be very observant about what control is requesting to the Olympic 747, cause we´re the next one.in the communications sequence.
We see Rhode Island and Connecticutt beneath us. It´s a truly show of colours, fall colours. I´m always amazed for the big quantity of airport you can find in USA. You can look at any place of ground and you´l always have a runway in sight .
We follow with our descent at the tail of the 747 and my nervous are increasing minute after minute: I will land the 767, but the captain will taxi in JFK after landing and I´ll have to take the communications and the taxi instructions. We hear how the 747 is finally vectored and we´re asked by JFK aprox if we have it in sight. We turn after the 747 and contact the JFK control tower. They contact to inform that we have a US Airways 757 parallel to us. JFK tower cleared us to land and we´re the number four in the sequence!!
It seems I´m in a dream. Aligned in final and seeing the Manhattan skyline at dawn. We see the 747 clearing up the runway and it´s time to our landing. Thanks to the goods of the 767 I get a very soft landing in my first JFK. When we cleared up the runway I hear the taxi instructions. They are very simple!! We are requested to the left until we reach the TWA terminal. It´s the own TWA who has to clear us until reach one of it´s fingers.
TWA terminal is all filled with 767 exception of a Jordanian Airlines A 310 and an Iberia Airlines 747. In the AA terminal I can see an AF Concorde and, all the world nationality 747´s. you can imagine.
At last we´re parked at the finger. The captain put breaks on and engines.to iddle. I push the lift bells signs off and the 180 passenger began to get out the plane. At last everything seems easy to me but, I think by myself, the first time it´s all new amazing sensations.to avoid the complications :))".
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