Runway Illusion

By Ken Stockwell

With both fact and fiction mixed into this book you will
relive an intense moment in multiple lives and experience
what it felt like to live through a catastrophe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456741358

Ken Stockwell

Ken has been an Aviation professional for over 30 years. He is an international traveler and Airforce Veteran. His hope is to take you down a path that most have not had a chance to experience in the Aviation world.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Preface

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

Appendix

Preface

This book was written from a true story of an aircraft accident that happened May 8, 1978 around 21:00 at night. At the time of touch down the water temperature was 50 degrees. All of the names of the crew have been changed and flight number have also been changed. Some creative fiction writing has been added to give the reader some insight, also a little romance has been added. In best interest of those involved in this ordeal we have excluded their names and wish them the best in whatever endeavors they are involved in at this time. Dan is the copilot and Steve is the engineer, the captain is call Captain King

I   

After six months of working at odd jobs as an aircraft mechanic, I had finally been hired as a pilot on a 440 Convair freight liner and as a DC-6 engineer. It had been a hard six months, after being dismissed by National Airlines. It almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown. My wife was devastated because I had lost my flying job. She had labored hard at her secretarial job in order to put me through flight school.

I had been forewarned about this puppet union of the Flight Engineers by a retired captain of Eastern Airlines. He had called me to tell me that I was in a bad situation, and was in need of a good lawyer. He said that he had flown with the brother of the chief-pilot at National Airlines and knew of his character. He would blame an engineer in a New York minute in order to save his job. I wasn’t a rookie at being a pilot or a flight engineer. When push came to shove, if I needed to, I would take over the controls in order to avoid an accident.

I once had to take the controls of a Beech D-18 away from a captain in a landing in Birmingham, Alabama. We were landing in a 17 knot cross wind and the captain was trying to making a three-point cross wind landing. After three hard cross wind bounce’s the airplane neared the edge of the other side of the runway and was starting a ground loop and going to crash. I took the airplane away from the captain, applied full power and right rudder and flew the airplane off the remaining part of the runway.

My new boss was sending me to St. Louis, Missouri on Monday to pick up a DC-6 to bring back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Mayo Brothers had been in the aviation business for many years flying cargo and passengers out of Fort Lauderdale Airport. I had been flying for this company for less than a month. The pay wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t like flying for a major airline. The trips were mostly charter flights with some short runs in the Convair 340 and 440 to the Bahamas. An aircraft company named Convair built the 48-passenger airliner, and Eastern, Delta and United Airline flew them in the late fifties and early sixties. Delta had used these airplanes in their passenger service before we got them, so they were broken in, with many hours of logged time on them. My airline was operating the airplane in the cargo configuration. This change to the airplane was done at our maintenance base at Fort Lauderdale airport. The seats were removed and the floor was beefed up to cargo standards and a new weight and balance was filled out. The airplane was weighted and a new C-g was figured out. C-g in aviation stand for the center of gravity of the airplane in it empty configuration. On a conventional tractor airplane, the weight of the engine moved the C-g of the empty airplane forward on the fuselage. Removing the seats, may have moved the C-g still more forward. Moving the C-g too far aft could possible create an unstable airplane. A new weight and balance and a new C-g must be determined and placed in the airplane log papers, after changing the plane from a passenger configuration to a cargo configuration, my boss told me that once we got the DC-6 back in Fort Lauderdale, business would pick up.

A light rain was falling on Monday morning as I prepared to go to St. Louis, Mo. My wife was able to drive right up to the curb outside the door to the terminal to let me out and there were no long lines at the ticket counter. The other crew members were already in St. Louis waiting with the DC-6.

I had been given a prepaid ticket and was booked on an early Delta Flight. All I had to do was check my bag and go to the gate for boarding to check in at the gate of the Delta flight to St. Louis. After a short walk down the east concourse, I was able to board my Delta flight to Atlanta. The rule for Delta marketing was that all Delta flights must go through Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. Going through Atlanta, Georgia wasn’t so bad – it was that interminable layover that always got me upset. As we got on board, I thought maybe I would run into one of my old friends from United Airlines in the Atlanta Terminal. We could sit at the coffee counter, have a cup of coffee and talk over the old days when I was a mechanic for them. I could kill an hour going through the newspaper and have a little lunch at the coffee shop.

The flight out of Fort Lauderdale would be pleasant, since all of the snowbirds had gone home. Soon after boarding the airplane and taking our seats, we could feel the toe tractor connecting to the airplane. Soon they were backing us out of our parking space and you could hear the engines being started and the toe tractor being disconnected. The captain pushed up the power for taxiing and you could hear the engines accelerating and the airplane starting to move forward. As the airplane started its taxi run to the take-off runway, the stewardess was starting the demonstration for flight safety. I thought of my training days when I was flying for Airlift International and was getting some captain training on Douglas – DC-7F.

My Delta flight was soon taxiing on the active runway for take-off. You could feel the airplane shake and hear the engines roar when the captain applied max power as the airplane started its roll down the runway for take-off. As we accelerated down the runway, you could feel yourself being pushed back in your seat. The roar of the engines grew louder as we reached take-off speed. And the captain rotated the airplane to get it to fly. As the airplane started to climb you could hear the gear coming up. Soon the flaps were retracting and we were climbing through the cloud layers. The sky was partly cloudy now, and the captain was able to get over most of the rough weather as he started his climb to his final altitude.

I had looked into the cockpit as I entered the cabin and had seen one of my old friends sitting in the captain’s seat. He was turned around facing the windshield and didn’t see me. We had once owned a small single engine airplane together in Atlanta. I didn’t expect to see him and was very pleasantly surprised. Although I would have liked to say hello, it was good to know he was flying this trip; I felt more at ease already. I had many friends flying for Delta, and today one was flying this trip, it surely is a small world. Most pilots enjoyed the flight better if they knew their buddy was at the controls. I don’t know why this is since all of the airline pilots get the same training.

Just as we reached our final altitude, we broke out of the clouds and was flying on top of a cloudbank in clear blue sky and sunshine. What a pretty bright blue sky! It made for such a nice day. Just as I turned my head toward the cabin, the stewardess approached me and said, Would you like breakfast, sir?

Yes, I replied. I could smell the coffee before she had a chance to set the tray down. The eggs and bacon were hot and had a good taste to them. Maybe it was the pretty stewardess’s smile that made the breakfast so good, or maybe it was the fact I was getting paid to make this flight.

The captain made a short public announcement (P.A.) stating that we had reached our cruising altitude of 29,000 feet and he expected a smooth flight. The sound of the engines reached a low murmur as the airplane leveled itself in cruise. The cabin was very quiet now as I finished eating my breakfast. I looked out the side window to see sparkling sunlight glistening on the clouds a few thousand feet below.

The seat belt sign came on and the captain spoke. We will be starting our descent soon to Atlanta Airport and we expect to be on time. The Atlanta temperature is 68 degrees with a few white clouds.

I thought that he was doing this to hurry up the meal service. This often helped to get in the food trays. I can remember a couple of captains doing this for some stewardesses on our old airline. As for me, I wasn’t in a hurry to get into Atlanta and sit around waiting for Delta flight 109 to St. Louis. That was just not my cup of tea.

It was hardly a minute until we started our descent to a lower altitude. We must have picked up a little tailwind, because this flight to Atlanta was shorter than most. Looking out the window, I could see it was a partly cloudy day in Atlanta. The stewardess was moving from passenger to passenger picking up the food trays. I gave her mine but held on to my coffee cup and sipped on it for a few more minutes.

I felt the speed brake come up and could tell the airplane was slowing down, since the plane started making a low buffing sound. The captain spoke again. We are slowing down, but I don’t expect us to have to go into a holding pattern.

I decided that I had enough of the coffee and gave my cup to the stewardess as she came by. I picked up my flight-bag and got a magazine out. My other bag was checked through to St. Louis. I always carried my flight bag and never took a chance on the possibility of the airline losing it, because I couldn’t fly without it. Just as I began to read the magazine that I had picked up, I felt the flaps start down and we began to slow even more. I hoped we wouldn’t have to hold, as the Atlanta hub was getting busier every year. I was disappointed but not surprised when the captain said a few moments later, There will be a slight delay in landing, as we will have to hold, but I don’t expect we will be in the holding pattern very long.

As we entered the holding pattern, you could see exasperation in some passengers’ faces. I relaxed because I wasn’t in a big hurry to get on the ground anyway, but I felt sorry for the other people making connections.

Atlanta has about four holding patterns—known as fixes—for Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. They are located West, East and South of the airport. A holding pattern is where the airplane is flown at a certain altitude and speed after entering a holding course off of a radio beacon called a VOR. Airplanes are asked to enter a holding pattern to relieve the airport area of aircraft congestion. Planes are placed in a holding pattern by type—jet airliner, small business jet, or piston airplane.

The airplanes are generally flown at a speed that is above stall speed for that airplane, without the use of any flaps. This keeps the airplane’s air drag down to a minimum and saves on fuel being used. Airliners are generally asked to enter the holding pattern at a high altitude. At 30,000 feet, the jet engine burns a lot less fuel than at 20,000 feet. The new arrival jet airliner is put in the holding pattern at 30,000 feet and is let down 1,000 feet each time the holding pattern becomes empty below them. Generally, the air traffic controller will let the airliner make an approach to the airport from 4,000 or 5,000 feet.

After a 15-minute hold, I felt the gears go down and knew we would be landing shortly. The pilot made a nearly perfect landing completed by a short taxi to the parking ramp. The senior stewardess came on the P. A. and said, Passengers who are making connections, please leave your seats first. A ticket agent will post your new gate on the flight monitor, located at the gate area and concourse as you leave the airplane. Please stay in your seats with your seat belt buckled until the airplane comes to a complete stop at the gate.

Once the airplane reached the gate and stopped, most of the anxious connecting passengers scurried out of their seats and dashed down the airplane aisle, hoping to make their connecting flights. A few more minutes and the aisle became partly empty. It was time to get my carry-on bag and see if my friend was still in the captain’s seat. I looked in the cockpit on the way out the front door, but the pilots were gone. I hustled down the steps, but they must have