Qantas pilots who failed to lower landing gear suspended

[Megatop]

Deleted

[9V-SIA]

Another worrying tale comes to light.

Question: Are we pushing pilots too far?

The one below got my attention...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/bu...e%20job&st=cse

[sqdazz]

bottom line is, pilots are human... and no human is perfect. There are safeguards in place such as the GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System) which will tell the crew if the gear is not down and the aircraft is approaching the ground.

[flyguy]

the pilots must have likely Not gone through the required Landing Checklist - which they must do. As if they did, the "Gears/Wheels down" would have been acted upon during the checklist between the CPT and FO.

[Nick C]

Just picked this book up from Dymocks this afternoon.

[jadivindra]

bottom line is, pilots are human... and no human is perfect. There are safeguards in place such as the GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System) which will tell the crew if the gear is not down and the aircraft is approaching the ground.

Wonder why have to wait till so low for this aural warning thats requires miss approach. Why not it comes on immediately when the gear is not down but it is supposed to be down, thus giving the pilot enough time to lower it if not done so.

[SQflyergirl]

Wonder why have to wait till so low for this aural warning thats requires miss approach. Why not it comes on immediately when the gear is not down but it is supposed to be down, thus giving the pilot enough time to lower it if not done so.

Because not every approach is shot the same way. As an example, I've seen some approaches where the plane is established on the localiser, but not necessarily on the glideslope, a long way out from the runway threshold at low-ish altitudes - doesn't mean you go and extend the gear cause it does cause a whole boatload of drag for a long time. Don't know if that's rare or not - but i've seen it, so to have aural warnings based on "when the gear supposed to be down" based purely on Aircraft altitude AGL could be difficult i suspect.

[jadivindra]

Because not every approach is shot the same way. As an example, I've seen some approaches where the plane is established on the localiser, but not necessarily on the glideslope, a long way out from the runway threshold at low-ish altitudes - doesn't mean you go and extend the gear cause it does cause a whole boatload of drag for a long time. Don't know if that's rare or not - but i've seen it, so to have aural warnings based on "when the gear supposed to be down" based purely on Aircraft altitude AGL could be difficult i suspect.

Thanks SQFG.

[sqdazz]

It does give the pilot enough time to lower the gear..... the
'TOO LOW.. GEAR!'
aural warning is activated at approx 500ft radar altitude (above ground level). Giving the crew plenty of time to either lower the gear or conduct a missed approach. From what I understand, most airlines would require the crew to conduct a missed approach if the aircraft was not stable and in landing configuration at 500ft or 1000ft depending on the kind of approach. So if the warning was ever sounded, the crew should conduct a missed approach, and correct the problem on the next landing attempt.