gvgoff99
Well Known Member
Not too scary until later
I was flying on one of the major airlines and sitting at a window seat where I looked down directly at the trailing edge of the wing. Upon landing I noticed that the inboard flap area was really jumping around. I thought "I hope this thing doesn't depart the plane before we land." It didn't. I then thought I should tell the pilot of the event. Sometimes they stay behind closed doors until everyone is off the plane. On this flight I got lucky as did the next flight because I am pretty sure that I read of the incident in an Aviation Safety article a year or two later.
The article was about careful pilots vs. airplane drivers and their attention to detail. It described the actions of a careful pilot and how a passenger told him of a flap that seemed to be jumping around (loose) upon landing (before touchdown). While he watched he had the maintenance people look at the flap in various degrees of extension and upon full extension they found a bolt that had loosened and was about one thread from falling out. If it had fallen out the flap would have departed the plane and most likely have hit the horizontal stabilizer with disastrous results.
Reading that article I was pretty sure it was the same situation I had been involved in and at that point is when I felt the chill as well as tremendous thankfulness that I reported the incident. I do not know if I would have done so if the pilot was not greeting passengers as we departed the plane. Today, knowing this event, I would not leave it to chance. I am very thankful the pilot was a great pilot and was there.
I was flying on one of the major airlines and sitting at a window seat where I looked down directly at the trailing edge of the wing. Upon landing I noticed that the inboard flap area was really jumping around. I thought "I hope this thing doesn't depart the plane before we land." It didn't. I then thought I should tell the pilot of the event. Sometimes they stay behind closed doors until everyone is off the plane. On this flight I got lucky as did the next flight because I am pretty sure that I read of the incident in an Aviation Safety article a year or two later.
The article was about careful pilots vs. airplane drivers and their attention to detail. It described the actions of a careful pilot and how a passenger told him of a flap that seemed to be jumping around (loose) upon landing (before touchdown). While he watched he had the maintenance people look at the flap in various degrees of extension and upon full extension they found a bolt that had loosened and was about one thread from falling out. If it had fallen out the flap would have departed the plane and most likely have hit the horizontal stabilizer with disastrous results.
Reading that article I was pretty sure it was the same situation I had been involved in and at that point is when I felt the chill as well as tremendous thankfulness that I reported the incident. I do not know if I would have done so if the pilot was not greeting passengers as we departed the plane. Today, knowing this event, I would not leave it to chance. I am very thankful the pilot was a great pilot and was there.