General discussion for aviators

Heavy landing 777

Hi a recent landing at Antigua in a 777 was very hard, and the pilot applied
the brakes really heavily, probaly in my assumption, because of the short
runway and a slight overshoot of touch down point, also if you pass the
terminal exit point i believe it would be a push back, (very expensive) as
no more exit points exist, my point is does a very heavy landing strain the
777 aircraft unduly  especially the undercarriage    regards  Frank

Comments (24)




24 Responses to “Heavy landing 777”

  1. admin says:

    Sounds like an ‘autoland’. In the U.S. pilots are required to perform a
    certain number of ‘autolands’ in order to remain current and be able to
    land in conditions less than standard ILS CAT I minimums (i.e. landing
    in fog). The plane is not designed to autoland itself smoothly, it is
    designed to touch down within a specific spot on the runway and come to
    a complete stop quickly. The software programmers were not very
    interested in being smooth. BTW: In case anyone has any fantacies of
    being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

  2. admin says:

    The 777 landing gear are designed to take a lot of stress.  The landing
    you describe does not sound like a big deal…

    Dean
    Former Boeing avionics engineer, 777 program

  3. admin says:

    jfp wrote:
    > also if you pass the terminal exit point i believe it would be a push back, (very expensive) as no more exit points exist

    Notwithstanding that any jet can go backwards with the use of the
    reversers, why a push-back beyond the exit point – isn’t the apron
    there wide enough to accommodate a 180-degree turn?

    Ramapriya

  4. admin says:

    > BTW: In case anyone has any fantacies of
    > being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    > land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    So, how =do= you do an autoland?

    Jose

    You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
    for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

  5. admin says:

    Robert M. Gary wrote:
    > The plane is not designed to autoland itself smoothly, it is
    > designed to touch down within a specific spot on the runway and come to
    > a complete stop quickly.

    The 757 autolands itself smoothly as consistently as the average pilot.
    It comes to a stop quickly or not, depending on the Autobrakes setting
    chosen by the crew. Is the 777 so different?

    > In case anyone has any fantacies [sic] of
    > being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    > land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    Psychologically, maybe, and naturally systems knowledge and proficiency
    is necessary, but your claim of "difficulty" needs more context. What
    could be easier than watching it happen, in a physical sense?

    Do you have actual operational flight crew experience with the airplane?

    Jack

  6. admin says:

    "Jose" <teache…@aol.nojunk.com> wrote in message

    news:AZDof.647$iv.519@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com…

    >> BTW: In case anyone has any fantacies of
    >> being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    >> land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    > So, how =do= you do an autoland?

    > Jose
    > —
    > You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
    > for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

    Yes and can it be preformed on MS FS9?

    ———————————-
    DW

  7. admin says:

    Jack wrote:
    > Robert M. Gary wrote:

    > > The plane is not designed to autoland itself smoothly, it is
    > > designed to touch down within a specific spot on the runway and come to
    > > a complete stop quickly.

    > The 757 autolands itself smoothly as consistently as the average pilot.
    > It comes to a stop quickly or not, depending on the Autobrakes setting
    > chosen by the crew. Is the 777 so different?

    I guess I wouldn’t consider an autoland in that series "smooth" and
    would challenge you to find a pilot who claims he is not smooher than
    the autoland system. I would describe a 767 autoland as a "thunk" and
    certainly not a greaser. Its not hard enough to drop things from the
    overheads of course, but its not something a pilot would write home
    about in pride had he hand flown it. I’m not sure I understand your
    statement about the autobrakes. Do you have knowledge of the auto brake
    setting on the flight the OP presented? As I recall the Boeing switch
    has RTO,OFF,10,20,30,MAX but that’s from old memory. I didn’t see the
    OP’s description of where it was set.

    > > In case anyone has any fantacies [sic] of
    > > being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    > > land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    > Psychologically, maybe, and naturally systems knowledge and proficiency
    > is necessary, but your claim of "difficulty" needs more context. What
    > could be easier than watching it happen, in a physical sense?

    You don’t push a button and watch it happen. Its like saying shooting a
    GPS approach is "sitting back and watching it happen" compared to an
    ILS. It takes training to understand how to use your GPS system, how to
    set it up, etc. It takes training to understand how to use the autoland
    system.

    -Robert

  8. admin says:

    I wasn’t really suppose to be your pilot today, but I did stay in a
    Holiday Inn last night.

  9. admin says:

    dean…@msn.com wrote

    > The 777 landing gear are designed to take a lot of stress.  The landing
    > you describe does not sound like a big deal…

    As a matter of fact, all jet transports are designed for touchdown
    at a 600 fpm sink rate at maximum landing weight and 360 fpm at
    maximum takeoff weight, but I’ve never really tested the limits.  :-)

    Bob Moore

  10. admin says:

    >"jfp" wrote in message
    > Hi a recent landing at Antigua in a 777 was very hard, and the pilot
    applied
    > the brakes really heavily, probaly in my assumption, because of the short
    > runway and a slight overshoot of touch down point, also if you pass the
    > terminal exit point i believe it would be a push back, (very expensive) as
    > no more exit points exist, my point is does a very heavy landing strain
    the
    > 777 aircraft unduly  especially the undercarriage

    If you are referring to VC Byrd, you are wrong. It is plenty long enough and
    does have a turning point at the end. As for the undercarriage, it will
    survive very hard landings. One of my buds has recorded in excess of 2 g’s
    with the only damage being to his ego. The monocoque fuselage will buckle
    first. Search the web and you’ll come across some pictures of a B-767 in the
    Dominican Republic 2 years ago exhibiting such damage.

    D.

  11. admin says:

    "Bob Moore" <rmoor…@tampabay.rr.com> wrote

    > As a matter of fact, all jet transports are designed for touchdown
    > at a 600 fpm sink rate at maximum landing weight

    Boy, that would be an…..arrival!  <g>

    Jim in NC

  12. admin says:

    That’s never wise with low engines. The book may even have a minimum
    forward speed for reversers.

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    Ramapriya wrote:
    > jfp wrote:

    >>also if you pass the terminal exit point i believe it would be a push back, (very expensive) as no more exit points exist

    > Notwithstanding that any jet can go backwards with the use of the
    > reversers, why a push-back beyond the exit point – isn’t the apron
    > there wide enough to accommodate a 180-degree turn?

    > Ramapriya

  13. admin says:

    im curious as to the claim of difficuly as well.  At my carrier we only
    go as low as CAT II, and the only differences between that and a CAT I
    for us is a QRH monitored approach checklist and briefing, making sure
    the CAT II annunciator comes up and turns green, watching the needles
    and looking for lights.  I’d imagine autoland w/ autothrottles (neither
    of which we have) to be less work, as you no longer have to find lights
    and land the airplane.  More stressful sure, but i wouldnt equate that
    to more difficult.  Granted, i fly a certain RJ made in brazil and not
    a boeing (only been up front as a jumpseater) so perhaps my perspective
    is off.

  14. admin says:

    Robert M. Gary wrote:
     > Jack wrote:
    >>The 757 autolands itself smoothly as consistently as the average pilot.
    >>It comes to a stop quickly or not, depending on the Autobrakes setting
    >>chosen by the crew. Is the 777 so different?

    > I guess I wouldn’t consider an autoland in that series "smooth" and
    > would challenge you to find a pilot who claims he is not smooher than
    > the autoland system.

    Of course they don’t measure up to MY landings. The best autoland I ever
    saw was not equal to my best, but the average of the autolands I have
    had were equal to the AVERAGE F/O’s landings. Do you like it better that
    way?

    > I would describe a 767 autoland as a "thunk" and
    > certainly not a greaser.

    See, that’s the silly thing about having a dual type rating. I have no
    idea about the 767, despite the fact I have the type rating. And there
    is always the possibility that neither of us have enough experience with
    autolands, in either the 757 or the 767 to know the full range of
    possibilities, let alone in the 777 which is the subject of this thread.
    Of the ones I have had in the 757, some were amazing, and a few not so
    impressive, but none of them should have caused any pax concern.

    > I’m not sure I understand your
    > statement about the autobrakes.

    As I said, I can only talk about my experiences with the 757, never
    having been in the 777 — that’s why I asked for specifics on 777 ops,
    if you have any. Your idea of "coming to a stop quickly" may be
    different from mine, but a range of available autobraking effects is
    standard on all three I would bet, and the lower ranges which I normally
    used certainly did not produce, nor were they meant to produce, what
    could be called a quick stop — though the higher settings will do the
    quick stop trick VERY well.

    When you use the term "series", do you mean that the 757/767 systems for
    autoland and autobraking are similar enough to the 777′s to be operated
    by a pilot typed in the 757/767 with minimal retraining?

    >>Psychologically, maybe, and naturally systems knowledge and proficiency
    >>is necessary, but your claim of "difficulty" needs more context. What
    >>could be easier than watching it happen, in a physical sense?

    > You don’t push a button and watch it happen.

    Not ONE button, and one doesn’t watch casually, but one isn’t actually
    manipulating the aerodynamic controls. One does a bit of switchology,
    watches closely while the computers do their thing, stays ready to
    intervene if necessary, and disconnects all of it when it is time to
    turn off of the runway onto the taxiway. Or perhaps you meant you had
    your eyes closed? The effect is about the same during a Cat III approach
    with eyes open or shut — except for those annoying center-line lights.
    And, the tracking is just accurate enough to run one of the nosewheels
    over almost every one of those lights during the roll-out.

    > It takes training to understand how to use the autoland system.

    A revelation for which I’m sure we are most thankful, Robert. Where was
    it again that you said you flew the 757, 767, and/or 777?

    Jack

  15. admin says:

    "Robert M. Gary" <r…@my-deja.com> wrote in message

    >…In case anyone has any fantacies of
    > being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    > land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    I don’t know if I’d say more difficult, just different.  I was Cat IIIa
    qualified in the 727.  It was a question of procedure and monitoring.

  16. admin says:

    Morgans wrote in message …

    >"Bob Moore" <rmoor…@tampabay.rr.com> wrote

    >> As a matter of fact, all jet transports are designed for touchdown
    >> at a 600 fpm sink rate at maximum landing weight

    >Boy, that would be an…..arrival!  <g>

    I think I came into Midway like that once. The head flight attendant made
    the announcement: "Ladies and Gentlemen, that was not the Pilot’s
    fault…that was not the Co-pilot’s fault…that was the asphalt!" This was
    followed up with a horse whinnying sound. Quickest stop I ever experienced.
    I thought the plane was going to break up, it was shaking so hard.

    - Rick

  17. admin says:

    jfp wrote:
    > Hi a recent landing at Antigua in a 777 was very hard, and the pilot applied
    > the brakes really heavily, probaly in my assumption, because of the short
    > runway and a slight overshoot of touch down point, also if you pass the
    > terminal exit point i believe it would be a push back, (very expensive) as
    > no more exit points exist, my point is does a very heavy landing strain the
    > 777 aircraft unduly  especially the undercarriage    regards  Frank

    If you can find a copy of the TV documentary 21st Century Jet on the
    building and certification of the 777, you’ll see that it’s designed
    to take much more severe braking than what you witnessed.

  18. admin says:

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo. Please remain in your seats
    with your seatbelts fastened while the Captain taxis what’s left of our
    airplane to the gate!"

  19. admin says:

    I think the point is that a pax can’t expect to jump up into the
    cockpit, push the "autoland" button and land the plane as was wildly
    speculated after 9/11.
    I don’t recall saying I’d flow the 7 series. After college I worked for
    an embedded systems firm writing software for the aerospace industry,
    including some autopilot systems. I think I still have some of the
    system specifications. At least at the time, there was no provision in
    the software to smooth out a flare by taking advantage of longer
    runways. Every landing was basically a short field landing. There was a
    small range in the TDZ in which the wheels were required to touch. It
    was obvious to the posterior that the pilots flare differently than the
    software, mostly because the pilots didn’t seem concerned about
    floating past the narrow TDZ parameters the auto system had
    established.

    -Robert

  20. admin says:

    Ron,
    I watched the same. As I recall, the heavy braking test also resulted
    in some wheel fires.

    -Robert

  21. admin says:

    "Jack" <baron…@yahoo.com> wrote in message

    news:yeLof.34107$dO2.31782@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net…

    >>>The 757 autolands itself smoothly as consistently as the average pilot.
    >>>It comes to a stop quickly or not, depending on the Autobrakes setting
    >>>chosen by the crew. Is the 777 so different?

    > Not ONE button, and one doesn’t watch casually, but one isn’t actually
    > manipulating the aerodynamic controls. One does a bit of switchology,
    > watches closely while the computers do their thing, stays ready to
    > intervene if necessary, and disconnects all of it when it is time to turn
    > off of the runway onto the taxiway. Or perhaps you meant you had your eyes
    > closed? The effect is about the same during a Cat III approach with eyes
    > open or shut — except for those annoying center-line lights. And, the
    > tracking is just accurate enough to run one of the nosewheels over almost
    > every one of those lights during the roll-out.

    I recall a tv program on the BBC showing from the flightdeck an American 777
    performing an autoland at Heathrow.
    The landing was smooth as silk and yes you could hear the sound of the nose
    wheel running over the lights!

    Chris

  22. admin says:

    On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 at 14:30:45 in message
    <TqednZX1xv5siD7eRVn…@giganews.com>, Darkwing
    <theducksmail@?.com.invalid> wrote:

    >"Jose" <teache…@aol.nojunk.com> wrote in message
    >news:AZDof.647$iv.519@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com…
    >>> BTW: In case anyone has any fantacies of
    >>> being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    >>> land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    >> So, how =do= you do an autoland?

    Quickly:
    Arm the spoilers
    Set the auto brake as desired
    Check the PFD shows the correct ILS frequency and ident.
    Select ‘approach’ when flying to intercept the localiser
    Check that all three ( for a 747-400) autopilots have engaged
    Check that Localiser and Glide slope are armed.

    Get the flaps and speed correct using autothrust.
    Monitor the engagement of Localiser and Glide slope
    Monitor the approach.

    That’s pretty much it.
    [Snip]

    >Yes and can it be preformed on MS FS9?

    Yes especially using the new PMDG 747-400 Queen of the skies. All the
    actions above (and more) work. This is very comprehensive model of the
    747-400.

    David CL Francis

  23. admin says:

    On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 at 09:29:40 in message
    <1134754180.760345.56…@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, Robert M. Gary

    <r…@my-deja.com> wrote:
    >Sounds like an ‘autoland’. In the U.S. pilots are required to perform a
    >certain number of ‘autolands’ in order to remain current and be able to
    >land in conditions less than standard ILS CAT I minimums (i.e. landing
    >in fog). The plane is not designed to autoland itself smoothly, it is
    >designed to touch down within a specific spot on the runway and come to
    >a complete stop quickly. The software programmers were not very
    >interested in being smooth. BTW: In case anyone has any fantacies of
    >being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    >land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    I have been in an aircraft where after landing the pilot announced that
    it had been a fully automatic landing. It was a smooth as you get – I
    have felt much harder manual landings.

     From my, admittedly limited, knowledge I would not agree that an
    automatic landing is difficult. As long as the approach is properly set
    up and nothing goes wrong there is nothing to do except _perhaps_ retard
    the throttles and apply reverse thrust. Aircraft with modern systems
    apply and remove any crab automatically and lower one wing slightly for
    cross winds. They also do quite a nice positive flare.

    David CL Francis

  24. admin says:

    In article <vCqUOcEeDxpDF…@dclf.demon.co.uk>, no.spam.1E242
    @nospam.demon.co.uk says…

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    > On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 at 14:30:45 in message
    > <TqednZX1xv5siD7eRVn…@giganews.com>, Darkwing
    > <theducksmail@?.com.invalid> wrote:

    > >"Jose" <teache…@aol.nojunk.com> wrote in message
    > >news:AZDof.647$iv.519@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com…
    > >>> BTW: In case anyone has any fantacies of
    > >>> being able to land a 777 by pushing an ‘autoland button’, an ‘auto
    > >>> land’ is actually much more difficult than just hand flying.

    > >> So, how =do= you do an autoland?

    > Quickly:
    > Arm the spoilers
    > Set the auto brake as desired
    > Check the PFD shows the correct ILS frequency and ident.
    > Select ‘approach’ when flying to intercept the localiser
    > Check that all three ( for a 747-400) autopilots have engaged
    > Check that Localiser and Glide slope are armed.

    > Get the flaps and speed correct using autothrust.
    > Monitor the engagement of Localiser and Glide slope
    > Monitor the approach.

    > That’s pretty much it.
    > [Snip]

    David, is it true that all widebody a/c are autolanded (in gen)?


    Duncan

Place your comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.