Last Thursday, 22 April was notable for the fact that after the long disruption caused by the volcanic cloud over Europe, traffic was finally getting back to normal.
Brussels Airlines flight SN2901 Brussels-Vienna was still at the gate shortly before 0710a, its schedules departure time, with both the aircraft door and the cockpit door still wide open. Especially this latter is usually bad news and bodes ill for an on time departure. Then a pilot, complete with his flight bag, scrambled up the outside steps of the air bridge and scampered into the cockpit, closing the door behind him. Shortly thereafter we pushed back and taxied toward the runway at a brisk clip.
I have this thing about being an interested passenger… I always check whether I actually have the life preserver “in a pouch under my seat” as promised (was missing only once) and I always listen to the reassuring thump of the wheel coming down on final, mentally ticking off my own checklist as it were.
The 737’s electrically operated flap system produces a peculiar sound when it is operating, the characteristic whine of electric motors moving something via high gearing. This morning, as we taxied nearer and nearer the runway, this sound was completely missing! From the speed at which we turned onto the runway it was clear that the pilots were planning to make a rolling take-off and indeed, once aligned with the runway centerline, power was applied and we started rolling down Brussels’s runway 25L… with the flaps and slats still fully retracted!
This was the kind of situation one always prepares for but when it is actually occures, it is at first hard to believe it is actually happening and it is happening to you. Then all of a sudden, the electric whine was heard and the flaps started to come out. By that time it was also clear that the engines were running at a performance setting way below take-off power and indeed, at a taxiway near the end of the runway we turned off and started rolling back towards the threshold of 25.
The pilot announced that they had noticed a slight (!) irregularity during the take-off roll and aborted but have now checked everything and we were all right… yeh.
What does it take to forget extending the flaps? Improper use of the check-list? Being in a hurry? It has happened before of course. In 1987 a Northwest Airlines MD-82 crashed after take-off from Detroit Metro airport when the crew forgot to extend the flaps and the improper configuration warning light failed to notify them as it was burned out. The aircraft did get into the air but started rocking laterally and a wing hit a lamp-post and this was what brought them down.
I guess our 737 had all its warning systems operational and the pilots noticed the error in time. Lucky for us.
But a day later on the return flight I got another proof of apparent amnesia at our favorite local carrier. This was flight SN2908, Vienna-Brussels, departure Vienna 0835p. The actual aircraft assigned to the flight was a well known “enemy”. Not so long ago I suffered a trip from Madrid to Brussels in the same 737-400. The seat pitch is so ridiculously low that there is no way my legs can fit without bending the back of the seat in front of me forward. Last time a thoroughly upset Spanish gentleman made a huge fuss and he was eventually relocated to a seat row more suitable for humans. This particular 737 even has Chinese text in one of the no smoking signs and no doubt the seat pitch was also originally set up for people of shorter stature. Wanting to pre-empt a similar scene, I warned one of the flight attendants of the impending problem and asked her figure out something or face the consequences in row 17 seat C. She said she would talk to the purser and come back with a solution. I waited patiently… She did not do anything at all. Of course when I saw her counting the passengers and she had to do the exercise at least four times I should have realized that this girl was one of those with the nice smile but little brains and even less sensitivity to customers’ “problems”.
The thing is, why did she promise to do anything if she is such a bird-brain? Why not just say, Sir, you bought a cheap ticket so don’t expect the sky… stow your legs under the seat or in an overhead compartment. But most importantly, leave me alone!
Mind you, Brussels Airlines is not a bad airline to fly with. They take you to all the right places and the prices are usually reasonable.
But forgetting to extend the flaps and forgetting my perfectly reasonable request within the span of just two days is a bit too much!