Interesting experience
02-15-2010, 03:06 PM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2008
Posts: 193
So you’re shocked that the CA didn’t want to talk to a jump seater about a possible anomaly? What do you think he should say?…” Dude, I was asleep with my lap top out, Thank God I had the radios up loud enough for ATC to wake me up.”
02-15-2010, 05:11 PM
#13
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2007
Position: Legacy FO
Posts: 4,105
This may or may not sound out of the ordinary to anyone else but it did stand out as an interesting experience for me today.
I was headed back home (as a non-rev) on a 757 and we just started our descent and probably leveled off somewhere around FL250. I know we were coming up over the northside of JFK at the time we leveled off. I wasn't really paying attention but when I think back to it this was our approximate position.
Anyhow I was up in 1st class with a window seat and I was working on my computer when I started to feel something wasn't quite right and noticed an odd view of the horizon out of the side of my eye. At the time I was listening to music so sound wasn't really something I noticed. When I looked outside I noticed we were climbing now but at a very steep angle. I just wondered a little why we had started to climb again after having started our arrival. No biggie, just never noticed it before. So now that my music has ended I also noticed that the engines are at Idle and we are climbing. Ok, just a little bit out of the norm. This whole time I'm just looking out the window noticing that we have gotten quite a bit slower on the ground speed. Just an over all weird feeling. Sort of like during a power off stall. Finally the engines spooled up rapidly and the nose came over hard with a gradual decent followed by a level off with the engines still at a high power setting while level for a bit. It even got squirly kind of like when you recover from a stall. It was quite clear out so this was easy to precieve. I wouldn't consider myself an alarmist and I used to do areobatic instruction so I don't get worked up too easy but this really felt unusual. My first thought was that we had either stalled (which I know is HIGHLY unlikely) or we had a control or FMC malfunction.
I'm not sure how aggressive the autopilot is on the 757 but this sure felt like it was done manually. And to be quite honest it almost felt like something the pusher would do (which I'm also sure is HIGHLY unlikely). I know that sounds like a poor assumption but I go back and forth on this flight all too much and have never noticed anything like that. The flight was smooth with very little turbulence.
About 3-4 minutes after this all occured the crew came on for an arrival PA. Who ever was giving the PA sounded very bothered by something. He was sort of stubling over his words. He mentioned that we just hit some odd kind of turbulence and turned on the seatbelt light. The guy next to me had commented on how he (the pilot) didn't sound very happy about something.
After we landed I was waiting for everyone to get off and the flight attendant started talking to me. She asked if I had noticed the "unusual attidude" of the aircraft followed by the "roller coaster" feeling. I told her I had no clue what it was and we talked for a little longer. I was going to ask the crew about it but noticed the cockpit door was still shut. It had been closed for a few minutes after eveyone had gotten off.
Finally when they did come out and I was getting my stuff ready to go I asked the CA about it. I pretty much just got a weird vibe and he ignored me. In no way did I approach him or ask him while anyone was around. They knew I was a pilot.
All I can say is that it was a little un-nerving to be strapped to a large peice of metal that started pitching up to that degree and no power increase. But hey, we survived.
The End.
Anyone have any input?
I was headed back home (as a non-rev) on a 757 and we just started our descent and probably leveled off somewhere around FL250. I know we were coming up over the northside of JFK at the time we leveled off. I wasn't really paying attention but when I think back to it this was our approximate position.
Anyhow I was up in 1st class with a window seat and I was working on my computer when I started to feel something wasn't quite right and noticed an odd view of the horizon out of the side of my eye. At the time I was listening to music so sound wasn't really something I noticed. When I looked outside I noticed we were climbing now but at a very steep angle. I just wondered a little why we had started to climb again after having started our arrival. No biggie, just never noticed it before. So now that my music has ended I also noticed that the engines are at Idle and we are climbing. Ok, just a little bit out of the norm. This whole time I'm just looking out the window noticing that we have gotten quite a bit slower on the ground speed. Just an over all weird feeling. Sort of like during a power off stall. Finally the engines spooled up rapidly and the nose came over hard with a gradual decent followed by a level off with the engines still at a high power setting while level for a bit. It even got squirly kind of like when you recover from a stall. It was quite clear out so this was easy to precieve. I wouldn't consider myself an alarmist and I used to do areobatic instruction so I don't get worked up too easy but this really felt unusual. My first thought was that we had either stalled (which I know is HIGHLY unlikely) or we had a control or FMC malfunction.
I'm not sure how aggressive the autopilot is on the 757 but this sure felt like it was done manually. And to be quite honest it almost felt like something the pusher would do (which I'm also sure is HIGHLY unlikely). I know that sounds like a poor assumption but I go back and forth on this flight all too much and have never noticed anything like that. The flight was smooth with very little turbulence.
About 3-4 minutes after this all occured the crew came on for an arrival PA. Who ever was giving the PA sounded very bothered by something. He was sort of stubling over his words. He mentioned that we just hit some odd kind of turbulence and turned on the seatbelt light. The guy next to me had commented on how he (the pilot) didn't sound very happy about something.
After we landed I was waiting for everyone to get off and the flight attendant started talking to me. She asked if I had noticed the "unusual attidude" of the aircraft followed by the "roller coaster" feeling. I told her I had no clue what it was and we talked for a little longer. I was going to ask the crew about it but noticed the cockpit door was still shut. It had been closed for a few minutes after eveyone had gotten off.
Finally when they did come out and I was getting my stuff ready to go I asked the CA about it. I pretty much just got a weird vibe and he ignored me. In no way did I approach him or ask him while anyone was around. They knew I was a pilot.
All I can say is that it was a little un-nerving to be strapped to a large peice of metal that started pitching up to that degree and no power increase. But hey, we survived
.The End.
Anyone have any input?
When we would do the stall demos in the DC-10 simulator, as you approach the stall, you felt a very small tingling in the wings ... we referred to it as the ants. Next came the dogs and cats jumping around out there. Soon, the stick shaker was firing and you had what felt like elephants jumping around on the wings ... damn near rattling your teeth out. Of course, this can be apples to oranges in the 757.
My guess, you probably hit a pretty strong substantial updraft. It happened to me once. We were descending in speed hold mode, idle power at about 4000 FPM descent. Suddenly, we impacted a really strong gust, knocked both ATS and AP off, and the aircraft was suddenly in a 2000 FPM climb. Scared the you know what out of us because it was in fairly clean and clear air.
My two cents...
02-15-2010, 08:47 PM
#14
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Apr 2007
Position: A320
Posts: 1,316
Well, thanks to everyone for adding to this thread with professionalism. Except this guy^( guess I offended you). Your technical contributions are very much appreciated. For the record, my faith in the crew was NEVER in doubt but I guess that was somehow misinterpreted. Ironically some may have gotten a little bit of cyber-disorientation while trying to make sense of what I was attempting to portray. Gotta expect it though on APC. Still..........this thread is has been a lot more professional than if it were listed in the regional side. It wouldn't have made it past 4-5 replies before someone started bashing it and turned it into a "my airline is better than yours" thread.
I can say I learned a few things from some of the replies and once again I thank you.
02-15-2010, 08:50 PM
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Apr 2007
Position: A320
Posts: 1,316
There is no stick pusher on the 757. Like others suggested, maybe it was in response to a RA. The autopilot and autothrottles can be aggressive on that airplane if rapid airspeed changes occur in a short time frame. On a positive note, at least you didn't spend big bucks for the ride.
Did I really come across as if I was complaining about the ride? Like always, it was fully appreciated.
02-16-2010, 10:13 AM
#16
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2007
Position: A320 captain
Posts: 209
Sounds like the response to an RA or some weird turbulence to me. But one simply cannot know from the cabin. Jumpseating is a professional courtesy and we should all be gracious when we catch a ride to or from work.
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