cockpit voice recordings and tower transcripts

January 8, 2003 5:36 PM

"Tower, we're going down, this is PSA." These are the best sites I've found for cockpit voice recordings and air traffic control transcripts for airplane accidents." Feel that mother go"..the second link also has the transcript of the Challenger crew.
posted by JohnR (16 comments total)

Last line of the Challenger transcript: "Uhoh."

My heart is in my throat again.
posted by thebigpoop at 5:55 PM on January 8, 2003

I remember hearing the CVR for Delta 1141 a while back - talk about a major whince and groan factor...
My favorite (for lack of a better word) is Denny Dent dead-heading on the DC-10 into Sioux City, and pulling off the piloting of a lifetime to bring that pigtailing bird in with any survivors at all. That was a truly phenomonal piece of work.
My very least favorite (talk about a gut wrencher) is the Alaska Air 261. Every time I think about that crash it makes me sick to my stomache--every aspect of it just saddens me to no end.
I'll tell you one thing about these pilots, their confidence can be a right handful outside of the cockpit, but when the shit hits the fan - they're an awesome force to be reckoned with.
posted by Tiger_Lily at 6:35 PM on January 8, 2003

What "lovely" timing for this link. Especially for the folks on that airplane that crashed at the Charlotte airport this morning.

If memory serves there had been no airplane crash fatalities in the US for an entire year-but that ended today.
posted by konolia at 7:11 PM on January 8, 2003

If memory serves there had been no airplane crash fatalities in the US for an entire year-but that ended today.

Wellstone.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:28 PM on January 8, 2003

Sorry-I heard that on tv but they probably meant commercial airflights. That is what I meant but thanks for correcting me.
posted by konolia at 7:33 PM on January 8, 2003

I think what Konolia is thinking of is this report that there were no commercial plane deaths in 2002.

The Wellstones had a small private plane. Private planes had more than 500 fatal accidents in 2002.
posted by GaelFC at 7:35 PM on January 8, 2003

What thebigpoop said.

I don't ever recall hearing about that before.
posted by pmurray63 at 8:03 PM on January 8, 2003

Folks may also be interested in the National Transportation and Safety Board site for aviation accidents. I tend to read these and "Flying" magazine's monthly feature "Aftermath" (where accidents are dissected based on NTSB findings) pretty religiously.

If every industry and profession would publish honest appraisals of accidents and examples of bad decision-making, the world would be a better place. When I'm in one of my occasional cynical moods (heh), I can't help but feel humans are basically accidents waiting to happen.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 8:21 PM on January 8, 2003

Imagine what could be possible were automobile accidents treated with as much attention. Sheeeyit, there's never been a day when aircraft accidents killed more people than our highways.
no, nyc wasn't an accident
posted by five fresh fish at 9:10 PM on January 8, 2003

Here are the Alaska Air 261 recordings to which Tiger_Lily was referring.
posted by waldo at 9:21 PM on January 8, 2003

Agreed on the honest appraisals, not sure about publishing them.

The military aviation community has an interesting approach in which they conduct separate accident investigations and safety investigations. Information from the safety investigation is not made public or given to prosecutors; this encourages the people involved to tell the entire truth, even if it may reflect poorly on them or on others.

I remember that a proposed national database of medical errors fell through because hospitals wanted to be protected from liability for any information they submitted.

fff: we know what causes most automobile accidents. But we aren't prepared to raise the requirements for a driver's license, so we have little choice but to deal with the situation as it is.
posted by jaek at 10:17 PM on January 8, 2003

I remember that a proposed national database of medical errors fell through because hospitals wanted to be protected from liability for any information they submitted.

Such things are tracked by the respective professional organizations anyway, and are available to the general public upon request (or at least, this is the case in Ontario - the College of Nurses publishes all actions against members with all the details and resulting findings in its newsletter).
posted by biscotti at 10:25 PM on January 8, 2003

Just for the information of those not willing to listen to the sometimes horrifying cockpit voice recorders, the Delta 1141 that Tiger Lily mentions is particularly awful for two reasons: 1) The crew is casually talking to a flight attendant just 40 seconds before impact about their dating habits, "just in case we get in a crash or something"; 2) the particularly awful scream at the end. Don't listen to this CVR if you ever want peace of mind while flying again.

Of course, if you do happen to listen to it, you should follow it up by reading about United Flight 232, which may make you feel a bit better off. When one of the plane's engines failed it also took out all the hydraulics for the plane's steering and control. Yet with fantastic piloting they were able to control the plane simply by changing the remaining engine's power. They (crash) landed 45 minutes later after aligning themselves perfectly with the Sioux City airport runway -- unfortunately a wing clipped the ground and the plane burst into flames. Still, almost two thirds of the passengers survived.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 1:13 AM on January 9, 2003

Alaska Air 261. Every time I think about that crash...
zo. tell me. you spend a lot of time thinking about ze air crashes, yes?
posted by quonsar at 5:59 AM on January 9, 2003

I've been afraid to fly since two of my relatives died in a crash. I still fly, but it's serious white-knuckle time for me. Especially bad have been the times I've flown into and out of the very airport, the very runway, where the crash occurred. Ick.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:51 AM on January 9, 2003

" But we aren't prepared to raise the requirements for a driver's license..."

Speak for yourself, "we."

I would be *delighted* if the government were to make driver training mandatory, and driver testing mandatory before license renewal every few years. I'd be *happy* to pay for the tests, provided they were serious about putting bad drivers into remedial school.

I am very, very aware that traffic accidents are the greatest risk to my life and the lives of those I love. I'm happy with anything that makes them safer.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:39 PM on January 9, 2003