I'm not sure the "retracted flaps instead of landing gear" theory holds up. Both pilots had thousands of hours of experience and it's not as if the controls are that similar or next to each other even.
The attached photo is of the 787 centre stack. The throttle control is in the middle, flaps to the right, landing gear to the left. As you can see, they both have very different, distinctive knobs/handles, plus the landing gear is a simple two position control, whilst the flats control is far more complicated. Blindfolded operating the two controls would feel very different, so even if the co-pilot somehow managed to grab the wrong one by mistake, there's no way you could confuse the two in operation.
That's the spoiler on the left... landing gear is on the centre panel, in fact you can see it in the distance through the throttle handles
I'm not sure the "retracted flaps instead of landing gear" theory holds up. Both pilots had thousands of hours of experience and it's not as if the controls are that similar or next to each other even.
The attached photo is of the 787 centre stack. The throttle control is in the middle, flaps to the right, landing gear to the left. As you can see, they both have very different, distinctive knobs/handles, plus the landing gear is a simple two position control, whilst the flats control is far more complicated. Blindfolded operating the two controls would feel very different, so even if the co-pilot somehow managed to grab the wrong one by mistake, there's no way you could confuse the two in operation.
That's the spoiler on the left... landing gear is on the centre panel, in fact you can see it in the distance through the throttle handles
So even less chance of accidentally retracting the flaps instead of the landing gear. I've not heard the audio myself, but if comments regarding the RAT are accurate then that would suggest some sort of power failure leading to a hydraulic failure which would explain the landing gear not retracting.
Honestly I'd ignore the whole speculation about flaps being raised early, it's nonsense. The fact the RAT was deployed and a mayday was called tells you there was a very severe issue with the aircraft. As for anything else, it's purely speculation and until the black boxes are found literally no one will know any answers and just keep speculating.
It's wrong to attempt to point fingers at anything or one right now
Am I the only one who doesn't know what RAT is...🤷♂️
I wouldn't expect most folk to know what one is to be honest, apologies to not explaining it properly earlier! Ram Air Turbine, basically in situations of engine loss a small wind powered generator is dropped into the airstream to provide electrical and hydraulic pressure to the aircraft. It's hard to see in the original video that's going around, but for engineers like myself.. we can absolutely hear it in the video because they're LOUD
This video gives you an idea of what it looks like in flight
I saw that, and whilst the guy was definitely on the same plane, and I don't doubt anything he says, everything he describes isn't necessarily an indication of an electrical fault.
The four main things he mentions are:
1) No aircon whilst on the ground 2) Lights not working 3) Call button not working 4) Entertainment UI non-reactive whilst on the ground
1) The air con runs either of the engines, the APU (auxiliary power unit, usually in the tail cone) or GPU (ground power unit). Obviously the engines are running up until just before taxi, so whilst at the gate air con is either turned off or running off of one of the other two power sources. APU costs fuel, and there may be regulations against it as the airport due to noise, whilst the airport charge for GPU. Therefore lack of air con is more likely to be a cost saving measure by the airline than an electrical fault
2/3) Access to these can be controlled by the flight crew from their position on modern jets, so may well be disabled during boarding/taxi, and it's possible never re-enabled on the portion of the flight the guy was talking about.
4) Again, UI access is often disabled during boarding/taxi, blank screens would be more indicative of an electrical fault I would have thought.
With subsequent events we're never going to know if there were any genuine electric faults, or just operational choices made that are inconvenient/undesirable to passengers
Yes, terrible news. I was running over Beckenham Place Park this morning and kept hearing the planes on their descent to Gatwick. It really brought it home. So sad. All those lives, young and old, wiped out.
Comments
It's wrong to attempt to point fingers at anything or one right now
Lighten up.
I wouldn't expect most folk to know what one is to be honest, apologies to not explaining it properly earlier! Ram Air Turbine, basically in situations of engine loss a small wind powered generator is dropped into the airstream to provide electrical and hydraulic pressure to the aircraft. It's hard to see in the original video that's going around, but for engineers like myself.. we can absolutely hear it in the video because they're LOUD
This video gives you an idea of what it looks like in flight
Cant vouch for the source
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1906988670102340&id=100064838136629
The four main things he mentions are:
1) No aircon whilst on the ground
2) Lights not working
3) Call button not working
4) Entertainment UI non-reactive whilst on the ground
1) The air con runs either of the engines, the APU (auxiliary power unit, usually in the tail cone) or GPU (ground power unit). Obviously the engines are running up until just before taxi, so whilst at the gate air con is either turned off or running off of one of the other two power sources. APU costs fuel, and there may be regulations against it as the airport due to noise, whilst the airport charge for GPU. Therefore lack of air con is more likely to be a cost saving measure by the airline than an electrical fault
2/3) Access to these can be controlled by the flight crew from their position on modern jets, so may well be disabled during boarding/taxi, and it's possible never re-enabled on the portion of the flight the guy was talking about.
4) Again, UI access is often disabled during boarding/taxi, blank screens would be more indicative of an electrical fault I would have thought.
With subsequent events we're never going to know if there were any genuine electric faults, or just operational choices made that are inconvenient/undesirable to passengers