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[OT] Tankslapper!
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...on an Airbus A320.
Coming back from Madrid yesterday, we'd just taken off and I was
already engrossed in a Terry Pratchet book.
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Oooh, which one?
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Err, Monstrous Regiment. I've had it on my pile of books to read for
the last couple of months and have just got round to picking it up. I
still have half a dozen other books (not TP) to read too.
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Hmmm, didn't rank it as one of his best, but imho he doesnt really write
bad ones. I'm going through Good Omens again, which for 3/4s of the
book rocks, then falls over horribly at the end.
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I'd have to agree, if anyone hasn't read this book then you definitely
should. Heh... greenest and most scared pot plants in all of London...
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We must have been only a few hundred feet off the ground, when the
'plane started to, well, have a tankslapper. It's the only way I can
think of describing it.
After what seemed like an extremely long time (in reality, probably
only around 5 seconds) the Pilot got the 'plane under control after
bouncing the craft left and right. Fair put the wind up me, it did. And
the rest of the passengers.
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Did he favour you all with an explanation for it?
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Wind shear possibly.
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Yes, that was my thought but I was wondering whether the pilot bothered to
speak to his cargo. Air France? Iberia? er ... Cubana/Aeroflot/Air
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'twas Air France. And no, the Pilot didn't explain what had happened.
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He probably did, but you didn't understand it.
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You are TOG, AICMFF SOB's.
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I'm half tempted to write to AF to ask for an explanation as to why.
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I'd go more than half.
There's a fair chance it was some sort of residual vortices from the last
aircraft up or down but it ain't the only cause.
Pester AF the least you're likley to get is an expalnation. Then again
you might get lucky and get a complimentary something or other.
Near misses with other aircraft are reportable incidents. I think - but
wouldn't swear - this sort of episode is too. If you start digging with
CAA (tho I doubt they've any writ in this instance) you might find out
more about what and how such reports work.
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I'll probably do that, y'know. Just for info like.
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Would something like that have to be reported? I know it wasn't an air
accident, but it was a significant event. Well it was for me...
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Zimbabwe?
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Or being too close to the one in front. Been there, done that.
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Unlikely, as I don't think Madrid is a busy airport. Nothing like Paris
or Heathrow.
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I had this happen going out of Zurich, which isn't exactly busy..... how
warm was it?
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Vortices from a preceeding take-off have been known to stick around
for a considerable time, with more than one crash being attributed to
them.
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It's the only the second time, in many years of flying, that I thought
that I may actually have bought it. I just hope that the law of
averages is still on my side.
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