Flight with disabled controls: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:18, 10 July 2024

Revision as of 08:31, 10 July 2024

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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}

{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}

Several [[List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners|aviation incidents and accidents]] have occurred in which the [[Flight control surfaces|control surfaces]] of an aircraft became disabled, often due to failure of [[hydraulic system]]s or the [[aircraft flight control system|flight control system]]. Other incidents have occurred where controls were not functioning correctly prior to take-off, either due to maintenance or pilot error, and controls can become inoperative from [[extreme weather]] conditions. Aircraft are not designed to be flown in such circumstances; however, a small number of pilots have had some success in flying and landing aircraft with disabled controls.

Throughout a normal flight, a pilot controls an aircraft through the use of [[Flight control surfaces|flight controls]] including maintaining straight and level flight, as well as turns, climbing, and descending. Some controls, such as a [[Yoke_(aeronautics)|"yoke"]] or "stick" move and adjust the [[Flight control surfaces|control surfaces]] which affects the aircraft's attitude in the three axes of pitch, roll, and yaw. Other controls include those for adjusting wing characteristics (flaps, slats, spoilers) and those that control the power or thrust of the propulsion systems. The loss of primary control systems in any phase of flight is an emergency. Aircraft are not designed to be flown under such circumstances; however, some pilots faced with such an emergency have had limited success flying and landing aircraft with disabled controls.

Control system failures resulting in disabled controls have resulted in a number of [[List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners|aviation incidents and accidents]]. Some incidents occurred where controls were not functioning correctly prior to take-off, others where the failure developed during flight. A loss of control can occur when an unrelated failure, such as an engine failure, causes damage to control related systems. For instances, in several incidents an engine broke apart, causing the failure of main and redundant [[hydraulic system]]s, which disabled all control surfaces. Some or all controls can become inoperative from [[extreme weather]] conditions, due to collisions, due to poor maintenance or mistakes made by maintenance workers, as a result of pilot error, due to failures of the [[aircraft flight control system|flight control system]], or due to design or manufacturing flaws.

==Control techniques==

===Normal flight===

In [[Aircraft_flight_dynamics|normal flight]], maneuvering an aircraft requires some combination of controls, which are often interactive in their effect.

* For instance, to climb to a higher altitude, the pilot can increase thrust which will cause the aircraft to climb while maintaining airspeed.

** Alternately, the pilot may climb by pitching the aircraft up, though in this case airspeed decreases.

* Normally to make a turn, the pilot banks left or right by adjusting the ailerons on the wings to increase lift on one wing, and decrease lift on the other. The asymmetric lift causes asymmetric drag, which causes the aircraft to yaw adversely. To correct the yaw, the pilot uses the [[Rudder#Aircraft_rudders|rudder]] to perform a coordinated turn.

** In a multi-engined aircraft, the loss of thrust in one engine can also cause adverse yaw, and here again the rudder is used to regain coordinated flight.

===Flight with disabled controls===

A basic means of controlling an aircraft with disabled flight controls is making use of the position of the engines. If the engines are mounted under the [[centre of gravity]], as in underwing passenger jets, then increasing the [[thrust]] will raise the nose while decreasing the thrust will lower it. This control method may call for control inputs that go against the [[Aviator|pilot's]] instinct: when the aircraft is in a dive, adding thrust will raise the nose and vice versa.

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==Accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft==

Incidents where disabled control systems were a the significant or primary cause of the accident.

===Controls damaged by engine failure===

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*[[Air Transat Flight 961]], an [[Airbus A310]], on 6 March 2005, catastrophic structural failure: the rudder detached from the aircraft with a loud bang and the aircraft began a [[dutch roll]]. The pilots regained enough control, albeit with difficulty on controlling the aircraft laterally, to land the aircraft safely at Varadero-Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport.<ref>[http://www.bst.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2005/a05f0047/a05f0047.pdf Flight 961 – Official accident report]. www.bst.gc.ca Retrieved: 1 June 2010</ref>

===ControlsControl hinderedfailures bydue to maintenance errorerrors===

* [[Air Astana Flight 1388]], an [[Embraer E-Jet family|Embraer ERJ-E190]], suffered severe control issues from an incorrectly installed aileron cables shortly after taking off from Alverca Air Base, [[Portugal]]. The flight crew struggled to control the plane for about 90 minutes. During that period, they lost control of their aircraft multiple times and figured out how to gain more control by activating direct mode for flight controls which disconnects the FCM (flight control module) from the controls, which greatly increased controllability of the pitch and yaw-[[Aircraft principal axes|axes]], but control of the roll axis was still limited. After 90 minutes and two unsuccessful landing attempts, the flight crew managed to land the plane at [[Beja Airport]]. Everyone aboard survived the incident, but one suffered a leg injury.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=ASN Aircraft accident Embraer ERJ-190LR (ERJ-190-100 LR) P4-KCJ Lisbon |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20181111-0 |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=aviation-safety.net}}</ref>

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*[[Eastern Air Lines Flight 853]], December 4, 1965: collision with [[TWA Flight 42]]. Flight 853, a [[Lockheed Super Constellation]], collided with Flight 42, a [[Boeing 707]], damaging the 707's wing and the Constellation's tail. The damage to Flight 853 left the Constellation controllable only by adjusting the throttles. Despite the damage, the crew was able to perform a crash landing on a mountain, with 50 of the 54 occupants surviving the crash. The captain survived the crash and escaped, but died trying to save a passenger who remained in the wreckage. The 707 made a successful emergency landing at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]].

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== Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft{{efn|Not including experimental flights}} ==

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*On 1 February 1943, the ''[[All American (aircraft)|All American]]'' [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17F]] was in formation with other bombers of the [[414th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron|414th Bombardment Squadron]] to return to their base near [[Biskra]], [[Algeria]] when two [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]s attacked the lead bomber and the ''All American.'' The first was downed by the bombers but the second continued its attack while flying towards the ''All American'' until its pilot was shot dead by machine gun fire and collided with the ''All American'', making the bomber have its left [[horizontal stabilizer]] sheared off and leaving a huge hole at the tail section. The only thing holding the B-17F together is the metal frame connecting the tail section and the rear gunner.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-07 |title=Commentary - A new perspective on a challenging day at work |url=http://www.charleston.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123438088 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807134932/http://www.charleston.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123438088 |archive-date=2016-08-07 |access-date=2022-09-01 }}</ref><ref name="Leone">{{Cite web |last=Leone |first=Dario |date=2017-11-09 |title=THE STORY OF "ALL AMERICAN", THE B-17 THAT MADE IT HOME AFTER HAVING BEEN SLICED BY THE WING OF AN Me 109 |url=https://theaviationgeekclub.com/story-american-b-17-made-home-sliced-wing-109/ |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=The Aviation Geek Club |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=WarbirdsNews |date=2013-06-27 |title=WWII's B-17 "All American" Separating Fact and Fiction |url=https://warbirdsnews.com/warbird-articles/wwiis-b-17-all-american-separating-fact-fiction.html |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=Vintage Aviation News |language=en-US}}</ref> This caused the rudder, electricals, oxygens systems to be damaged, losing the tail wheel and having only one operating elevator cable when the other control cables were destroyed.<ref>{{Citation |title=B17 All American ~ (Rev. 2a) (720p HD) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OAPgo1iUvM |language=en |access-date=2022-09-01}}</ref> Despite the mid-air collision, none of the crew on board were injured and the B-17F still remained airborne. The other bombers slowed down to maintain formation with the ''All American'' to protect it from potential attacks from other [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]s, which never happened. The B-17F managed to land back at the base with the tail section dragging the landing strip.<ref name="Leone"/>

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==Accidents involving experimental flights==