Post by Jenny Beatty
As I said only days ago, I rarely comment on airplane crashes.
Then I caught a snippet of a CNN news show with a short segment on the Jeju Air Flight 2216 accident within 24 hours of it happening. A live reporter mentioned the black boxes and got the Flight Data Recorder part right. In his summary, however, he mentioned it and “the video recorder.”.
Perhaps he misspoke, a brain fade in the moment of a live on-the-scene report, and meant to say “Cockpit Voice Recorder.” But he led viewers to believe there might be actual cockpit videos, but I don’t think those exist.
It’s true that a few non-U.S. airlines have small video cameras mounted on the flight deck and release videos to the internet for entertainment purposes. Those reels of landings, seen from the pilots’ perspective, are fun to watch! But such cockpit video set-ups are disallowed in the U.S. and uncommon elsewhere — and are unlikely to meet the standards for data preservation in case of an accident.
The Facts
Another popular misconception is that you can listen to an accident aircraft’s Cockpit Voice Recorder tapes. The fact of the matter is, you won’t hear those tapes. What’s widely available online are recordings of pilots and air traffic controllers communicating on ATC radio frequencies, such as from LiveATC. However, the Cockpit Voice Recorder tapes, actual recordings of the pilots' sounds and conversations on the flight deck of an accident aircraft, are never supposed to be released to the public.
Rather, a written transcript of these recordings will be released eventually. Only a few select people are authorized to listen to the actual recordings: Accident investigators, the pilots themselves, and family members of people who perished in the accident. Accident investigators have told me — you do NOT want to hear these recordings. What you hear will haunt you for a long time, perhaps forever.
These misunderstandings are part of what prompted me to sit down and write.
Here’s what I say today:
– U.S. passenger airlines have had 0 (zero) passenger fatalities in the last five years, with the most recent fatalities being in 2019 (1 fatality), 2018 (1), 2009 (50), and 2006 (49).
– Passengers: During taxi, takeoff, and landing, stay alert and keep your shoes and eyeglasses on. Listen to flight attendant briefings, locate the nearest exit and an alternate, and buckle up tight. If there’s an emergency evacuation of the cabin, leave your belongings behind! And if you’re seated in an emergency exit row, ONLY open that exit for an emergency that requires everyone to get out quickly, such as a fire in the cabin. Listen to the flight attendants!
– Airline accident investigations are helped by the “black boxes,” which are actually bright orange and built to withstand impact, fire, and water. The Flight Data Recorder shows the position of flaps, gear, engine power, altitude, airspeed, and 3000 other parameters. The Cockpit Voice Recorder has separate channels to record pilot conversations and sounds on the flight deck, as well as all communications on the radio frequencies in use, including air traffic control and company. Both are running continuously to collect data.
– Accident investigators WILL find out what happened. They will make information available in a preliminary report within a week; the full investigation and final report can take a year or more. Factual information is more useful to us, especially to us pilots, than speculation.
My heart goes out to the grieving families and friends who lost loved ones.
Jenny Beatty is a Boeing 737-800/Max captain for a major US airline.
I’m amazed at people wearing sandals and flip-flops getting on the plane. Try getting off the plane in a fire!
Thank you Captain for these words of wisdom. I worked for an airline for 25 years in maintenance and engineering. I was involved with Alaska F261 investigation almost 25 years ago, then worked for Boeing during the MAX accidents. Haunting is saying it lightly, more like PTSD.
Like you I never speculate on these accidents and wait for the investigation reports.
I grow tired from the ridiculous press corps who are clueless about these accidents and then supposedly get ‘expert’ on camera to provide gobbledygook opinions. blaming Boeing for JeJu is extremely ridiculous.
I’ve been flying for almost 50 years and to this day I pay attention to the flight attendant safety briefing. People don’t understand their value to safety!
Finally, why we allow all these people with wheelchair and extremely obese on board is concerning. Think about it when you have to get off that jet in an emergency and they are endangering themselves and the people around them to get out. Babies not in car seats is another.. something to think about.
Look how disciplined those Japanese passengers were on the A350 a year ago evacuating a burning plane. I don’t think this could happen in the US.
Good point Stephen. And think about those folks who simply must take their carry-ons with them during an emergency.
I can just imagine the hailstorm we’d bring down on anyone who even mentioned these two most delicate subjects. I must admit I’ve always wondered about these potential problems when I watch people board or deplane. We’re so focused on accessibility that I think we sometimes forget the evacuation tests are conducted using able-bodied men and women. Then of course the airlines would start up with complaints that someone was trying to over-regulate some other aspect of flying.