[NSRCA-discussion] 747 Snap Entry?

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

John Konneker wrote:

> Whoever was in the cockpit...first officer or captain...pulled the 
> circuit breaker so that he could do whatever he
> did with the flaps or slats. 

That makes sense and corresponds to the quotation I just sent
in another e-mail.

The point of turning the circuit breakers off was to allow
a slight extension of the flaps without dropping the slats.

> When the other returned to cockpit he saw 
> the breaker out and pushed it in.
> That's when whatever happened happened...

Slats dropped.

There was buffeting.

The crew tried to retract the slats & flaps.

The #7 slat didn't retract.

Things went from bad to worse after that.

> ... plane went way beyond 
> Vne...blew the leading edge devices off. 

Just the #7 slat.

> Terrorized
> the passengers in the cabin...did a big split S or similar before 
> control was regained.

Two 360 degree rolls in a spiral dive.

> The story goes on  that the cockpit crew erased the cockpit recorder so 
> nobody really ever knew what happened.

There were only 9 minutes of sound on the CVR--all from while
taxiing after landing.  There was a button that would allow
bulk erasure of the CVR tape in the cockpit.

> That's the version I heard anyway as told to me by Tom Street at the 
> Mesquite, Texas contest way back in like '83.

					Marty