Aging ship + poor maintenance = ...

[Tanuki]

I saw this and immediately thought of all those decades/centuries old bargain starships so many Traveller players start out with. Apparently there are a number of old russian cargo planes out there doing the kind of stuff DC3s used to do -- ala "Romancing the Stone" and "Miracles". Wonder if there are still any DC3s flying?

Anyway:

"KINSHASA, Congo, May 9 ? Scores of passengers aboard a Russian-built cargo plane flying across Congo were feared dead after they were sucked out of the aircraft when the rear door burst open in mid-flight, officials said Friday."

More at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/911372.asp

 

[Shadow Bear]

Originally posted by Tanuki:
Wonder if there are still any DC3s flying?

Yes! We have two of them flying tours to Mt. McKinnley and the Keni Penisula.

The crew dress in 40's uniforms and every effort is made to taken the passeger back to the 40's. They fly out of Anchorage Interntional Airport.

 

[PVernon]

IIRC there were like 5,000 DC3s built and there are my be 1000 still flying world wide. There is quite an industry rebuilding them, as they are very profitable in out of the way passanger and cargo runs.

 

[Tanuki]

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Ilyushin 76. The article has this to say about them:

"The four-engine Ilyushin 76 is a versatile transport aircraft widely used in Africa, the Middle East, India and China.
     "It entered service in the 1970s as a heavy lifter with the Soviet armed forces and a freighter with the Soviet airline Aeroflot and proved an invaluable workhorse in both roles.
     "In the 1980s, the plane flew numerous air supply missions into Soviet bases at Kabul and Bagram during the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, hauling armor, troops and supplies. More recently it has seen action in Chechnya."

Anyone know any more about this aircraft? What dtonnage would it be? For that matter, how many dtons would a DC3 be?

 

[campbell]

DC3SPECS +HISTORY http://www.douglasdc3.com/dc3specs/dc3specs.htm


ILYUSHIN 76 SPECS

http://www.skylineaviation.co.uk/Sukhoi/IL76.html

 

[vutpakdi]

The old plane and poor maintenance problems happen here in the US too. The Hawaiian (or was it Aloha Airlines?) 737 whose roof peeled back in flight and the Alaskan Airlines DC-9 that went down a few years back come to mind.

On the other hand, you get decades old flying machines that are reasonably well maintained and do okay: most of the US's warplanes are at least a decade old at this point. The best examples in the US Air Force are the B-52's.

Ron

 

[ninthcouncil]

A very unpleasant incident.

Just try not to think about what happens if the cargo doors blow out on your poorly maintained 45 year-old Far Trader 2 days into Jump....

 

[Tanuki]

Originally posted by ninthcouncil:
A very unpleasant incident.

Just try not to think about what happens if the cargo doors blow out on your poorly maintained 45 year-old Far Trader 2 days into Jump....

Or one of the bridge windows for that matter.

High passage, three days into jump, the steward hasn't been seen all day and no one responds when you try to contact the medic because that idiot in cabin two who thinks he's a chef cut off a finger while making lunch.

What do you do now?

 

[ninthcouncil]

Originally posted by Tanuki:
Or one of the bridge windows for that matter.

There was an extraordinary incident a few years ago when a cockpit window blew out of a commercial flight approaching a UK airport (can't remember the airline, but it was British and I think the airport was Manchester); a crewmember was pulled halfway out before someone grabbed him and spent the rest of the approach hanging partially out of the aircraft, with the flight engineer and a stewardess clinging onto his legs....

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by Ron Vutpakdi:
"The old plane and poor maintenance problems happen here in the US too. The Hawaiian (or was it Aloha Airlines?) 737 whose roof peeled back in flight and the Alaskan Airlines DC-9 that went down a few years back come to mind."


Mr. Vutpakdi,

I'll buy the 'old plane' part of that statement but not the entire 'poor maintenance' portion. There's a great difference between not knowing that 737s with so X-amount of airtime should have their cabins inspected earlier and more often than originally thought and simply not doing the required inspections and maintenance. The same thing occurred with the Alaskan Airlines DC-9 tailscrew; it was learned that a bore-scope inspection of the screw wasn't enough to catch certain kinds of wear and that a more complete physical inspection was required.

The Aloha Airlines and Alaskan Airlines planes had both been maintained in what was then believed to be a proper and safe manner. Those maintenance procedures were changed after the incidents proved they were not rigorous enough. Having worked and travelled in the 3rd World for some time, I'll lay you a dollar to a doughnut hole that the Congolese Ilyushin(?) hadn't seen any real; i.e. Western, maintenance in years.

There's a reason why 3rd World bus crashes kill hundreds and ferry sinkings kill thousands; proper maintenance and the skills to perform it do not come cheap and the only thing to be had cheaply in the 3rd World is human life.

"On the other hand, you get decades old flying machines that are reasonably well maintained and do okay: most of the US's warplanes are at least a decade old at this point. The best examples in the US Air Force are the B-52's."

Precisely. If you can afford to maintain it, an aircraft (or starship) can last a good long while. Fail to maintain it properly and watch the accident rate spiral upward. Also, you can do everything right and still have an unforeseen problem drop your ship out of orbit. IIRC, there was an old JTAS adventure that revolved around the fact that the plastics used in the cushion on a pilot's seat gave of poisonous fumes when burned. (Something that the FAA has known about for years, most passengers in crashes die of smoke inhalation and not blunt force trauma.)


Sincerely,
Larsen