Tigerpilot1995

A few things;

It would not be suicidal to do this go-around...the guys are still walking. This is not your daddy's Cessna. Among the differences are where the props sit. Pretty well flying bird all in all. (I have around 4000 hours in it.)

It takes about 8 seconds to go from idle to full power. It does not take full power to go around.

I would be willing to bet that was not much drag at all. A C-Hair of metal touching pavement would make those sparks.

I am sure this was a well qualified crew that made a gut instinct, last second decision. It proved to be the right one. They knew how their aircraft was flying and made a decision based on the view out the window and the feeling in their butts and hands. My kudos to this crew. They did a wonderful job of saving the aircraft, crew and passengers.

I caution all that critics before you know the facts. I am sure you would appreciate the same if you were in their shoes.

Peace and Blue Skies.

rickair7777

The ERJ does not have props.

In many years of aviation I have never heard of a less-than-full-power go-around. Does your airline provide numbers for that?

Correct

It sounds like the problem was a technical glitch with the A/C systems, not crew error. They probably did nor know that they were scraping the pavement.

To restate what I said before, intentionally attempting a go-around following a gear-up landing is an absolutely horrible idea...you would become a test pilot in a damaged airplane. There have been fatalities caused by this in the past with prop planes (don't know of any other jet incidents).

Tigerpilot1995

I am going to be gentle with you because I get the impression you haven't been in this business very long.

The ERJ does have props...they are on the inside. My comment was in reference to your advice to not fly after a prop strike.

You are correct, policy says to do full power go arounds. Point is that the aircraft doesn't need it to do it. I promise you will have your hands full if you do a full power go around, pitch to 10 degrees, and then level off a thousand or 2 later. Situations my friend.

They didn't lay the darn aircraft totally on the pavement and then do the go around. Please refer to the pictures. You comments are completely irrelevant in this situation. They are professionals, as we must all be in this profession, and knew something wasn't right. They did what their gut told them to do and it worked out. That is what they are paid to do. I don't know about your airline but the couple I have worked for do not have a checklist for every possible scenerio. Sometimes good ol' fashioned piloting and experience must take over. Getting stuck in the FOM and CFM will get you killed.

hifly

Maybe the crew initiated a go-around and retracted the gear a little early.

cl601pilot

Several years ago a Channel Express did a go-around in a Lockheed Electra in Shannon, Ireland. They made it but the airplane was pretty much a write off.

Slice

That would classify as more than a little early. Doubtful.

FlyerJosh

I can think of several instances where I've initiated less than full power go arounds in transport aircraft.

In fact, most go around situations don't require full rated go around thrust. Particularly those from altitudes above DH/MDA.

The one time that I did have a crewmember set go around power in the CRJ (I was PNF), we blew through our altitude by several hundred feet (due to the resulting 3500 FPM climb). We only had about 500' to climb to missed approach altitude.

soon2bfo

In the ERJ the green box illuminates when the aircraft thinks that the gear are in the same position as the gear handle. The letters inside the box are completely separate from the green indication, and tell you if the gear are up or down giving a redundant check on the gear position. The air/ground system may have indicated that the aircraft was on the ground, so the gear system did not allow extension or retraction of the gear, and it may have also have silenced the warning horn. The nose gear door is the only true gear door on the ERJ and has a unique system, and the fact that it was open indicates that they did throw the handle. When you have an emergency gear extension part of the procedure is to push a switch forward to open the gear doors separately. They probably saw green boxes, and ignored the UP instead of DN letters in the box, especially if they were concerned with a hold short instruction, and initiated a go-around when the aircraft didn't touch down when they expected it to. I'm sure the new checklists will say "Green and DN letters observed" or some similar thing.

Swedish Blender

The B767 does not do a full power go around. Just enough to meet the 2000 fpm requirement. The Bus on the other hand goes full blow, but it is the Bus and it does blow.

flynavyj

agree w/ soon...lucky guys, close call, may be a controversial decision to have made, but it was theirs to make, all the lives are safe, they're counting their eggs, and can eat them tomorrow.

Cheers to the crew.