Hawaiian Had Trim Problem, Diverted to SEA
12-28-2010, 08:06 PM
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Hawaiian Had Trim Problem, Diverted to SEA
What on God's green earth could this problem mean? I found the readers' comments quite interesting. Someone from Olive Branch posted something intelligent and useful, although I still don't know what he/she means.
From Associated Press:
A Hawaiian Airlines flight diverted to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday morning and landed without incident, a Sea-Tac spokesman said.
The Boeing 767 was on a flight from Maui to Portland, Oregon, when the flight crew received a warning of a possible aircraft trim problem, said spokesman Perry Cooper. Procedures call for the plane to divert to the nearest airport, which was Sea-Tac.
Cooper says the plane landed at about 11:10 a.m. and went to an airport gate. He says workers are checking the plane out and will determine whether it can fly on to Portland.
Travel | Hawaiian flight to Portland diverts to Seattle | Seattle Times Newspaper
A Hawaiian Airlines flight diverted to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Tuesday morning and landed without incident, a Sea-Tac spokesman said.
The Boeing 767 was on a flight from Maui to Portland, Oregon, when the flight crew received a warning of a possible aircraft trim problem, said spokesman Perry Cooper. Procedures call for the plane to divert to the nearest airport, which was Sea-Tac.
Cooper says the plane landed at about 11:10 a.m. and went to an airport gate. He says workers are checking the plane out and will determine whether it can fly on to Portland.
Travel | Hawaiian flight to Portland diverts to Seattle | Seattle Times Newspaper
12-28-2010, 08:16 PM
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Trim uses any of several possible mechanisms to "fine tune" the flight controls. When the pilots are hand flying, it balances the control loads so the pilot does not have to hold constant pressure on the yoke or rudders.
Most trim problems are nuisance items, but in some cases the trim is used by the auto pilot to help control the aircraft. Most trim mechanisms are not crucial to flight safety, but the pitch trim can have serious consequences if it fails in a certain manner on some airplanes (Alaska 261).
The fact that they diverted may mean the crew felt it was significant, or maybe their procedures simply required the divert.
It might also have been something like yaw damper failure which was mis-reported as trim.
Most trim problems are nuisance items, but in some cases the trim is used by the auto pilot to help control the aircraft. Most trim mechanisms are not crucial to flight safety, but the pitch trim can have serious consequences if it fails in a certain manner on some airplanes (Alaska 261).
The fact that they diverted may mean the crew felt it was significant, or maybe their procedures simply required the divert.
It might also have been something like yaw damper failure which was mis-reported as trim.
12-29-2010, 10:13 AM
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Routing Distance?
rickair7777 wrote:
I am especially confused because they were enroute from Hawaii to PDX, and diverted to SEA, which, by straight-line distances, is further away.
Is there any reason for a routing which would've made Seattle the closer airport?
The fact that they diverted may mean the crew felt it was significant, or maybe their procedures simply required the divert.
Is there any reason for a routing which would've made Seattle the closer airport?
12-29-2010, 10:29 AM
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Originally Posted by abelenky
rickair7777 wrote:
I am especially confused because they were enroute from Hawaii to PDX, and diverted to SEA, which, by straight-line distances, is further away.
Is there any reason for a routing which would've made Seattle the closer airport?
I am especially confused because they were enroute from Hawaii to PDX, and diverted to SEA, which, by straight-line distances, is further away.
Is there any reason for a routing which would've made Seattle the closer airport?
Just guesses.....................
12-29-2010, 10:34 AM
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Airlines fly specific tracks crossing the pacific not just point to point. SEA may have been closer in time, or had better weather or maintenance/parts available. Not sure what happened here, possibly just a warning on the eicas screen though it is certainly safer to be on the ground than to fly 2500+ miles over open ocean.
12-29-2010, 03:56 PM
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Alpha 331 is the most northern route from Hawaii to the mainland and ends a bit south of the mouth of the Columbia. They could have been on a random route north of that for the winds. Or the line about diverting to the nearest airport could just be babbling.
12-30-2010, 09:57 AM
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I'm pretty sure the verbage in the checklist is "Nearest SUITABLE Airport". That day the weather was much better in SEA than in PDX. If I had a trim problem I'd go to an airport with the higher ceiling if the distance difference was negligable.
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