Pilot Averts Disaster On Accidental Takeoff

[20102m2]

I had not heard or seen this incident before and thought it would be of interest:

A retired RAF bomber pilot is being hailed a hero after a museum-owned Handley Page Victor, a Cold War nuclear bomber, took off accidentally during an air show in Bruntingthorpe, England in May. Video of the incident came to light this week. The Daily Mail is reporting that the bomber, which hasn't flown in 20 years, was supposed to taxi down the runway as a photo opportunity. For reasons that remain unclear, the unidentified volunteer right seater firewalled the throttles and within a few seconds the Victor was in its natural element. Bob Prothero, 70, a former squadron commander who last slipped the surly bonds in a Victor in the 1980s, was in the left seat and screamed for the engineer to cut the power but the next thing he knew he was back in the saddle again for the "most terrifying nine seconds of my life."

There was a brisk crosswind that day and on takeoff the 75-ton aircraft immediately drifted left, on course for a housing development. Prothero had to decide whether to attempt a go-around in an unmaintained aircraft or put it down. He headed for the grass at the end of the runway and brought it to a stop on the generous overrun, with occupants and aircraft apparently none the worse for wear. "Nobody could really believe what had happened," he told the Daily Mail. " There were people slapping me on the back and congratulating me on not crashing the thing and ruining the day.' Britain's Civil Aviation Authority has investigated and decided against charges.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh2YSzBdWFg

[Hedley]

the unidentified volunteer right seater firewalled the throttles and within a few seconds

something's a little fishy about all of this. Are the throttles
not accessible or even visible from the left seat?

P.S. I woulda gone around

[ScudRunner]

Nope think the Engineers controls them.

[Pratt X 3]

Another video with a different angle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3HaeYVlBw8

[B-rad]

the first 40 seconds of that video could go.

Looks like he accidentally rotated too...

[Siddley Hawker]

What's that big scary "ARMED" sign in the middle mean?

[Blakey]

Nope think the Engineers controls them.

The story says that the right seater firewalled the throttles. If he can reach them, so can the left seater! The RAF SOP was for the non-handling pilot to work the throttles.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet or everything a pilot tells you. Look at the video; notice the flap setting? That's take-off flap; not generally required for a taxi run.

I don't blame him for doing it but I don't believe his story either!

[swordfish]

Looks like he accidentally rotated too...

Accidentally applied full power, accidentally failed to retard full power on realization that full power had been accidentally applied, accidentally left full power applied for 15 seconds, accidentally had a flight engineer on board who knew what he was doing (wtf...???...over???), accidentally set flaps for take-off, accidentally released the brakes, accidentally was seated in the captain's seat, accidentally rotated, accidentally had enough fuel on board for a takeoff....

Sounds like the SOP was closely followed accidentally but forgot the "Before Take-Off check" .... accidentally, of course...

[cyxe]

If he can reach them, so can the left seater!

Are you sure? I mean, of course you would think so... But I've spent the last while googling around at photos and can't find a cockpit picture of that aircraft showing the throttles. Where are they? Do you seem them in that photo?

There are a number of stories about this on British web sites saying the Engineer "froze" during "high stress".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... stake.html

[ScudRunner]

I think the guy Sitting sideways operated the Throttles, its crewed with 5 unless the throttles are on the sides ?

[Hedley]

These guys may all have been closely related to the Queen
of England, and have last names decorated with hyphens,
but I still must question their choice of selecting takeoff flaps
for this supposed non-flying exercise.

[North Shore]

Is it conceivable that the Brits have put the power levers on the outside of the seats (against the cabin walls) so that the left seat has the 'throttle in left hand, stick in the right?'

[B-rad]

either way, this guy is clearly a hero for doing a half ass job at what we do day to day.

[Lurch]

On a certain "P" aviation site they have 17 pages already on this.

The pilot himself started making posts around pg7 but no answers until a lot later.

He claims that it was a wind gust that got him airborne and it was supposed to be cruise power high speed taxi. Not knowing anything about this plane I can't agree or disagree.

I didn't read all 17 pages but he does say he'll log the "Flight".

Lurch

[MichaelP]

Excessive power corrupts the mind and who wouldn't want to go for it, really go for it?
I fail to understand any pilot who can taxy at high speed down a runway with no intention to fly, it's just not human.

A Victor accidentally went through the 'sound barrier' over Radlett and broke glass all over Hertfordshire once...
The Victor was used to tank up the Vulcan when the latter was used to bomb the Argies in the Falkland Islands.

Sperrin not so hot, Valiant purposeful, Victor sinister, Vulcan awesome... These products of the fifties look the part far more than a B52 did.

[_dwj_]

I've seen lots of accident reports where pilots are doing high-speed taxiing with no intention to fly, and lo and behold they end up in the air! Usually it is a gust of wind, taxiing to fast, or just plain old incompetence, and half the time the person doing it doesn't even have a pilots license (which bizarrely seems to be the case in this incident).

[CelBatrin]

Sperrin not so hot, Valiant purposeful, Victor sinister, Vulcan awesome... These products of the fifties look the part far more than a B52 did.

Perhaps the smaller the role in conflict, the greater the role of aesthetics in the design.

[flying4dollars]

On another note, thats a sweet looking airplane!! I was expecting something nasty looking.

[C-FABH]

I would have accidentally performed a few circuits too

[TG]

On 3 May 2009 during a "fast taxi" run at Bruntingthorpe, XM715 made an unplanned brief flight, reaching a height of between 20-30ft before being landed. The aircraft does not have a permit to fly. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated that they will not be conducting an investigation. The causes have been identified as the co-pilot failing to reply to the command 'throttles back' , thus resulting in the pilot having to control the throttles himself, resulting in a brief loss of control of the aircraft, causing it to rise. No legal action is to be taken by the CAA against either of the crew aboard XM715 or the operators of Bruntingthorpe Airfield.

And about having the aircraft set up for take off:

from the AAIB's web site:

"Pilots should also exercise caution when carrying out unfamiliar procedures, and when operating close to take-off speed,
they should be prepared for the consequences should the aircraft become subsequently airborne.
To that effect, fast taxi tests should be made with the aircraft fully configured for flight, including the canopy fully and properly secured."

It's very true that we don't need to believe what's written on the internet.
Up to you to make the difference between:
What makes really sense/incident interpretations from instant experts/nice or poor banters/pure written crap and people being simply mean to each other!

I'll go with what makes sense (see quotes above)
And the nice banter because at the end of it, nobody was hurt and nothing was destroy.

[Hedley]

With all due respect (Ricky Bobby moment) to the Queen's
close relatives and all the splendid hypen boys, if they really
didn't want to go flying, they shouldn't have set takeoff flaps.

Regardless of whether the Queen's relatives, hyphen boys
and AAIB are aware of it or not, selecting takeoff flaps
significantly reduces the stall speed (duh) and this greatly
increases the likelihood of an inadvertant takeoff.

As a complete non sequitor ...

Is anybody here old enough to remember the hysterical
scene in the movie "1941" where Dan Ackroyd does an
incredible briefing on how "not to fire a cannon"?

[snowshoe]

wow, I bet there's a snowstorm of paper memos and emails from "upon high" over this event.