One year ago on Velozia Air: TACA Flight 390 and more…
Photo by Velozia Air. United Airlines gets ready to depart on a rainy day at Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (TSJU)
One year ago on Velozia Air:
1) We were wondering why a TACA Airlines A320 (Flight 390) overran a runway in Honduras killing five people and injuring others. Update: After an investigation, the Civil Aviation Authority of El Salvador (AAC by its Spanish initials) reported that the pilot landed too fast and far down the runway with a tailwind and that the crew did not perform proper use of braking mechanisms available. Before the landing attempt, the crew had missed two approaches to the opposing runway and chose the tailwind approach even though air traffic control (ATC) advised against it. Did I mention the runway was wet? The landing was done exceeding the capabilities for the A320. In a cockpit voice recorder conversation, the pilots were very unprofessional, talking about the air traffic controller in derogatory terms, and complaining about having to take out landing charts, among other things. The plane registration is EI-TAF. On a personal note, I have never seen the end of a runway come at you as fast as it does on some Central American runways.
2) Saw how United Airlines (and others) continued to ground planes in an attempt to reduce capacity and eliminate system-wide losses. Now, aircraft storage facilities around the US are filled with parked airplanes.
3) Air fares were high as a result of lowered capacity, but deals could be found.
4) The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) deadline for airlines to hand out e-tickets only had just passed four days earlier.
5) Employees at Spirit Airlines got to breathe a little easier as their CEO reported that the layoffs announced by the media days before were not going to happen. They had filed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the possibility, but weren’t planning on firing anyone yet.
6) However, employees at Continental were scrambling for prescription anxiety medication as their airline announced 3,000 jobs would be lost in addition to earlier layoffs.
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