www.CostaRicaTicas.com

According to an article in La Nacion, they think there was a problem with the brakes. If the anti-skid messed up and the tires locked up, the friction will destroy the tires rather quickly and is usually the only reason to blow multiple tires. Even really hard landing don't usually blow multiple tires... This jives with an eyewitness report I saw on the news that said the plane landed then threw up a large amount of spray from the tires. On a wet runway with locked up brakes, that is what you'd see. The witness then said he heard the tires exploding before the plane skidded to the right at what must have been fairly low speed or the gear itself may have snapped.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

my personal worst SJ/taca experience was when the plane was all but wheels down and the pilot suddenly gunned it and took off in a near straight up climb. he then began circling over the airport in tight circles. after we got on the ground i was told he had missed the runway coming in too long.
experts on this site said that was a standard procedure, but that plane was awfully quiet and no one looked at each other for the remainder of the flight.

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im way deep into nothing special
riding the crest of a wave breaking just west of hollywood

That can happen...they have certain rules that if they haven't seen the ground by a certain height or see they are landing long, then they will definitely go around. The rate of climb and turns are dictated by a 'missed approach' procedure. According to the Jeppesen charts for SJO (http://ww1.jeppesen.com/documents/aviat ... C/MROC.pdf), you'd climb to 5K feet then turn right continuing to climb to 7000 then radar vectors from ground control. Also must climb at 300ft per nautical mile which is pretty rapid due to terrain. Nothing dangerous about it in most cases but can be a surprise to passengers. Missed approaches for various reasons are trained for and the pilots brief a missed approach before each landing so both know what they have to do if a missed approach is necessary. With the TACA fleet almost completely Airbus fly-by-wire, the pilot just pulls the stick all the way back and the computer provides the maximum climb performance possible.

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The only thing that matters is happiness in all it forms...

When I flew in on aa in may, I fell asleep on final approach and what I thought was a rough spot of turbulence or a normal going to hell, turned out to be a hard landing.

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the tiers are not ol or worn out, As An Aviation Maintenance Technician with 27 plus years and three major carriers, working all most every jet the airlines fly, I can say that every tire has a minimum tread depth that they are replaced at, usually if an one spot on the tire is below 1/32'd of an inch that tire is replaced. A tire that looks to be worn bald it has approx. an inch of rubber on the tread wear area. (they are like 48 ply) Back in the old days when iI first hired on the airlines we would not replace a 727 main tire until it wore thru the first 3 cords, as they are just tread stabilizing cords and have no structural meaning.

The most likely scenario is the air craft got a bit sideways, the anti skid system senses a non rolling tire and releases the brakes (even if the pilot is standing on them) full brake system pressure
is 3000 psig.(pounds per square inch gauge )
if the tires age sideways and not rolling even with no brakes applied, they have to be going relatively straight to began rolling again, and going sideways they are not going to roll, so they are stopped in one position in contact with the runway at a normal landing speed of approx 130 Knots (149.7 MPH) they will wear thru that one spot rather quickly and blow out.

Bobby

That's my best educated guess

^sounds like a pretty good guess

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im way deep into nothing special
riding the crest of a wave breaking just west of hollywood

Haha,
I had the exact same experience coming in on Taca 2 years ago. It was about 4pm during the rainy season, so it was low clouds and shitty visibility. As we are descending, all I see is clouds and more clouds, but we keep descensing. I'm waiting to break through the clouds. I hear the landing gear go down so we are on final approach, probably 5 miles out, assuming 2500 feet above ground and I can't see shit but thick gray clouds. I'm starting to get a little nervous. A couple minutes later, we finally break through the clouds, at probably 300 feet and we fly right over the "piano keys", the touchdown area, aiming point, etc but this Phucker is still going to attempt to land. Now, I'm in a phucking panic, but I know it's a 10K foot runway, and this plane was small and light so really only needs a couple thousand feet. ... Finally, I feel the main gear touchdown, but almost instantly before the plane stabilizes on the gear, you hear the engine go to full power. And within about 5 seconds we are going back up pretty violently. It was actually my first go-around as a passenger, but I knew what was happening.

But like you said, the plane went silent. Nobody said a phucking word, stunned silence. Until we landed in Panama after doing a few laps around San Jose, nobody said a word or moved.

I'm glad the pilot realized he was wayyy long and did the safe thing (he wan't trying to be a cowboy). That's how too many acidents happen.

We have many "experts" on CRT, but it's not every day we get a real one. Thanks, for sharing your perspective on what may have happened.

BTW, my worst TACA experience was being served a cold empanada on TACA Flight #135 from Medellin to Quito.

Thanks just like my chosen profession I tend to stay in the back round.

Bobby

App 149.7 mph on landing. How fast are one of those approx going on lift off? Asked a captain once while exiting and he didn't know, kind of surprised me.

At max takeoff weight, A321 lifts off the ground ("rotates") at about 168 kts (~193 mph), lower under lighter conditions. Normal would probably be 150 kts (172 mph). The heavier the plane, the higher the takeoff speed.

If the method of taking off and landing reported in this article pans out, these discussions will be mooted. Think: linear-induction motors. This is not science fiction; it's being actively worked on:
http://www.economist.com/news/science-a ... ric-motors

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED