Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 12:35 PM Subject: B-307 > Boeing Stratoliner 307, insider's story > > If anyone saw the pictures of that historic Boeing Airplane crashing > into the waters of Puget Sound several weeks ago, here is the real story. > =================== > > Accident occurred Thursday,> March > 28, 2002 at Seattle, WA > Aircraft: Boeing S-307, registration: N19903 > Injuries: 4 Uninjured. > > On March 28,2002, approximately 1305 Pacific standard time, a Boeing > S-307 Stratoliner, N19903, registered to the National Air & Space > Museum, operated by The Boeing Company, as a 14 CFR Part 91 > maintenance and proficiency flight, ditched in the waters of Elliott Bay, > Seattle, Washington, following a loss of engine power. Visual > meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was > filed. The > aircraft was substantially damaged. The two airline transport pilots > and two flight engineers were not injured. > > The flight departed from Everett, Washington, and was destined for > Seattle, Washington. During an interview, the flight crew reported > that the purpose of the flight was for maintenance/systems checks and crew > proficiency. The flight departed from Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, > approximately 1230 en route to Everett, Paine Field (PAE). The > Captain reported that he made a full stop landing at PAE without > incident. > The aircraft was taxied back to the runway and the takeoff was initiated. > > Shortly after lift-off, the number three engine experienced a > momentary surge, then normalized. Due to this anomaly, the flight crew > decided to discontinue the flight activities and return to BFI. In > preparation > for landing at BFI, the landing gear was lowered, however, the left main > gear did not fully extend. The approach was aborted to orbit the area > to try and remedy the situation. > > The Captain reported that the flight engineer at the radio station, > left his station to try and manually hand-crank the left gear down. After > a few minutes, the flight crew reported a green (fully extended) light > for the left main. The flight then headed back to BFI when a low fuel > pressure light was noted for the number three engine followed by a > loss of power. > > The flight crew feathered the engine when low fuel pressure was noted > to the remaining three engines which all subsequently began to lose > power. The Captain reported that he did not believe that the aircraft > could make it safely to BFI and opted to ditch the aircraft in Elliott Bay > near the shoreline. > > The aircraft impacted the water in a slightly right wing low, level > attitude and remained upright. The aircraft remained afloat and all > four flight crew members safely exited the aircraft and were rescue within > minutes of the accident. > (keep reading below) > =============================================================== > > And now for the REST of the story........ I just talked to Jerry > Janes today, who himself just finished talking to his "mole" at Boeing... > Someone in the maintenance department, who was in on the Boeing > interview of the pilots afterwards... The story is that these highly > trained Boeing test pilots decided they'd take this airplane out for > a flight, to do some circuits. They were paying for it themselves, out > of their own pockets, so elected to only put *300 gallons* of gas in it > when they were on the ground at Boeing Field. They were hoping to > avoid Galvin Flying's extra $0.04/gallon by putting more in when they got > to Paine Field (where gas was cheaper) to do circuits. > > Somewhere enroute to Paine Field, the fuel situation was driven from > their mind, probably because they were having so much fun flying.....so > they did circuits at Paine until the #3 engine coughed, then died. > They feathered the prop, and decided they should probably land to > investigate. > > They selected gear down, to find that the gear leg under the #3> > engine wouldn't lower, because the hydraulic pump needed to do that was > powered by the #3 engine (now feathered). So they lowered the gear leg > manually, but decided (get this) to fly *back to Boeing Field* to park the > plane, rather than land at Paine Field. Shortly after making that bright > decision, the other engines started failing. No engines were running > by the time it ditched, and three of the four props weren't feathered. > > The kicker here:The Stratoliner's maintenance base is apparently *at > Paine Field*. Any maintenance to be done would require that it be > brought back to Paine Field anyway (or a bunch of equipment moved to > Boeing Field). When asked why they wanted to bring it back to Boeing > Field, the response was "Well, our cars were at Boeing Field". > Someone should have asked where their *boats* were. > > A detail that may be useful, if you're keeping track in your head: > According to Jerry, these engines, at 30" manifold and 2000 rpm, > would burn about 50 gal/hr each in cruise, and would average more like > 70-80 gal/hr each if you were doing circuits. Some things that weren't > reported in the article below: When they peeled back the interior > linings, they found that "it's all twisted at the bulkhead where the > spar attaches to the fuselage" (Jerry's words). I didn't think to ask > whether Jerry meant that the spar is twisted, the bulkhead is > twisted,or what. Jerry said that both main gear legs were both ripped off > by the ditching, and were found floating next to the aircraft... I thought I > saw one hanging from the engine in the photos that Mark sent the link > to, but I could be wrong. > > The official explanation to date is that the engines failed due to > "air in the fuel lines". I guess that's one way of putting it. My take is > that the dipsticks were in the cockpit, and not in the fuel tanks.