Hi Gerard,
If the MD82 went down in the Goajira peninsula, it's seems less than 100 =
miles wide. The crew probably didn't really have a choice, but one =
wonders if there were a choice, wouldn't you choose ditching to trying =
to land on ground off an airport?
The West Caribbean crash site is a good 150 km S of that peninsula's =
northern tip and well south of their intended track. Based on the comm =
exchange between the aircraft and Maiquetia CTR and Caracas CTR, I'd =
venture that the crew were already thinking about looking for a proper =
spot to put the airplane down - possibly Barquisimeto if they were they =
couldn't reach Caracas. One local source is stating that shortly before =
the acft went off the scope at FL140, the plane was already pegging 7000 =
ft./min descent rate - hardly the sort of situation where an aircraft =
could be considered under control, if true.
Anyway, the aircraft came down on the eastern slopes of the Perij=E1 =
mountain range, which tops 8000 ft. ASL.
Does anyone know of survivals when bringing a large jet, say 737 or =
bigger, to a stop without touching down on an airport surface first?=20
About two years ago or so, a TAM Fokker F100 performed a controlled, =
wheels-up landing on a mildly undulating field after it experienced a =
dual flame out due to fuel starvation. None of the passengers and =
crewmembers suffered injuries. I would have to check on it, but I =
understand that the aircraft was not a write-off and it was returned to =
service several months later.
Regards
Jackson