Pesawat US Airways Tersungkur karena Gagal `Takeoff` di Bandara Philadelphia

Horror as Aborted Takeoff Leads to Plane Crash at Philadelphia International Airport

Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi


Pesawat US Airways Tersungkur karena Gagal `Takeoff` di Bandara Philadelphia
149 penumpang dan lima awak dievakuasi dari pesawat. Salah satu penumpang di bawah umur alami cedera ringan dan satu terluka (Foto2: Mail Online)

Philadelphia (B2B) - Seluruh landasan pacu di Bandara Internasional Philadelphia, AS telah dibuka kembali setelah pesawat US Airways gagal lepas landas dan tersungkur di landasan pacu bandara tersebut, Kamis malam.

Pihak bandara mengatakan, landasan pacu di mana kecelakaan terjadi dibuka kembali pada Jumat pagi pukul 8:30, sekitar 14 jam setelah kejadian.

Pesawat Airbus A320 yang ringsek akhirnya tiba di hanggar pemeliharaan bandara Jumat pagi, setelah para teknisi dan mekanik bekerja keras memeriksa pesawat jet di landasan pacu di mana insiden itu terjadi.

Dua korban kecelakaan menderita luka ringan dilaporkan dari kecelakaan, yang terjadi pada Kamis malam pukul 06:38 waktu setempat, seperti dilansir 6abc.com yang dikutip Mail Online.

Pihak berwenang mengatakan US Airways nomor penerbangan 1702 menuju Runway 27 Kiri ketika ban pesawat meletus dan hidung pesawat berbobot 70 ton menghantam landasan pacu.

Seorang juru bicara US Airways mengatakan, dalam sebuah pernyataan: "Laporan awal menunjukkan Flight 1702 dari Philadelphia ke Fort Lauderdale bannya meletus di saat akan lepas landas dan pilot memilih untuk membatalkan penerbangan."

Pernyataan itu melanjutkan: "Pesawat sempat mengudara sebelum jatuh tersungkur."

Hasil penyelidikan sementara Jumat pagi, para teknisi fokus pada kegagalan dan runtuhnya landing gear depan pesawat jet.

Menurut para ahli, ban meletus bisa jadi penyebab insiden tersebut.

"Ketika salah satu ban meletus, akibatnya seluruh bobot pesawat bertumpu pada ban lain," kata konsultan penerbangan Jim Brengle kepada Action News. "Dan hal itu menciptakan situasi asimetris di mana ada getaran berkecepatan tinggi atau meliuk .... Kondisi ini, akibatnya memaksa rem bekerja mendadak, yang menyebabkan mesin kolaps dan pesawat tersungkur."

Brengle juga mengatakan pilot dilatih untuk bereaksi terhadap kondisi mendadak untuk memutuskan batal lepas landas, seperti dilakukan pilot US Airways pada Kamis malam.

Tak lama setelah pesawat menyentuh tanah, foto-foto dari Action News di tempat kejadian menunjukkan pesawat tersungkur dan parasut daurat dilepaskan.

149 penumpang dan lima awak dievakuasi dari pesawat. Salah satu penumpang di bawah umur alami cedera ringan dan satu terluka, kata pihak Departemen Pemadam Kebakaran Philadelphia. "Tidak ada luka serius."

Asap tampak mengepul dari salah satu mesin pesawat.

Video dari insiden diposting ke Twitter menunjukkan orang-orang yang berjalan dari pesawat.

Salah satu penumpang di pesawat, Dennis Fee, mengatakan hal itu "cuaca saat itu angin bertiup kencang, dan ketika pesawat lepas landas hidung pesawat turun kembali, menghantam landasan. Kami sempat mengudara, kemudian pesawat jatuh tersungkur."

"Peristiwa terjadi begitu cepat," kata penumpang Debbie Grant, "karena dampaknya sangat kuat. Kami benar-benar tidak tahu apa yang terjadi. Pada dasarnya kami hanya ingin cepat-cepat keluar dari pesawat. Para penumpang berlarian keluar karena tercium bau asap."

"Saya tidak bisa berkata-kata," kata penumpang Devon Lassiter. "Maksudku, semuanya panik pada saat itu. Saya tidak pernah mengalami sesuatu seperti itu sebelumnya dalam hidup saya. Pesawat benar-benar lepas landas dan jatuh ke tanah dua kali. Jadi pada waktu itu saya pikir ajal kami sudah dekat. Sangat mengejutkan."

Tindakan darurat dilakukan engan menyemprotkan busa pelindung busa pelindung di sekitar bagian dari pesawat karena cairan hidrolik bocor, tapi tidak ada bahan bakar jet bocor, kata polisi, yang memuji tindakan kru maskapai penerbangan untuk segera menyelamatkan para penumpang turun dari pesawat dengan selamat.

Polisi mengatakan mereka mendirikan hambatan untuk mencoba untuk melindungi penumpang dari angin dan menaruh beberapa perempuan dan anak-anak di kendaraan mereka agar mereka tetap hangat.

"Bandara empat landasan pacu ditutup selama sekitar 35 menit, kata polisi.

Philadelphia - All runways at Philadelphia International Airport have reopened after a U.S. Airways plane failed to take off and the landing gear collapsed on Thursday evening.

The airport said the runway where the accident happened reopened at 8:30 a.m. Friday, some 14 hours after the incident.

The damaged Airbus A320 finally arrived at an airport maintenance hangar early Friday morning, after engineers spent the night inspecting the jet on the runway where the incident occurred.

Two minor injuries were reported from the accident, which happened at 6:38 p.m. Thursday.

Authorities say U.S. Airways flight 1702 was heading west on Runway 27 Left when a tire blew and the nose of the 70-ton aircraft hit the runway.

A U.S. Airways spokesperson said, in a statement:

"Initial reports indicate Flight 1702 from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale blew a tire on takeoff and the pilot elected to abort takeoff."

The statement continued: "The plane was briefly in the air before turning back."

As the investigation got underway Friday morning, engineers focused on the failure and collapse of the jet's front landing gear.

According to experts, a tire blow-out is enough to cause such a collapse.

"When one tire fails, it puts all the weight then on the other tire," aviation consultant Jim Brengle told Action News. "And that can create an asymmetric situation where there's a high-speed shiver or shimmy.... In this case, it obviously broke the front drag brace, which caused the entire gear to collapse and left the aircraft on its nose."

Brengle also said pilots are trained to react to blow-outs by aborting takeoffs, which is what U.S. Airways said happened Thursday night.

Shortly after the plane hit the ground, pictures from Action News crews on the scene showed the plane with its front end on the ground with emergency chutes deployed.

149 passengers and 5 crew members were evacuated from the plane. One minor injury and one illness were reported, the Philadelphia Fire Department said. There were no serious injuries.

Smoke could be seen coming from one of the engines.

Video of the incident posted to Twitter showed people running from the plane.

One passenger on the plane, Dennis Fee, said it was "very windy, and when the plane took off the nose of the plane went back down, hitting the runway. We were airborne, then struck back down by the nose."

"It was quite a shock," said passenger Debbie Grant, "because the impact was very strong. We really didn't know what was happening. Basically we just moved with the flow. People had gotten up because there was a smell of smoke."

"There really are no words," said passenger Devon Lassiter. "I mean, everything went into such a panic at the time. I never experienced anything like that before in my life. The plane actually lifted off and hit the ground twice. So in that time I think people's lives were flashing before their eyes. It was just a lot."

Emergency responders sprayed protective foam around parts of the plane because hydraulic fluid was leaking from it, but no jet fuel leaked, said police, who praised the actions of the airline crew for getting the passengers off the plane safely.

Police said they erected barriers to try to shield the passengers from the wind and put some women and children in their vehicles to keep them warm.

A number of passengers finally arrived in Fort Lauderdale at about 2:20 a.m. Friday.

The airport's four runways were shut down for about 35 minutes, police said.