A story of a close call, near-death experience

A long time ago on a dark and stormy night…. That’s a good start for a scary fairytale. I wish this kind of story only occurred in fiction or a movie. But it was mostly all real, a horror movie happening to me in real life!

The night was, indeed, dark and stormy. We were en route to an airport in Northern Scandinavia and had just started our descent in an old Metroliner. Onboard was the first officer, myself and a couple of tons of mail. The first officer was a brilliant young man with quite a bit of experience with this type of aircraft. This was the first sector of the night with several more ahead of us. The weather had been crap when we first left our departure airport and, with an incoming warm front ahead of us, it got even worse as we approached our destination.

I wish this kind of story only occurred in fiction or a movie. But it was mostly real, a horror movie happening to me in real life!JT Lundström

Working hard with the De-icing system

Due to the weather, we had to start the aircraft De-icing system quite early into the descent. It was only light icing in the beginning but the lower we got, the more frequent the de-icing boots had to cycle. The snow progressively increased in intensity and, when we turned on the landing lights, it felt like Hans Solo in the Millennium Falcon. It was easy to imagine that all of those snowflakes were stars that were swinging by at warp speed!

As we started the approach, the accumulation of ice was substantial. We were, without a doubt, in moderate icing conditions. I was flying and had to really work hard. The autopilot had, unfortunately, given up the ghost and had been written down as unserviceable in our log. In addition to this, I also had to work the de-ice system manually. Although the Metroliner had an automatic de-ice system, it seemed to work better if you just did it manually. Especially in moderate icing conditions like on this particular night. The de-icing system was located on my lower left side and there was absolutely no chance that the first officer could reach the controls. He did a great job in keeping track of the ice accumulation and called out when I needed to engage the boots. Fantastic teamwork with great results I might add, or at least that’s what we thought.

How do you manage LOC-I for the first time?

The first officer was reporting the status of ice accumulation on the wings and we managed to keep them clean. On the intercept course for localiser, I called for flaps ¼. The icing had really started to build up, with the first officer reporting that it looked like horn-ice. We made a PIREP to the tower and informed them that we had encountered moderate to heavy conditions. As we intercepted the localiser, the aircraft began to shake furiously. It felt like we were stalling but the speed was good, slightly above approach speed in icing conditions. Moments later, I lost almost all elevator control but, with the help of the elevator trim, I could feel we had a little control. As we approached the glide slope the first officer suggested that we should run the boots again, I did and instantly felt that we had more elevator force back.

As we started to descend on the glide-slope, everything felt almost normal again! We brought out the gear and the next step of flaps but then things began to happen quickly! The aircraft began to shake violently, the elevator control was rendered useless and the nose pitched down! This incident took place before we had upset training. The term LOC-I (Loss of Control In-flight) was something that I’d never heard about, I’d never participated in any UPRT. Check out our UPRT, it’s worth the time.

Regaining control

The situation continued to escalate. All I could think about was we had just changed the aircraft configuration by selecting the next step of flaps. Before that, I had control. I quickly called to bring the flaps back to ¼ again. It was if the first officer had read my mind as he adjusted the flaps instantly. The pitch down movement stopped although the aircraft was still shaking. I had a little elevator control with the help of the trim but it wasn’t much. It was a challenge to keep the aircraft on the glide-slope. The ice was building up just as quickly as the boots could get rid of it. We decided to continue with higher than normal speed and land with ¼ flap as we felt we had no other choice. A go-around would mean certain death. We just had to try and make the contact with Mother Earth as controllable as possible and, hopefully, we would reach the runway. 

Obviously, the braking action was really poor but we had no choice other than to hope for the best. We broke out of the clouds just above minimum, with no real way of making a nice flare, so we more or less hit the runway and rolled out at an incredible speed. Fortunately, we had a long runway, one that was by far more than the little Metroliner required in normal conditions. As it happens, we almost needed the entire runway.

 

The tail section was an entire ice cube

 We had no idea what was wrong. Yes, the icing was moderate but the de-icing system had performed well. Once the aircraft was parked up I went to take a good look at it. I could see that the entire tail section looked just like an ice-cube! In the Metroliner, there was no dedicated warning system for when a section of the de-ice boots didn’t work. It was only later that I discovered that a pressure valve to the tail section had failed which, in turn, had caused the problem.

“That night I was very close to becoming another death in the statistics of LOC-I.”JT Lundström

Good UPRT training and CRM collaboration

That night I was very close to becoming another death in the statistics of LOC-I. The only reason that I am able to write about this today is due to some good Crew Resource Management (CRM) between the two of us, coupled with a little bit of luck! At the time, CRM was quite new but both the first officer and I had taken the CRM principles to heart and, to the best of our abilities, we tried to implement these principles in our flight. Fortunately, it worked!

Today, I’m grateful to the authorities around the world who have mandated UPRT as you just never know when you will find yourself in a situation when an upset is imminent. Simulator training is, of course, a very important part of the upset training but so is the ground training. They are both important in providing you with a deep understanding of how an aircraft behaves in different environmental conditions, system failures and how to understand the fundamental aerodynamic forces.

You and the Police – Know your Rights

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Peel Regional Police strives to make our community safe for all people. To do this, we have some information that will help create a strong relationship between officers and citizens.

Commitment to Cultural, Ethnic and Religious Diversity

Peel Regional Polices’ policy is to provide the best possible service in a fast, fair and reasonable manner to all people, without discrimination based on, but not limited to: race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age, sex, citizenship, marital or family status, physical or mental disability, criminal record or social condition.

For more information regarding your civil rights, visit the Canadian Civil Liberties Association website.

Need Assistance from a Police Officer? 

• The police are here to help you, your family, your friends, and everyone else in your community.
• A police officer will come to your home if you call for assistance and an officer attendance is required. They may go into your home if you invite them, they have a search warrant, or it is an emergency situation.
• If you ask, a police officer will provide you with his or her name, badge number and telephone number for future contact.

Duties of Police Officers

• Protect life and prevent injury.
• Protect property.
• Preserve the peace.
• Prevent crimes and other offences.
• Arrest criminals, and others who may lawfully be taken into custody.
• Lay charges when there is evidence to prove an offence has taken place.
• Participate in prosecutions.
• Enforce municipal by-laws.

Police Stations Located in Brampton and Mississauga

Peel Regional Police Stations and Community Stations are located throughout Brampton and Mississauga.

What to do if Stopped 

• When you see the red lights and/or hear the siren of a police vehicle approaching from behind you as you drive, remain calm. When it’s safe to do so, slowly drive to the right side of the road towards the curb and come to a stop.
• Remain seated in your vehicle unless the officer advises otherwise.
• Ontario law requires drivers to show their driver’s license, vehicle registration, and insurance document when asked by a police officer. If your documents are in your vehicle tell the officer where they are before you reach for them.
• If you’re stopped when it’s dark please turn on your interior light.
• If you have passengers in your car encourage them to stay seated, remain quiet and cooperate with any instructions that the officer may give.
• The officer may give you a ticket if you have committed an offence under the Highway Traffic Act. If you don’t understand what is happening ask the officer to spend some extra time explaining why you’re receiving the ticket and what to do with it.
• Avoid being aggressive.
• If you receive a ticket, accept it calmly. Accepting the ticket does not mean you’re guilty. If you feel you’re not guilty you can argue your reasons in court.

Why you may be Stopped

You may be stopped by an officer if there is reason to believe you:

• Committed a crime.
• Are about to commit a crime.
• Have evidence relating to a crime (such as stolen property and illegal drugs).
• Are driving through a designated RIDE spot check.

What to do if Stopped in any Situation

• Keep your hands where the officer can see them. Don’t put your hands in your pockets or clothing.
• Stay still and stay calm, don’t walk or run from police and don’t touch an officer.
• Cooperate with the officer. If you don’t agree with the officer or like their behaviour you can make a complaint against that officer at any police station.

Police at Your Home

The police can enter a home if they:

• Have the consent of a resident.
• Have an arrest or search warrant.
• Believe there is a threat to the safety of any person.
• Are in the process of performing public safety functions such as responding to 9-1-1 calls, providing first aid, preventing serious harm to a person, or locating a person in need of protection.

If you are Arrested:

The following nine actions will take place:

• The officers will identify themselves as police officers.
• You will be told that you’re under arrest.
• You will be advised of the reason for the arrest.
• The officer will take physical control of you. This may be as simple as the officer placing a hand on your shoulder.
• The officer will inform you that: you have the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay, you have the right to telephone any lawyer you wish, you have the right to free advice from a Legal Aid lawyer and If you’re charged with an offence you may apply to the Ontario Legal Aid Plan for legal assistance.
• You will be asked if you understand your rights.
• You will be searched and should expect to be handcuffed, for public and officer safety, before being placed in a police vehicle.
• You may be released at the scene of the arrest or taken to a police station, depending on the circumstances.
• Once taken to a police station, you may be released by the Officer in Charge of the station, or held in custody to appear before a Justice of the Peace.

How to Compliment an Employee:

We take great pride in being recognized by members of the community we serve. Compliment an employee if you had a positive experience with them.

How to Make a Complaint Against a Police Officer:

Complaints may be made at any Peel Regional Police division or in writing.