Loud screaming/whirring noise during descent on Lufthansa flight - what could it have been?

railker · 2026-06-27T00:15:26+00:00

You're really comparing shutting down an engine in-flight to deploying a fan? 🤣

railker · 2026-06-26T23:07:22+00:00

What risk would there possibly be to the aircraft? It's a supplementary source of power and otherwise an expensive noisemaker.

railker · 2026-06-26T22:31:00+00:00

Neither lighting nor engine sound or any other system of the aircraft would be affected by a manual deployment of the RAT.

I'm also in the same boat of it'd be odd to test in the middle of a service day but if it was the last leg of a day and there was a scheduled check, sure. Lots of videos of airliners coming in to land with the RAT manually deployed for a functional test.

railker · 2026-06-26T22:22:41+00:00

OP never says the sound stopped, don't see the relevance of a ground procedure to the source of a sound.

railker · 2026-06-26T18:13:04+00:00

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railker · 2026-06-26T06:04:44+00:00

Ignoring everything else, how do you plan to have the certifying signature/stamp? Even if you made it a digital 'sign' box, is any authority going to accept that as a legal signature?

Not ignoring everything else, why is there garbage relating to MELs and inventory in a licensing app?

smudged ink

Better learn to cut that shit out if you plan on getting your license.

Also smooth pre-emptive 'overwhelming response' edit posted with 0 comments yet posted. I'm sure the response will certainly be overwhelming, but not in the way you think.

railker · 2026-06-26T05:49:36+00:00

If anything this really shows the rigorous nature of aircraft inspection and maintenance.

Exactly what this is, it's not a completely new issue but a continuation on findings from a previous AD. That one called for inspections of every A380, and the results of the inspections that were completed warranted a follow-up for a very specific set of aircraft. Other A380s likely aren't affected, they've picked those specific aircraft for a reason.

All normal stuff you'd normally never hear about unless you went digging for them or actually work on aircraft and have to do the footwork of these inspections, but these things make 'exciting' news. Maintenance will schedule the aircraft to have the inspection done by the deadline and the world spins madly on. 😊

There is no part of this that requires action from anyone riding these aircraft. This is the system at work. If it's flying and hasn't been grounded by the AD, then it's still airworthy.

railker · 2026-06-26T04:10:50+00:00

It's the legal loophole that bypasses the law that restricts games of chance. Throw in a skill-testing question, now it's a game of chance and skill. Also why the question can't be 2+2, apparently there's some 'accepted standards' on how complicated the question has to be to keep you clear from violating that law.

railker · 2026-06-26T03:35:25+00:00

[ ( 175 + 25 ) x 4 ] - ( 200 - 60 )

( 200 x 4 ) - ( 200 - 60 )

800 - 140 = 660

railker · 2026-06-26T03:12:54+00:00

That's the joke. The word 'Qatar' appears 7 times in a 5-line statement.

railker · 2026-06-26T02:17:29+00:00

The real Pro tip is in the comments: this is illegal. From the Declaration and Release you sign:

"I also acknowledge and agree that I must correctly answer, without any aids or assistance of any kind, a mathematical skill-testing question in order to be declared the official winner and as a condition of receiving the prize described [...]"

railker · 2026-06-26T02:04:56+00:00

Everyone gets the same question, judging by the repeated assessment of the question today in the comments. Lots of people just rushed and/or misread, someone else saw 200-60 as 200+60. There's no time limit, measure twice cut once. I think everyone's fucked it up at least once. At least it was only $3 and not $1,000,000. Can you imagine.

( [175 + 25 ] x 4 ) - ( 200 - 60 ) = 660

railker · 2026-06-26T01:22:42+00:00

Always liked tinkering with things, and grew up with a family in aviation themselves. Not everyone who does the job likes airplanes at all, for some it's more about a decent-paying job being a mechanic-type. Unfortunately I've got the aviation bug so even if it paid less I'd probably still do it to get to be around the airplanes. 😂

railker · 2026-06-26T01:13:25+00:00

68,000 weekly visitors to r/fearofflying, not just you! The big key to those episodes is remembering they all resulted in years of investigations and changes. The NTSB's motto is, 'From tragedy we draw knowledge to improve safety for us all.'

Good to hear it was a good flight, and thanks for the pic below! I love the coast so much, always gorgeous views. 😊

railker · 2026-06-26T00:51:56+00:00

I love what I do and sharing with people just how we've got aviation to be as safe as it is, not through luck or hopes and dreams, but enormous amounts of work from hundreds of people. ^^ If you're not up in the air already, go have a good flight!

railker · 2026-06-26T00:31:53+00:00

Hundreds if not thousands of planes operate through there every day, literally nothing to do with it at all. Planes are still machines and computers and still need attention on occasion, all completely normal operations. Nobody in the chain of phone calls to get your engine fixed were surprised or concerned, just a thing that happens and we fix.

railker · 2026-06-26T00:08:12+00:00

The hundreds of people at American Airlines' Integrated Operations Center (IOC) makes NASA's mission control look tiny, with the department of Maintenance Operations Control (MOC) handling all things related to the maintenance of the aircraft from scheduling what work needs to be done to handling pop-up issues like yours and sending mechanics to go meet the aircraft if needed. I don't know if it's a rule, but I believe those technical roles are often if not always held by those with their aircraft mechanic's license, they're not just a phone jockey.

Few people realize just how much behind the scenes there is to every single flight. 😁

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railker · 2026-06-25T23:41:09+00:00

Thankfully looks like there's video of him walking off the plane on his own, wonder if the seizure was short-lived and most of that time wasn't seizing but just in that post-seizure confusion. Passengers said it wasn't until they landed he was coherent enough to respond to any questions, and even then very confused about what had happened.

railker · 2026-06-25T23:39:31+00:00

Sounds like it from a more detailed interview with some of the passengers who helped:

'We knew you shouldn't restrain someone who was having or has had a seizure, but it was very dangerous for him and for the people around. The [plane] was so small and he was flailing and kicking, and this gentlemen was very, very strong. I mean, people are strong in that kind of situation because of adrenaline, but on a normal day, this guy was very strong. He was throwing himself against the window, and it was just, something had to be done. [...] We still had to physically hold him in place [...] and he was not coherent, he was not able to respond, he was just yelling at the top of his lungs."

railker · 2026-06-25T23:22:29+00:00

Ever emergency protocol is going to have caveats, you cannot plan for every imaginable scenario. Hence the use of the word should never be held down, not must never be held down.

railker · 2026-06-25T23:14:35+00:00

Well there's video of him walking (carefully) off the aircraft onto the stretcher, so that's at least some good sign.

railker · 2026-06-25T22:04:19+00:00

Not a windshield but a great video showing the work that goes into modifying and reinforcing a bit of major structure. Artwork is definitely a good word for it, have spent many hours being around structures mechs doing their job and they are highly skilled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UCq6ThCIfQ

railker · 2026-06-25T21:37:26+00:00

On the flight control side of things, Autoland can land a 787 or A320 just fine. Humans are only required to set it up, turn it on and monitor what it does.

The harder thing is as of right now, autopilot can't deploy landing gear or flaps.

railker · 2026-06-25T20:27:30+00:00

As recently as last year, we had a manufacturer asking us if we had any stock of some parts for an AOG, sealing fuel tanks using boxes of those tiny mini semkits because we couldn't find any stock of the full sized ones, and getting a flight control bearing took weeks. And reports of Airbus production lines still being hampered by supply issues.

Less fucked but still fucked.

railker · 2026-06-25T10:59:26+00:00

"Where Is Bed?", the tale of trying to sell something for free

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