AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2012 - 85

The Delta Air Lines flight operations manual required pilots to avoid thunderstorms by at least five miles. But was this a thunderstorm? The airplanes directly ahead were landing uneventfully, and the Delta Flight 191 crew was scheduled to make a quick turn in Dallas and board another airplane for a flight back to the East Coast. Any delay could make them tardy for their next flight. The L-1011 was cleared to land. Incredibly realistic In the simulator, Perdaris flies from the left seat while SimCom instructor Dick Sapp, a former Navy F–8 Crusader pilot, acts as co-pilot. Josh Madovoy, also a SimCom instructor, operates the simulator and triggers the entire wind-shear scenario at the touch of a button. Perdaris flies through the microburst seven times. On the first approach, as briefed in a classroom session, he aborts at about 500 feet agl when he gets the wind shear warning. Perdaris comes perilously close to the ground but avoids it. The second time he aborts at about 1,000 feet agl when he receives the caution and flies through easily. On subsequent approaches, he refines the escape technique.

Afterward, Perdaris, a married father of two children, ages 4 and 1, is at once exhausted, exhilarated, and reflective. The simulator is incredibly realistic, and its hydraulics are in overdrive as it jostles the occupants in a disorienting series of sharp, jerky movements meant to re-create the sensations of severe turbulence. More than an hour in the box is physically strenuous, apart from the mental and emotional demands. “This answers the questions I’ve been carrying around for a long, long time,” he said. “I had read the NTSB report. But seeing the actual scenario gives me a much deeper appreciation of exactly what must have been going on in the cockpit, and what my dad and his fellow passengers were going through.” Push it up “Looks like we’re going to get our airplane washed,” co-pilot Price says as the jet descends to 5,000 feet with rainshowers in the area. The crew turns on the No Smoking light, chimes for the flight attendants to take their seats, and starts the prelanding checklists. Price is flying the airplane and Connors, the captain, is making the radio calls. They switch to the tower frequency, and Connors checks in.

“Tower, Delta 191 heavy, out here in the rain, feels good,” he says. “Delta 191, cleared to land, wind 090 at five, gusts to 15,” the controller answers. “Lightning coming out of that one,” Price says. “What?” Connors asks. “Lightning coming out of that one.” “Where?” “Right ahead of us.” Flight 191 descends through 1,000 feet and the turbulence increases, and the airspeed surges more than 20 knots. “Watch your speed,” Connors tells Price as the rain intensifies. “You’re going to lose it all of a sudden. There it is.” The headwind shears to a tailwind, just as he predicted, and the L-1011 begins to drop. “Push it up,” the captain tells Price, meaning he should add power to counteract the dwindling airspeed and increasing descent rate. “Push it way up. Way up, way up, way up. That’s it.” The three engines had been at nearly idle power, and it takes several long seconds for the rpm to increase. The airplane’s ground proximity warning system begins to sound repeatedly, “Pull up! Whoop whoop, pull up!”

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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2012

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