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Two Norwegian 737s make emergency landings with identical problem

The Associated Press 01/11/00 9:28 AM Eastern

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Two Boeing 737-500s made almost simultaneous emergency landings in two countries when their cockpit indicators gave virtual identical faulty readings, Braathens airline officials said today.

"It is just unbelievable. It happens that we get such indicator lights in the cockpit, but two in the same evening within half an hour of each other is unbelievable," Braathens spokeswoman Anne Grete Ellingsen said by telephone.

No injuries were reported in either landing.

One of the planes, with 45 passengers aboard, returned to the Oslo Airport Gardermoen when a cockpit instrument indicated that a landing wheels had not locked into position. After it landed successfully at 8:05 p.m.Monday, technicians found a wheel sensor had been incorrectly adjusted.

The other made an emergency landing with the same problem at 8:30 p.m. at Arlanda Airport near Stockholm, Sweden, on a flight from Oslo, and technicians found the same fault.

A third Braathens 737-500 experienced the same problem later Monday after it had landed and parked, the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet said.

"It was the sensors in the landing systems. There were two prongs that were a little too far apart," resulting in an incorrect signal, Ellingsen said.

She said the problems were due to physical adjustments.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), January 11, 2000

Answers

paging all airline technicians ...

-- simultaneous coincidences (happening@more.often), January 11, 2000.

This is not a Y2K problem...this is simply what is called an incredible coincidence. Next, please?

-- Jay Urban (Jayho99@aol.com), January 11, 2000.

Maybe the same Tech worked on all three planes and set all three sensors the same way, but all incorrect. Maybe the company sent out a new spec sheet with an incorrect setting on the sheet and all the maintanance people set them the wrong way.

Probably, NOT y2k related.

-- Helium (HeliumAvid@yahoo.com), January 11, 2000.

Hall Effect sensors need a metal target nearby. If the gap between the metal target and the sensor is set incorrectly the output of the sensor will be wrong. If the bracket isn't firmly attached, vibration can move it off-center.

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 11, 2000.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Even if the reason that they had been recently adjusted is that they were being merely double-checked to confirm that they had been remediated, or to confirm that no remediation would be necessary, this problem would still lay at the feet of Y2K.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), January 12, 2000.

Ja, you betcha. Uffda, hey?

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), January 12, 2000.