Loss of control (aeronautics)

An aircraft experiences loss of control when it fails to properly respond to a pilots control inputs. Loss of control has been the cause of many air disasters, including China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303, United Airlines Flight 585, Copa Airlines Flight 201, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 and Aeroflot flight 4227

Effects on aircraft

Aircraft experiencing a loss of control, depart from normal flight and can reach attitudes or situations from which it is impossible for them to be recovered. Due to the certification and design processes, it is extremely rare for airliners to experience a loss of control without extreme mis-handling or technical defect.

Aeroflot flight 8641. less than three weeks after the VASP disaster another accident hit the current list of the top 101 worst accidents. Metal Fatigue in the Jackscrew of the Horizontal stabilizer of flight 8641 caused the component to fail while the plane was en route from leningrad to kiev, russia . the crew lost control of the plane and at 10:50 crashed just south of the city of Mozyr in Belarus killing all onboard. In the Aftermath of the tragedy , Authorities grounded all Yakolev 42s, and the planes underwent major design changes until the deemed worthy to fly again in late 1984.

on July 1992 a Yakovlev 42D Flight 7552 took off from Nanjing (Nanking) and climbed to about 60m when it lost control and crashed into a pond, 600m past the runway and caught fire.

China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 lost control during take-off from Xi'an, China, the aircraft a Tupolev Tu-154 had had maintenance carried out before it's flight and the autopilot yaw-channel had been erroneously connected to the bank control, and vice versa. Additionally, this incorrect maintenance was not done in a properly approved facility. When the pilot engaged the autopilot the aircraft began to oscillate violently, Any attempts to rectify matters only made things worse, the plane shook itself to pieces, breaking up in midair before the crew could react, killing all on board.

On March 3, 1991, United Airlines Flight 585 was on final approach to Colorado Springs Municipal Airport from Stapleton when the 737-200 spun out of control. All 20 passengers and 5 crew were killed.

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 took off from Mexico en route to California. The MD-83 had been in maintenance and the T-tail's jackscrew had not been checked as called for in the maintenance schedule. The jackscrew failed in flight causing immediate loss of control. During attempts to regain control by the pilots, the aircraft dived sharply twice, the second dive caused the the ailerons to tear off and the aircraft to roll inverted. The pilots attempted to control the aircraft while inverted to no avail, the plane eventually the aircraft dived into the Pacific Ocean with the loss of all on board.

Copa Airlines Flight 201 was preparing too land in fierce thunderstorms and the pilots were getting false readings and was a very shockingly similar accident, a year earlier another Boeing 737-200 flipped, rotated and crashed killing 25 people in Colorado Springs. the plane then entered into a steep dive of an angle of 100 degrees to the right side and rolled uncontrolable to the ground, until it passed the speed of sound and as a consequence, the plane passed the speed limit to hold itself. The pilots tried to level up the aircraft as a desperate and heroic try to save the plane, but it crashed in a jungle area of the Darien Gap at the speed of 400 knots (460 miles per hour), killing all 47 passengers on board instantly.

Aeroflot flight 4227 took of shortly from Almaty international airport to Simferopol Airport, the tupolev entered an altitude of no more then 500 and was in a zone of hot air, the plane entered a steep nose dive and stalled the crew lost control and crashed killing 163 people.

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