I flew the older 747 -200 for 15 years and was an instructor, Chief Pilot and Check pilot on that type. We had 2 pilots and a Flight engineer as opposed to the captain and two copilots on this type (-400) My procedure for calculating the take off speeds was for all cockpit crew members to independently calculate tha take off speeds from our tables and then compare them. If, for any reason the aircraft was not accelerating fast enough (sometimes due to undetected windshear) the throttles were advanced to full power and care was taken to rotate to 10 degrees nose up to let the plane fly off. This made sure of not having a tail strike. If we did have a APU fire (never happened to me, but practiced many times on the sim) we fired the extinguishers and only would have to make an emergency landing if the fire warning remained on. A "fly by" near the control tower would have determined whether there was an APU fire still raging. The fuel dumping in the 747-200 (and presumably the -400) was at the wing tips --so tne danger of fire was minimal. This incident was a cockpit crew problem. These things can happen if you are not alert. Once, when taxiing out a 747 from JFK to Frankfurt with a full load, the Tower asked us to take another runway. I asked the copilot and flight engineer if that runway was acceptable to them. They said that it was ok. I told the Tower that we could not accept that runway as it was too short for us. This happened while taxiing at JFK--which some pilots called a madhouse. There was no time in a dark cockpit with stacatto radio instructions coming in to recheck all our speeds or runways. But I knew the runways from years of flying 707s, DC 10s, and 747s out of JFK and knew that we could not make it from that runway. How easily it would have been for an inexperienced captain to have blindly accepted the runway change--and a possible disaster. In imparting training my motto was : "A Good Pilot is a THINKING pilot."

You have to give the old 747 credit - with all the errors, tail dragging, power too low, and crew not helping much, it still flew them back for a safe landing.

No way the amount of detail in this sim is crazy! I work Airside at Auckland airport and i noticed where the buses are parked up in front of the 747, they even have the skybus (which is the bus operator company) opr office and lunch room with the actual sign in there wow. And the Novotel outside of the Airport even. Thats crazy

I love it when these stories end safely with no lives lost.

My father, a former L1011 senior captain, always told his crew...if you're getting into a stall, you instantly slam the throttles to the firewall, level off, and pray. THEN pull out the dam checklist.

It just defies belief that the first officer didn’t look at those V ref speeds and immediately say to himself, hang on, that doesn’t look right, what’s going on here?

I used to work on the 34th Floor of the Vero centre in Auckland. My desk window looked looked to to the airport area, and I saw this 747 circling, and I said to my colleague at the time that there must be an issue, as the plane was just flying around with no obvious departure of the Auckland airspace. I remember being very troubled by the sighting, but then got busy and thought about it no more. On the news that night it became apparent that this issue had occurred. I have flown SQ286 to Singapore many times from Auckland, and its departure time used to be around 14:30. Funny how we remember these things that many years later. Great Simulation.

I distinctly remember this. I live in Auckland not far from the Auckland Airport. I saw it fly right overhead really low. It had a massive hole in the rear. An unbelievable sight that I've never forgotten. Amazing that it landed and didn't break up. Wish I had a phone/camera to take a photo but back then but we didn't all carry them around like today.

The simulated view from in front of the 747 after takeoff with the runway getting smaller and smaller behind it is the most realistic thing I've ever seen in these videos. Unbelievable quality. I blame the First Officer about 80% for this almost tragedy. The remaining fault lies with the Captain, not just for the erroneous FMC entry, but for not fire-walling the throttles at any time during this event. Degraded runway performance...low airspeed and an almost stall...what was he doing, or not doing? Great great job on this one. I've seen other sims of this incident but they didn't go nearly into the information or simulation detail you did. Bravo!!!

Another example of the lack of situational awareness that overcomes pilots who become numb to the real world sensations of flying. Over-dependence on the computers is not only dangerous, but turns people into robots; which I've seen and experienced. When it was clear that the plane wasn't responding after the V1 "rotate" announcement, a real wrold-sensitive pilot would have pushed the throttles to full power. They never did use full engine power! They're damned lucky they didn't run out of runway and end up in a massive fireball of epic proportions. 😵😵‍💫

A strikingly similar incident happened 6 years later. On 20 March 2009, A6-ERG, operating Emirates Flight 407 from Melbourne to Dubai, suffered a similar tail-strike during takeoff, and this was even closer to a catastrophe as the A340-500 hit the localizer antenna array. One of the pilots had also understated the aircraft's weight by 100 tons prior to takeoff, and neither the other pilot nor the flight management computer notice anything unusual. The Airbus fortunately landed safely without injury to the 275 people onboard, but was badly damaged and returned to service only in December that year after being repaired by the manufacturer. The aviation industry needs to learn from these incidents!

Despite the mistakes made by the pilots and the reckless take-off, I'm sure everyone is comfortable and pleased that the plane returned safely and did not end in a fatal disaster.

I flew the 747 for ten years. How ALL THREE guys missed this is beyond me. It’s one thing to make a mistake, but the other two guys are there to back you up, ESPECIALLY the second first officer. Pretty pathetic.

So, all of this happens because a first officer is incapable of accurately copying down figures and the other two crew members didn't spot it. MARVELOUS! add to this a Captain who incorrectly handles a stall warning, and you have the perfect cockpit crew. However, despite the mistakes, they managed a safe landing and no one was killed or even injured, so credit due to them for that.

Thank goodness everyone survived. Fortunate day for everyone despite skidding no major fire or failure to land. Once again an amazing editing.

I worked in the Hangars in Auckland and had to steam clean/water blast the dirt and grass! YES Dirt and Grass off and out of the APU area the very next morning it was towed around to the hangars That plane was very lucky not to end up in sea! I was lucky to keep a piece of that plane as a souvenir!! A team from Boeing came down and worked around the clock for weeks to get that plane airworthy again.

The iconic Boeing 747 is just one of the most beautiful and graceful looking planes ever. NOTHING Airbus has can even come close to one.

Absolutely crazy to think that even the slightest oversight or error, could lead to such massively catastrophic results. Glad they landed safely but, damn!

I would have liked to see some pictures of the damage this tail strike would have caused. I looked it up on google and the damage was tremendous!

What's interesting is that they should have noticed the mistake when there was a large discrepancy between the FMC and FO's calculated speeds. Then again maybe they've input the wrong weight values in the FMC too so the values maybe goofy too. Still at a certain TOW, experience will tell you that a certain weight range usually corresponds to a certain V-speed range. IMHO the Captain should have investigated further and cross-checked the values as he was already made aware of the weights from the loadsheet but given their circumstances (delay + pressure) I can see how they could miss this important detail. I'm just glad they safely climbed out and made it back down on the ground in one piece. It could've gotten worse really. Just goes to show that there's no room for complacency in the industry even if you are experienced and I thank you for making this video for imparting an important and humbling reminder.

Great video as always, but this one seems a little unfinished. Did the APU actually catch fire? What was the extent of the damage resulting from the tale strike? Did the flight crew, in particular the pilot receive additional type training as a direct result of the incident?

This terrified me, and is a good lesson in checking and thinking critically- in my case in preventing medication errors in hospital with vulnerable children. Thank you for these amazing videos!

the tail damage was immense.. can believe that. curious as to why no pics here or outcome for the pilots? was the flight crew punished?

I still remember watching this aircraft after take off over manukau city I was in the car park of the westfield shopping center as it did the turn around to return to the airport

I’ve heard of tail strikes causing miniature fractures or fatigue that resulted in a crash many years later…I hope and assume they are well aware of that

The gods were certainly with this plane that day. I didn’t think this was going end well. Another fantastic production TFC 🖤👏

Love the detail, down to the little people and trucks. And thank you for being respectful and remembering fatalities in some accidents.

Outstanding sound design. TFC know how to tell a story with music and natural sound! Bravo!

It's amazing Singapore Airlines only ever had one major accident

What a catalogue of balls-ups that was. It's a miracle that no lives were lost.

So, was there an APU fire, or just false reading due to the prolonged tailstrike? Additionally, what damage was there to the 747 overall after tailstrike and overweight landing?

Nice video my friend!

During my flying days on the 747 and many other jets, EPR always stood for EXHAUST Pressure Ratio, not ENGINE Pressure Ratio, maybe it changed or Singapore calls it something else. In simple terms, it’s the ratio of P2 inlet pressure to exhaust pressure (maybe P7? It’s been many years) and EPR is used to set power instead of using N1 or N2 as in other types of aircraft and engine combinations. Really great video though, each of the pilots should have immediately realized that the V- speeds and EPR value were way, way too low for that aircraft at that weight. Those are even low speeds for a 737-800 or 900! Thanks for a well put together video, as usual.

I cant imagine how the passengers felt that sat at the back seat where the tail was grinding

I am a retired Naval aviator in earlier A/C, no computer input to take off speeds, etc. I was also a flight instructor in a single engine T-28 prop trainer, 1500 HP! All the jets had manual hydraulic assisted controls---pilot could feel every input stress (as high G-load required lots of strength). I tried to know as much as I could about the airspeeds needed for every maneuver, as well as what the A/C would feel like during the maneuver---"seat of the pants" flying (airmanship?). This was critical in high G air combat situations to avoid stalls. Stall prevention and recovery technique was drilled into every military pilot (assuming the USAF is almost as good as US Navy training!). This near disaster leads me to contemplate several ideas: 1. these pilots were NOT former military; 2. they were unaware of the basic speeds for their take-off, not to mention they were unaware of how much the A/C weight should have been---missing a weight by 100 tons is idiotic; 3. their stall recovery was barely adequate; 4. they all need serious retraining in bookwork and simulator before flying again.

I was a Flight Engineer for a cargo airline. This same thing happened twice at my airline. No crashes but two tail scrapes. The one I remember one of the pilots didn't have the proper credentials to operate the flight. So they had to get someone out of crew rest to operate. This caused a delay. The new pilot who didn't have his license decided help by filling out the take off card. Same exact thing he figured out the take off data 100,000 Kgs lower than the actual weight. Since they were delayed the new pilot also preflighted for the replacement pilot so he could just jump into the seat and they could go. No one checked the his take off card. Same thing they scrapped the tail. The pilot making the take off did push up the power during toke off. If he hadn't they would have been a smoking hole. The tower informed them that they had a tail strike. The airplane was pressurizing ok so they decided to continue to the US instead of dumping fuel and landing which is what the checklist said to do. As a Flight Engineer part of my job was to check the take off card. I always compared the load sheet weight added to the fuel weight that I put on the airplane to the weight on the card. Well anyway they were asked to seek employment elsewhere upon arrival at their destination.

Amazing video, keep up the good work!

Yesss early! Great video so far TFC!! I love Singapore Airlines :))

Thank you very much! Liked, subscribed and shared. My absolute favorite KZfaq channel by far.

I lived in, Titirangi, which is directly across the water from the runway end. Frightening to think where it could have ended up.

"Damn that seems really low weight for what I expected after flying about 400 of these flights with similar loads..."

I'll never understand why pilots just don't go full thrust with a stick shaker at low altitudes, it's caused so many tragedies. It's not like braking your car when u clearly see a pileup ahead.

Thanks TFC for bringing us those not-so-known incidents.

TFC should have put a photo of the tail strike. The damage is extensive. Did they write off the plane?

You've got it taking off in the wrong direction! It took off to the East, over a populated area. I was driving towards the airport and saw it struggling into the sky, really low over Manukau city centre and surrounding suburbs. Would've been an even bigger disaster than the (more usual) take off over water to the West that you've depicted.

The pilots should have been able to feel that the plane needed a higher take off speed and simply increased the power.

Thank God they turned back and landed safely. 🙏🏼 🙏🏿🙏🏼🙏🏾🙏🏽

Amazing as usual. Thank you TheFlightChannel.

the editing at the end is awesome!

Transcription errors can happen to anybody at any time (very grim). Let's be careful out there. Cheers!

So very glad the pilots were able to land this plane and save all souls on board especially since this event was preventable from the outset. Also glad they thought they had an APU fire and decided to land as the plane's tail section was obviously damaged to extensively to make the planned flight.

Every time I know there's going to be a take-off problem, I hold my breath. I don't realize I'm doing it until my brain finally disconnects from what's happening with the plane. Needless to say, these videos don't help with my fear of flying, but they fascinate me. I will never complain again about a flight being late. By all means, Pilots take all the time you need. I want you and your passengers to get to your destinations safely. Godspeed and happy trails. From a very sedated flyer.

A couple of things...when you are plugging in V-speeds regularly, you get used to seeing certain numbers over and over. When the numbers you come up with sound "off" they usually are, and require you to go back, check your work. Next...I've never heard of anyone making a Mayday call for a perceived APU fire. It could have been a sensor error, and even if it was burning back there, by pulling the T-handle (I know..Boeing calls it a "switch") you have stopped: Air, Fuel, and Spark...so that AND suppressant going into the compartment, the Fire will go out eventually. I'm surprised the 747-400 doesn't have some kind of Takeoff configuration " warning. That would have caught the wrong numbers going in the box. Even Barbie Jets (ERJ's/CRJ's) have this feature. Next is overweight landing...I'm on the 767, and they tell us that technically, there's no such thing...that the gear will take the weight. Just Don't want to do a "Carrier Landing ". .grease it on, write it up. Could have ended WAY worse if you think about that huge Airplane with all thar fuel careening into a neighborhood off the end of the runway as is the case at most large Airports in the World. Lesson: if it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't.

How can you NOT apply full power as soon as you feel the stick shaker?? Even as a non pilot that would be my first spontanous reaction.. Also at take off... as soon as you realize something is wrong and the plane doesnt take off as planned... then of course apply either full power or full brake.... ?!

Great to hear a story with a happy ending once in a while.

Great upload! Thanks.

These guys were really lucky. Its amazing with the tail drag(friction), reduced takeoff power they ever were able to get airborne. I'm shocked they didn't stall it at low level/low power. Wouldn't it be procedure to lower the nose and apply full power? The pusher lowered the nose pitch..I'm surprised the Capt never applied full power...

First Officer may need a refresher course in Math?

So glad they made it back safely!

This is still the best re-enactment channel of all. Thanks

Not to be underestimated is crew fatique! SG is known to keep the rest time within the minimum time possible according to aviation laws. Every 747-pilot know that a take-off weight of below 300 tons for such a long flight and fully booked has to be too low.

The captain going from an A340 to a 747 was a big change. It's an entirely different kind of flying, altogether!

I'm from Jamaica and have flown on Singapore airlines several times during my working years. I have the highest regard for the pilots of the Megatop 747s, elegantly dressed flight attendants, and oh, the wonderful in-flight service. Now that I'm retired, I grasp every opportunity to read about the airline. Very glad that all ended well. I've been telling (those who will listen) that the airline has the best pilots in the world.

The mods that you use to make FSX way more realistic than it actually looks is incredible, I wish I could have a set like yours.

I used to fly in the same training circuit with SIA recruits in the mid 90’s. All I can say is money doesn’t buy flying skills… Their airmanship, navigation and lack of communication in the circuit and training area was appalling. Finally the college concerned grounded them for 2 weeks, purchased a fleet of bicycles, cleared out one of the hangers and made them ride circuits yelling out radio calls, settings, airspeed etc. They were the joke of the airport. One can only hope they improved…

What happened to the FO and Pilot after the investigation?

Loving these videos 👍

Love your videos and have been subscribed for a while now. At 6:18 you have transposed the lables V2 and VR.

Very good Video as always, but this captain flew A340 and he had never VR at 130knots for sure, so why should a way heavier 747-400 liftoff at 130knots? Thats simple logic!

I saw this one in a movie. I believe it was called "The Three Stooges get their Pilot's License."

These videos are so good. Keep it up

Brilliant video and overview. Respect to the Boeing 747.

Very good video

Thanks for the video! Though one thing does not make sense to me: If they thought they were 100 tonnes lighter than they actually were, then they would not even have to discuss the topic of "overweight landing / dumping or not dumping fuel". It looks like they did not understand any of their weight and speed numbers. At 250 tonnes a 747-400 is not overweight for landing (it allows 265 tonnes) - no awareness of anything whatsoever. Amazing. At least the captain was able to hand-fly the aircraft to a safe landing and somehow did pick the proper approach speed there - or at least a "workable" speed (with 100 tonnes less you would fly slower with the same flap setting). Thinking of that: The landing might have been pretty dangerous, too - with that lack of awareness of the pilots. Imagine somewhat less favorable weather, e.g. stronger winds! Everybody that flies themselves knows that being too slow on approach can be especially dangerous then.

Your animation is the Best!

I do miss the 747. Such a fantastic plane to travel in. I have been told it's the best plane to fly. I hear that some of the mothballed 747s are coming back for cargo runs.

Good video 👌

Why wasn’t full thrust applied when they realised the plane is struggling to climb with the stick shaker going off?

hi the edit is so amazing

Great video.

- plane scrapes along runway and struggles into the air with underbelly absolutely destroyed "Did that feel like a tail strike to you?" "Nah, nothing to see, as we were." The level of crew incompetence displayed during this incident was staggering. It's only through sheer luck that this didn't end with hundreds of dead people.

Oddly enough, the very same incident happened to an Emirates A340-500. Once again, the first officer made a mistake about the take off weight when entering it into the FMS by 100 tons.

No injuries. Great story! Thanks.

I don't know if you can see this @theflightchannel but I've seen each and every one of your videos. they are so damn addictive... personal favorites are your recreations of the Southwest 1380 United Airlines 232 US airways 1549 Cried when I saw ALASKA 261, Swiss Air 111 and somehow UPS flight 6 was also really really sad because of the audio 😭 that poor pilot, flying that plane alone while it was on fire. so many more favorites I would like to mention.. Helios Flight 522.. Saudia Flight 163 (was actually comical!) .. Biritsh airways flight 009 (flew through volcanic ash) .. Birtish airways flight 5390 (captain flew out the plane) Aaaa this makes me want to rewatch all these videos again

Great music and vid to match it with. I have two comments. How does a seasoned first officer not understand immediately that his number is off? Second wouldn't even an inexperienced capt. want to know why his computer has come up with such a different set of speed inputs? I am a very curious person so I would automatically be triggered to want answers before I launch into the sky.

When the stall warning cries out, lower the nose and confirm full power. This could have been deadly.

So glad everyone survived!

Amazing video as always TFC!...because of ur recreations in the flight sim..I'm starting to believe this is REALLY how it happened..and could you make a video about the crash of El Al Flight 1862 or "High Rise Catastrophe"?..i find the crash really interesting and scary...would really appreciate it if u recreated it in ur flight sim...thx!

They were very very lucky to get off that lightly

And this is why using minimum thrust at takeoff is bad. " autothrottle " is also bad.

Exciting to see the plane make it off the runway and not stall!! These videos can be so sad.

What is the outro music? So good, I always love when this one is used! Thanks for another excellent video :)

Something I have learned in my surveying (data collection) career is to estimate values before calculating or measuring. This process will reduce gross errors in reading or transcribing data. Seriously, off by 30 knots of speed should be something that would have been caught if the crew just estimated and made a silly bet. Have everybody do it, and whoever is closest gets bragging rights, or something to make it interesting.

I was on board that plane to Singapore returning to UK. Following take off we circled around Auckland for about 45 minutes before landing with an escort of fire engines, making one fly past the airport. At one stage the "captain" announced we were about to land in Christchurch, which did not instil confidence in the cabin. The report into the incident did say the crew were busy explaining ops the reason for the delay when they were completing take-off prep. We flew the next day and Singapore Airlines did their very best to help us get over. We were very fortunate that the "good old 747" and the passengers and crew survived this adventure. There was considerable damage to the tale section, I understand the captain and plane did not fly with Singapore Airlines again....

Another fabulous video TFC! But yet another one where I'm yelling at my screen: "STUFF THE STICK FORWARD!! FULL POWER!! GET THE FLAPS UP!! YOU'RE GONNA CRASH 'N' BURN!" Is there something wrong with ATPL training?

The editing 🔥

a full load 747, speeds come out to 120 130 ish and nobody batted an eye. Incredible brain fart moment from the pilots

Still in stick shaker and the pilot turns? Why not set about 10degrees pitch, go to full throttle, keep wings level and ‘fly the airplane’????

Wow, what an error, and I am sure the passengers were all enjoying the view not knowing that they almost were killed

"you miscalculated the takeoff weight..... its ok. Turns out we miscalculated your paycheck as well."