Very suspect 737 takeoff

[Trevatanus]

From someone more knowledgeable than I, was this take off as bad as it looks?
Thoughts on what pilot did wrong? Maybe tried to rotate too early?

http://youtu.be/Kle80KB_s3I

[Simpo Two]

Didn't seem to accelerate properly - my guess is V1 was too early and not enough power.

[fatboy69]

Buttock clenching I would have thought had you been a passenger on that!!

[eccles]

I'm sure the lack of flaps won't help it leap into the air!

[Chuck328]

"Check this out Bloggs, ever done a wheelie in a 73?, we'll even try a small 'Ollie' just like those skateboarders do"

[Dr Jekyll]

Lack of flaps was the first problem, rotating too slow (for a flapless take off) the second. it looks like he put the nose up so far in an attempt to get airborne that he had too much drag to gain true flying speed and just climbed a few feet in ground effect. Then had the runway length and presence of mind to put the nose down to gain speed and accept that the aircraft would descend again in the meantime.

[Johnnybee]

Slimming club summer holiday?

[Mabbs9]

They must have ignored the takeoff configuration warning. It's been a while but flap 5 or 15 I think were the options on the 73. Lucky to get away with that.

[stuttgartmetal]

I felt myself willing it into the air.

[eccles]

Johnnybee said:

Slimming club summer holiday?

Perhaps it was one of those special flights for those who are scared of flying!

[peter tdci]

In the video, you can see that the flaps/slats weren't retracted, so it could have been configured correctly (flaps 1?).

Airspeed indication reading too high? The aircraft continued its flight, so maybe not this. V speeds calculated too low? Incorrect weights/temps entered into the FMC?

Good job by the pilot to recover though. And thank goodness for a loooong runway!

[pushthebutton]

Leading edge (LE) slats are extended so Flaps are either set at 1 or 5. That means the trailing edge (TE) flaps are also extended. The first two settings are potentially less perceptible, but the fact that the LE slats are extended means that the TE flaps must be too.

My guess would be an incorrect weight entered into the FMC giving an incorrect (too low) rotate speed (Vr). Entering the Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW) as the Gross Weight is a common mistake on some Boeings.

[Blib]

Is that a stackable offence?

[pushthebutton]

It's still a guess, but mostly no as long as you're honest.

ME3 then possibly yes. I can remember at least two from them fairly recently and I think that the pilots got sacked, but happy to be corrected. Strange thinking IMO as they're now the least likely of all pilots to make that mistake again.

ETA:

Wait...stackable? Yeah that easily could've been stackable.

[Sylvaforever]

Well things did not go to plan, BUT the pilot actually did a fine job of catching a dropping ball.

Those are the sort of pilots you want to fly with.

[pushthebutton]

Sylvaforever said:

Well things did not go to plan, BUT the pilot actually did a fine job of catching a dropping ball.

Those are the sort of pilots you want to fly with.

They definitely scared themselves that's for sure. As Peter said, a shorter runway and you may well have a different view.

[mikef]

I would be wanting a word with whoever did the weight and balance calculations. Well held that man

[pushthebutton]

mikef said:

I would be wanting a word with whoever did the weight and balance calculations. Well held that man

I'm pretty sure it's not that.

If they weren't within the weight and balance limits there's a good chance that it wouldn't have been able to sustain flight at all.

[Steve_D]

pushthebutton said:

mikef said:

I would be wanting a word with whoever did the weight and balance calculations. Well held that man

I'm pretty sure it's not that.

If they weren't within the weight and balance limits there's a good chance that it wouldn't have been able to sustain flight at all.

I may be wrong but it is not about being over weight or out of balance.
The calculation is done by inputting the info into the aircraft computer which then sets the required throttle and the V1, V2 speeds. If the wrong info has been input(aircraft thinks it is lighter than it actually is) the computer would perhaps be telling the pilot to rotate at too slow a speed and the engine power would be low. It may also have asked for a lesser flap setting.

This is all done to reduce noise and fuel burnt. My father always complained about this saying he just wanted to get as high as he could in the least time it being inherently safer that way.

Steve

[anonymous-user]

Flaps are set to what looks like 1 with the slats extended.

Possible causes are likely to be incorrect take off performance or early rotation or as Royal Air Maroc state, wake turbulence from the preceding aircraft.