評論
打印
In the month the glide scope had been under repair, there had been something like 1,500 safe landings at Guam airport.
在“跑道射燈”進行修理的那個月里，已經有1500架飛機都安全著陸在關島機場。
It was a small thing-an inconvenience, really, that make the task of landing a plane just a little bit more difficult.
這只是個小問題——不方便而已，真的只會給降落增加了一點困難。
"The second complication was the weather," Brenner continued. "Normally in the South Pacific, you've got these brief weather situations.
博瑞納繼續(xù)說道:“第二個因素是天氣問題，通常在南太平洋，這樣的天氣你會收到天氣預報。
But they go back quickly. You don't have storms. It's a tropical paradise.
而且天氣變化很快，一般都不會有暴風雨，這里是熱帶氣候的天堂。
But that night, there was some little cells, and it just happens that that evening, they were going to be flying into one of those little cells, a few miles from the airport.
但是那天晚上，上空有云層，而且也就只有那天晚上有，當時，他們就在距機場幾英里以外的地方，剛剛就要進入云層地帶。”
So the captain has to decide.What exactly is my procedure for landing?
因此，機長此刻必須決定，究竟需要采取哪種程序來進行著陸。
Well，they were cleared for what's called a VOR/DME approach. It's complicated.It's a pain in the ass.
他們接到指令使用航路全向信標／測距儀（VOR/DME）下降程序。這很復雜，很難處理。
It takes a lot of coordination to set it up. You have to calm down in steps.
這需要很多協調工作進行跟進，你必須按步驟執(zhí)行，
But then, as it happens, from miles out, the captain sees the lights of Guam. So he relaxes.
但是，當機長在幾英里外看到關島的燈光時，他感到很放松。
And he says, 'We're doing a visual approach.'"
并且他說：“我們進行目測著陸。”
The VOR is a beacon that sends out a signal that allows the pilots to calculate their altitude as they approach an airport.
當飛行員接近機場時，可以依靠VOR發(fā)送信號的燈光，幫助他們計算距離地面的高度。
It's what pilots would rely on before the invention of the glide scope.
在跑道射燈沒有發(fā)明以前，飛行員就是依靠這個來計算高度的。
The captain's strategy was to use the VOR to get the plane close, and then once he could see the lights of the runway, to land the plane visually.
機長的策略是先使用VOR讓飛機接近機場，然后一旦看見跑道的燈光，就使用目測著陸。
Pilots do visual landings all the time. It seemed to make sense.
這看來很可行，飛行員經常做目測著陸。
But every time a pilot chooses a plane, he is supposed to prepare a backup in case things go awry.And this captain didn't.
而且每次飛行員采用一種計劃時，都應該同時還有一種備選計劃，以防止意外情況發(fā)生。但這位機長沒有這樣做。
"They should have been coordinating.You should have been briefing for the (DME) step-downs," Brenner went on."But he doesn't talk about that.
“駕駛艙內應該進行協調，機長應該告知大家將DME放慢，但是他沒有講。”班瑞納繼續(xù)說道，
The storm cells are all around them, and what the captain seems to be doing is assuming that at some point he's going to break out of the clouds and see the airport.
“暴風雨天氣正包圍著他們，看起來機長認為他可以穿越云層而且已看到機場，
And if he doesn't see it, by 560 feet, he'll just go around. Now, that would work, except for one thing.
如果他在560英尺的高度依然看不見，他就會復飛，現在那看起來比較可行，除了另一件事，
The VOR on which he's basing his strategy is not at the airport.It's 2.5 miles away on Nimitz Hill.
機長使用的VOR程序定位并不是在機場內，而是在2.5英里以外的尼米茲山上。
