By TIM VAN BEVEREN<br><br><br>Just Barely Got
Away . . . <br>Swissair Flight 551, 16.October
1993<br><br>It was just supposed to be a short flight from
Munich to Zurich. At 9:22 a.m. local time the
McDonnell-Douglas DC-9/MD-81 started its engines and began taxing
to runway 26 Left at Munich’s new „Franz-Josef
Strauss" airport. At 9:35 Swissair flight 551 received its
takeoff clearance and got airborne. Everything was
running routinely untill the aircraft reached flight
level 180 (18.000 feet) near the German city of
Kempten, at the foothills of the Alps. <br><br>A few
minutes later captain Alexander Thal noticed an unusual
smell. He told his copilot Martin Hörler right away, and
both men observed a thin veil of smoke –similar to
that of a cigarette – seeping out from underneath the
landing light switches on the overhead panel between
their heads. At just that moment, flight attendant René
Lüssi, who happened to be in the cockpit, pointed his
finger at the Emergency Power Switch and said: "there’s
smoke coming out of there." <br><br>Thal thought for a
brief moment: continuing to Zurich would according to
his estimate, take – and if just by but a few minutes
– longer than turning back. He decided for the
return to Munich and informed air traffic control.
Pushing the transmit buttom at his control wheel he said:
"We have some electrical smoke developing in the
cockpit. Request clearance back to Munich immediately." In
retrospect, the only right thing to do. The investigation
later concluded that primarily the pilots’ swift
decision was responsible for the relatively smooth outcome
of the incident.<br><br>Approximately ten minutes
after takeoff, Thal received the clearance to turn
back, and initiated a left turn. Munich’s air traffic
controller specifically asked if SR 551 wanted to declare an
"Emergency", which the pilots negated. When approached on the
subject today, Thal said: „At that point in time, it just
didn’t look serious enough to justify an emergency." In
the cockpit the two men now donned their oxygen masks
and smoke goggles. Thereafter captain Thal made an
announcement to the passengers, however in English only,
because during the boarding he had noticed mainly
foreigners: „Ladies and Gentlemen, due to a small technical
problem, we are returning to Munich to have it
investigated further. I will keep you informed on our
progress. For now there is now cause for worry. It is just
to check the electrical system." <br><br>Prior to
this public address, he had instructed his copilot to
prepare the checklist for "Electrical Smoke". About four
minutes after the decision to turn back, they could begin
to work with the checklist. This intended amongst
other things, for both electrical generators to be
taken offline. Thereafter however, not only the entire
left half of the copilot’s panel shut down - as
planned and foreseen by the manufacturer – but the
captain’s instruments failed as well. This action was
immediately reversed, whereafter the primary instruments on
the copilots side became available again. The smoke
though, quickly got thicker, and restricted the view of
the remaining instruments. For that reason captain
Thal decided at 9:51 to make another broadcast: „The
smoke is becoming heavier. We are declaring emergency
now!"