Flying an airplane without control surfaces
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There have been a number of aviation incidents in which the control surfaces became unavailable, typically due to loss of hydraulics. Aircraft are not designed to be flown in such circumstances (which is why they have redundant hydraulics), but a few pilots have had some success in controlling such an aircraft. The biggest challenge is to avoid the phugoid instability mode, which requires careful use of the throttle.
- American Airlines Flight 96 on June 12,1972. Failure of cargo door causes explosive decompression, which caused floor to collapse and severed flight controls on DC-10 Aircraft. Pilots had a jammed rudder, limited ailerons and limited elevators. Engine #2 shifted to idle at time of decompression. Aircraft landed safely at Detroit Metro.
- Turkish Airlines Flight 981 on March 3,1974. Failure of cargo door causes explosive decompression, which caused floor to collapse and severed flight controls on DC-10 Aircraft. Engine #2 flamed out at time of decompression.
- Japan Airlines Flight 123 on August 12, 1985 lost the vertical stabilizer due to mechanical failure. The pilots were only partially able to regain control of the aircraft.
- United Airlines Flight 232 on July 19, 1989 was another case where all control surfaces failed. Dennis Fitch, a deadheading DC-10 instructor who had studied the case of JAL Flight 123, was able to help the pilots fly the plane in a limited fashion.
- Philippine Airlines Flight 434 on December 11, 1994 had hydraulics damaged due to a bomb in the passenger cabin.
- DHL Flight on 22 November, 2003 was the first jet airliner to land safely without any hydraulics.
After these partial successes, research into engine-only control for emergency use has been conducted.
