I've picked up a little more detail on Tower's incident at Amsterdam. It was foggy, and they had already missed the approach once. On their second try, they had the runway, but some last moment maneuvering became necessary due to a patch of fog, and they decided to go around the second time. It was on this go-around that they scraped the wing tip and the #4 engine. The pilots were unaware that it had happened. Their third attempt to land was successful.

The damage was not found until after the crew had left the airplane. The FAA has started enforcement action against the captain, an Iranian, and one of our check airman. I've flown with him. He's a good guy and a good pilot, and it was his leg—at least according to the paper work. The f.o. was also an Iranian. They really stick together, so it's possible the f.o. was flying even though the weather conditions would have required that the captain be at the controls. They would have made sure the paperwork reflected the proper person flying.

I've done that as a captain—i.e. the weather required me to be at the controls, but it was the f.o.'s leg, so I let him continue to fly but we made sure the paperwork showed things correctly. It's an unnecessary rule, really a bad rule in my opinion. In extremely bad weather I think the best way is to have the f.o. fly and let the captain monitor. It's like an emergency situation, they used to teach that the captain should fly. Now they realize that the actual handling of the aircraft is second to the management of the emergency. Tower teaches, and I agree, that in an emergency the f.o. flies, the captain manages. That should be extended to any critical situation—including a really bad weather approach. Hopefully the bad weather rule will eventually be changed.

Concerning the American Airlines accident at Cali, I talked to one of our flight engineers who was in the air that day and who had actually talked to the American flight just before they started their descent into Cali. I also talked to one of our captains who is a friend of a friend of the American captain killed. He was a very experienced man, well thought of in every way, and had spent a lot of time on South American routes.

Apparently at Cali the approach is almost always flown the same way. This time, however, ATC made a last minute change. There's a radio navigation facility, Tulua, a few miles north of the airport that is not used for the usual approach path. The aircraft was also north of the airport and north of Tulua when clearance was given for an approach via Tulua. Tulua's coordinates (latitude & longitude) were not in the navigation system's selected waypoints. The aircraft was southbound, and the crew decided to put Tulua in as a waypoint (that would be pretty standard). Unfortunately, while they were putting in the way point, the aircraft passed Tulua. At this point the crew thinks Tulua is still in front of them when it's actually behind them. They finish establishing the way point and command the airplane to proceed to the airport via Tulua.

Computers, which of course is what the navigation system is, are great at doing exactly what you tell them even if that's not what you really wanted. The airplane obediently started a right turn to go back to Tulua. Unfortunately there's a 14,000 foot hill to the right of that approach path. The pilots, of course, should have realized what was happening. Obviously they had lost their situational awareness. What can one say. Shit happens.