Page 7 - Captain Collins News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Erubis. >> i kept a log of everyone that was out and what they were doing just for safety sakes. >> 40 minutes from their frozen destination, passengers on flight 901 are standing at the windows, eager for their first glimpse at the endless expanse of ice. >> captain collins radios robinson to find out about the current weather conditions and learns there's a huge problem. >> that particular day the mountain was completely whited out. >> robinson cautions captain collins about the low cloud cover that descend to 2,000 feet. >> i was keen to let him know that he shouldn't come anywhere near ros...

Westward is located. >> we were 150 kilometers away. we were in brilliantly fine weather. >> but captain collins ignores robinson's advice and just after noon he begins his descent. air traffic control confirms a low overcast and reports of light snow. but below the clouds visibility is about 40 miles. collins announces to passengers he's hopeful he can descend low enough to give them a good view of ross island. he spots a hole in the cloud cover and is cleared by air traffic control for a visual descent. but the four-man crew is having trouble spotting landmarks through the clouds as peter ma...

Landing. and then they accept a runway change that will speed up their arrival time. but first officer don williams says he'll have to scramble to get down in time for the shorter approach. >> modern jets are so aerodynamically efficient, one of the greatest challenges in flying them is getting them down and getting them to slow down. speed breaks or flight spoilers are devices used to help increase the descent rate to help it slow down. >> the captain deploys 965 speed brakes and types in the letter r for rozo, the code for the radio beacon a few miles short of the runway. but instead of flyi...

Then, once flight computers have gotten the airbus into position, he'll go manual and circle to land at the new runway, runway 5. flight 5148 begins its descent. they plan to land in 15 minutes, but there's growing tension and a growing problem in the cockpit. captain hekay is getting behind his breakthrough jet. >> getting behind the airplane is a widely used statement to say that the pilot's thinking of what's going on is behind where the airplane actually is. >> at 7:13, the captain switches to manual even earlier. otherwise he'll have to wait for three other jets scheduled to take off from...

>> air new zealand promoted it to be a special event, to see the bottom of the world. they were selling an experience. >> but just minutes from their final destination, a terrifying explosion shatters the silence. it's so loud it seems one of antarctica's largest volcanos is coming to life. it's summer in new zealand and captain jim collins is very proud to have drown one very plum assignment. >> it was a privilege to get one of those flights, and it was a privilege to be getting one of the last ones. >> this is the captain's first flight to antarctica. 19 days before takeoff they're briefed o...