http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/rox/2435919 March 5, 2004, 10:29PM Murphy shaken up on flight Broadcaster's plane makes successful emergency landing By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle MINNEAPOLIS -- Hours later, Calvin Murphy was still shaking, his voice loud, his eyes sprung wide-open. Two flights and one harrowing emergency landing later, Murphy touched down in a Minnesota snowstorm, his heart still beating fast even by his high-octane standards. "I'm just so happy to be here," said Murphy, the Rockets broadcaster and Hall of Famer, after arriving at the Target Center in the second quarter. In Atlanta on Friday, Murphy's connecting flight, Airtrans Flight 852, had to turn back when an electrical fire broke out in the cabin. "Smoke was coming out of the vents," Murphy said. "The emergency lights all came on. The flight attendants were shooting the fire extinguishers under the floor. "There was an old couple in the front just hanging on to each other. The guy next to me was saying over and over, `We're going to be all right, we're going to be all right, we're going to be all right.' "It all happened so fast. We had to be five, 10 minutes (in the air) when it started. You watch it happen, and you're just saying, `This ain't happening, this ain't happening, this ain't happening.' " When the plane landed, Murphy said, "That pilot stopped us on a dime." Murphy said the plane was taken into the grass along the runway to stop more quickly, and then evacuated rapidly through emergency exits. Murphy said he helped older women down and off the slides as fire trucks rushed into position. "I got to tell you, those people knew just what they were doing," Murphy said. "It happened and, bam, they went into action. They were great. But I'm still shaking."
Wow! What a terrifying experience that must have been! That has to be one of the most helpless situations to be in.
Last night Mr. Murphy said something like it's not his turn (to die) yet. What a scary experience... I wonder if Bill & Calvin didn't go together on the same plane?
STAY AWAY from AirTran if you can. Used to be called ValueJet. They have some very old planes in their fleet. They are dirt cheap and sometimes it's just difficult to avoid - especially if you live in Atlanta. After more than 20 trips, saving houndreds each time - I vowed never to fly them again - based on numerous negative factors.
True Airtran used to be Valujet, however it was a brand new Boeing 717 that had the problem. Airtran has retired all of their OLD DC-9's. I am a bit shocked that Calvin was flying Airtran and not Continental or Northwest who has direct Houston to MSP flights.
I was on a SW Airlines flight coming back from Vegas and we lost an engine....had to land on one engine. Dropped 25,000 feet in 3 minutes and landed in Lubbock. I was with a friend of mine from England and this guy sitting next to us was saying over and over " We are going to die...we are going to die" and my pal from the UK says... "Yes, now would you kindly shut up !" Scary scary scary.. DD
Wow, that would have been a huge tragedy for the Rockets organization and just in general. He is a quality quality guy. Irreplacable.
Calvin is awesome.. met him multiple times.. played pool with him. I'm so relieved that he is ok.. wouldnt be able to watch the rockets for a while if he wasnt commentating.
25,000 feet in three minutes?? I find that hard too believe. For one. Airliners HAVE To be able to take off, climb, turn and land on one engine, not two. Every airliner has a take off decision speed when going down the runway. Once that speed is reached and airliner will take off regardless if an engine fails or not. As far as dropping 25,000 feet I am not sure you can do that safely. In the event of a cabin pressure loss an airliner has to be able to descend from cruise (often 35,000 feet) to 10,000 feet within 4 minutes. That is the only time I can imagine an airliner descending that quickly. Hell with NO engines an airliner does not descend that fast.
Actually when landing a commercial jet engines are brought back to idle. Modern airliners fly quite a long way with no thrust when at cruise altitude. In fact most modern airliners can glide 100 miles or so with no engines. Do a google on Gimli Glider.
