B737

[b101uk]

mmm, you just press the escape button, the simulator is then paused (assuming a PC), the "active pause" is only meant for short durations like taking "action" screenshots, for all other situations of longer duration the escape button IS the pause.

[TOLOZAN]

Yes Trevor. I use KG in both cases.

[Fleng200]

Thank you very much Michael.
I unfortunately did not catch a photo of the overhead.
I had exactely the same problem yesterday when flying from Cairo to Marseilles.
It could well be a problem of fuel : I use to fill in with the Simbrief datas + a10% reserve. but I am still long to prépare my flights and I was obliged to make a pause.
I will try again, take a photo of the overhead if the problem occurs again and come back to you.
Regards.
Francis BRUGUIERE

There is no “pause” really in MSFS. It just hold position of the aircraft, everything else just goes on. So also fuel burn. You might have run out of fuel just because you “paused” the flight.

[TrevorHannant]

This might sound silly - but are you using the same units on SimBrief as you are on the FMC? Do you use Kgs on one and lbs on the other?

[TOLOZAN]

Thank you very much Michael.
I unfortunately did not catch a photo of the overhead.
I had exactely the same problem yesterday when flying from Cairo to Marseilles.
It could well be a problem of fuel : I use to fill in with the Simbrief datas + a10% reserve. but I am still long to prépare my flights and I was obliged to make a pause.
I will try again, take a photo of the overhead if the problem occurs again and come back to you.
Regards.
Francis BRUGUIERE

[Michael Codd]

Francis, did you notice if one or both of your engines had failed, or if you simply ran out of fuel? The engines will run down if you run out of fuel and being single crew you might not see it happening at first; especially if you have the autopilot engaged.

Unfortunately running out of fuel will also happen if you simply pause MSFS for a long time because It is a ‘dumb simulator’. The Pause function does not stop the PMDG B737 engines from running and so they will continue to use up all of the fuel you have on board, even though the simulation looks as if it is paused. This ‘dumb simulator’ behaviour is apparently caused by an MSFS pause issue and not a PMDG one.

The PMDG B737 fuel feed behaves realistically in real time and so the consequences of running out of fuel will obviously lead to one (or both) engines failing and this will lead to the loss of the associated engine driven generator. If you don’t notice the engine running down you will end up experiencing a loss of airspeed and a Buffet warning. The remaining thrust from the operating engine, if any, won’t be sufficient to maintain the aircraft’s speed and/or altitude; especially if you do nothing about it.

[Crabby]

To sum it all up, pilot error. It's study level. Most folks would fail a calculus test if they don't crack a book.

[Emi]

With so little information available there's hardly any conclusion we can draw so here's some speculation:

"Master Caution, GEN OFF BUS, noise":
Probably an engine driven generator was either swtiched off by you or had failed (service based failures enabled?). Of course a generator failure may lead to other failures, causing other warning lights.
The generator tripping off disconnected the autopilot which caused the autopilot disconnect warning sound, which you may have interpreted as "awful noise".

"The FMC showed BUFFET" Please always mention the full warnings, cautions, messages you get. It's BUFFET ALERT.
That message, among many others, tells you that you're getting too slow and are approaching the stall.
This could point to the "awful sound" you heared also being the stick shaker.

"The plane lost altitude"
Since you didn't seem to have taken control of the flightpath you probably stalled.

So my best guess from the available information is that either you turned off a generator yourself or a generator failure happened.
Either case will mean that the autopilot disconnected and you failed to take manual control of the aircraft, allowing it to loose speed and stall.

In other words: A small problem, led into a loss of control inflight accident by pilot error (inaction/omission to correct the undesired aircraft state early).

Things may of course have been totally different but without any additional information, screenshots, etc. it's impossible to determine.

[DDowns]

Flying from Antananarivo to Cape Town yesterday and the day before at FL320, I faced a strange situation : the master caution went up, an awful noise appeared in the cockpit, the plane lost altitude, the overhaed panel mentionned several problems such as low pressure on the gen bus right. Later on, the FMC mentionned BUFFET.
I precise that the flight started after loading RUNWAY at PMDG set up and that the mention ACTIVE NONE appears in grey on the Failure screen of the FMC.
Please, help me. many thanks.
Francis BRUGUIERE

You have to be much more specific with the alert or fault messages that the aircraft is presenting you. There's no such thing as a low pressure generator bus, maybe it was a disconnected bus? It matters otherwise we are just making guesses.

[FoxtrotSierra]

Cockpit pressure?

Filipe Santos - Portugal

[TOLOZAN]

Flying from Antananarivo to Cape Town yesterday and the day before at FL320, I faced a strange situation : the master caution went up, an awful noise appeared in the cockpit, the plane lost altitude, the overhaed panel mentionned several problems such as low pressure on the gen bus right. Later on, the FMC mentionned BUFFET.
I precise that the flight started after loading RUNWAY at PMDG set up and that the mention ACTIVE NONE appears in grey on the Failure screen of the FMC.
Please, help me. many thanks.
Francis BRUGUIERE