No. In fact the maximum diversion time on the great circle route from LAX to LHR is only about one hour.
Posted on 09/23/2006 5:43:49 AM PDT by eartotheground
Pilot-Tower Tapes Flesh Out 747 Incident That Triggered A Controversy Over Safety A few seconds after a fully loaded British Airways 747 took off from Los Angeles on its way to London last year, one of its four engines erupted in a spectacular nighttime burst of flame. The fire burned out quickly, but the controversy has continued to smolder. An air-traffic controller watching the runways radioed a warning to British Airways Flight 268 and assumed the plane would quickly turn around. To controllers' surprise, the pilots checked with their company and then flew on, hoping to "get as far as we can," as the captain told the control tower. The jumbo jet ultimately traveled more than 5,000 miles with a dead engine before making an emergency landing in Manchester, England, as the crew worried about running out of fuel. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
It was his choice. After all it is the pilot that is always the first one on the scene of an airplane crash.
Elliot Brann, the LAX controller who was handling the plane as it roared down the runway at 8:45 p.m., said flames began shooting from the engine when the aircraft was about three-quarters of the way into its takeoff roll. When it was just past the shoreline, a huge ball of bright orange flame erupted from the engine.Surprise; combustion taking place external to the enghine rather than internal where it should be when internal problems erupt ...
"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
I was going to junk the car anyway, so I decided to drive it until it stopped.
Three weeks later I drove the car to the junkyard. It never quit.
Perhaps he had a greater fear of the LAX mechanics.
Are they built differently than the ones designed to fly over land for extended periods?Well, yeah, you could say so; how about four engines rather than two?
This relates back to a subject area of 'twins' versus multi-engine aircraft.
ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) is an acronym for an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rule permitting twin-engined commercial air transports to fly routes that, at some points, are farther than a distance of 60 minutes flying time from an emergency or diversion airport.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETOPS
To controllers' surprise, the pilots checked with their company and then flew on, hoping to "get as far as we can," as the captain told the control tower.Pilot pulling controller's leg ...
(Was this a green controller?)
Why? All planes regardless of the number of engines are required to be able to takeoff if one engine is shut down at the worst possible time during takeoff. Once in the air, a three or four engined plane is not required to dirvert if it loses one engine. Back when the 747 was developed engine shutdowns were much more common. It was expected that planes would have engine shutdowns on transoceanic flights and be able to continue on to their destinations on their remaining engines.
In the early 1950's the FAA formulated the diversion rule that stated that aircraft with less than four engines could only go a maximum of 60 minutes away with one engine shut down from a diversion airport at any time during a flight. This meant only four engined planes would be allowed to fly transoceanic or long overwater flights. By the late 1950's as jet engines which even then were more reliable than piston aircraft engines, became common the FAA relaxed the rules and allowed three engined planes fly under the same diversion rules.
In the early 1980's Airbus, which only had twin engined planes at that time, started marketing its A310's for flights with 90 minute diversion times which were allowed under the European JAA regulatory agency. With a 90 minute diversion time, it becomes possible to send twin engined planes on great circle routes across the north Atlantic. Of cours Boeing didn't want its planes like the 767 to be at a regulatory disadvantage to Airbus A300 and A310 twin engined planes so in 1985 the FAA an JAA agreed on rules to allow twin engined planes to fly up to 120 minutes from diversion airports. These rules are called Extended Twin Operations (ETOPS). Some people say it stands for Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim. By the end of the 1980's the maximum diverion time was extended to 180 minutes which means all great cirle routes through the north Atlantic are totally within the dirversion time.
Under ETOPS rules a plane that has an engine shut down must land at the nearest airport suitable for handling that sort of aircraft. If it had been a 777, British Airways would have had to land as soon as possible. A 747 does not operate under ETOPS rules and is not required to divert to the nearest available airport. In fact there are good reasons for not landing immediately. Large long range planes like 747's have a maximum takeoff weight that is considerably higher than the maximum landing weight. During a normal flight the fuel is burned off and the plane gets lighter. By landing immediately, a pilot risks serious damage to the plane. One option is to dump enough fuel to get below maximum landing weight before attempting to land. Another option it to burn off fuel by flying towards the desination and landing at an airport along the way after getting below maximum landing weight. Perhaps the British Airway 747 could have flown to Toronto, Chicago, or New York and transferred passengers to other flights. Another option is to continue on to the destination on three engines as the 747 is certified to do.
Great circle (LAX-LHR) goes over Hudsons Bay and the southern tip of Greenland. They could have diverted to Iceland.
An A320 is a twin engined plane. If it has an engine shutdown, it is required to land at the closest available airport.
No. In fact the maximum diversion time on the great circle route from LAX to LHR is only about one hour.
Actually Ron White said "all the way to the scene of the crash" but you were close. ;9)
The pilot should have lost his certification. He was flying out of his fail-safe.
Three weeks later I drove the car to the junkyard. It never quit.
There is a campground near us that we spend many weekends a year camping (5th wheel camping not tents and such) they used to have an old green '72 Ford pickup that was beat to hell, they used it to pick up garbage. It burned oil so bad some people thought they were spraying for mosquitos with it. One weekend it just up and quit smoking. a couple of months later they realized it had ran out of oil.
They put in a few cans and it started smoking again and they ran for another 5 years before it finally gave out.
Too bad Ford gave up making trucks like that..
If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.
When you lose an engine on the A380 a cockpit lamp illuminates saying that the Zionists did it.
Thanks, I don't have a globe around this place. I wasn't sure if the GCR went near the pole or not.
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