Posted on 08/09/2013 10:48:04 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
I had to excerpt the article due to restrictions from the source website. Just click on the link to read the whole story.
British Airways flight from hell: Panic and fighting as plane makes TWO emergency landings9 Aug 2013 21:00
Travellers said tempers erupted after the second unscheduled touchdown and paramedics were called to treat injuries.
Horrified passengers have revealed there was panic and brawling during a nightmare BA flight that was forced to make two emergency landings.
Travellers said tempers erupted after the second unscheduled touchdown and paramedics were called to treat injuries.
Passengers were furious that the Britain-bound jet had to turn back to the airport in Saudi Arabia twice for the same fault.
Sean Casey, one of the 300 people on board the Boeing 747, said: I feel BA put 300 lives at risk by putting us on the same plane 24 hours after trying to fix a fault.
The first time around, Flight 262 took off from Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday following a five-hour delay.
After 40 minutes in the air, it had to turn back because of a wing flap problem.
Passenger Dean Jones said: We came back to Riyadh very fast and low over the city.
"There was screaming and crying. We hit the runway with a massive bang.
........................
Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/british-airways-flight-hell-panic-2146578#ixzz2bXphUZeM
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook
Guaranteed: It didn’t take “30 minutes” for the crew to figure out they had a flap problem after takeoff!
“Guaranteed: It didnt take 30 minutes for the crew to figure out they had a flap problem after takeoff!”
For sure. But as long as the flaps are not asymetrically jammed, it’s not a critical emergency. So they have plenty of time to make sure to comply with the specific emergency procedure for this special case. Notify ATC, check hydraulic pressure, switch hydraulic circuits to alternate hydraulic pump, dump fuel (might take a lot of time depending on how much fuel needs to get dumped), rebalance the plane while dumping fuel by pumping fuel from one fuel tank to another, ...
What are they complaining about? It could have been a lot worse, they could have been put onto a Screamliner instead, and jammed flaps would have been the least of their worries.
They were probably more pissed at being back in Riyadh than anything else..
In’shallah
Boeing has been in the news a lot recently. Even if this turns out to be an airline maintenance issue it looks bad.
Flaps on big jets have mechanical links that freeze their position if a significant asymmetry is sensed during movement (stopping before the asymmetry is enough to notice). But then the flaps are frozen in position which explains their return to the same airport. If the flaps are frozen in a near- retracted position then the approach speeds will be much higher than normal (even after dumping fuel), leading to other problems such as landing distances too long for available runways, high angle-of-attack approaches at high air speeds, hot brakes, and possibly even blown tires.
The nature and seriousness of the problem was likely unknown to the passengers.
Maybe the passengers who stayed on the airplane had been drinking and were afraid their alcohol consumption would be noticed by the Saudi authorities if the got off the airplane!
A load of dullards in a call center were never going to be anything else.
I know, the flaps shouldn’t go asymetric, but sometimes they just do. http://avherald.com/h?article=45a126c3
“Riyadh, the golden, with milk and honey blest.” Or as “Scoop” Jackson used to say, “Ridyah.”
But if the solution is to land the plane, why not land it at its destination after burning off the fuel for a purpose rather than dumping it?
Please ping me to aviation and aerospace articles. Thank you.
If you want added to or removed from this ping list, please contact EveningStar or Paleo Conservative.
They don’t sell WD-40 in Saudi Arabia?
You know how ornery those Saudi businessmen can be, when they are waiting to leave Saudi airspace so they can start drinking.
Sounds like they could have gotten to a civilized country like Israel, where there would have been a chance of getting it fixed, rather than returning to a stone age society.
What are they complaining about? Third takeoffs a charm.
What are they complaining about? Third takeoffs a charm.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.