"Excuse me stewardess, may have a bag please?"Bruce R Leech - 1-27-2005 at 11:53 AM
Just think how much that cost just in tires. and cleaning all the sh.. out of the c-ckpit and passenger comportments
As they say
Tucker - 1-27-2005 at 12:17 PM
Any landing you walk away from is a good one!JESSE - 1-27-2005 at 12:31 PM
A cabron!!!!!! i think i am taking a bus.
YIKES!!!!!!!!!!
Debra - 1-27-2005 at 10:06 PM
THAT WAS SOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!!!!
Departing Kai Tak
thebajarunner - 1-28-2005 at 07:32 PM
Took off on Singapore Airlines 747 from Kai Tak, direct to SFO.
Blew the outboard right engine 30 seconds after liftoff.
Ya gotta know that was one of those life defining moments.
Pre-stall shaking like crazy as we crept past the apartment windows.
Got through the city (literally) and out to 10,000 feet, dumped fuel, hard landing at curfew and tried again the next day.
Baja Arriba!!
HEAVY
woody with a view - 1-28-2005 at 08:24 PM
Quote:
Blew the outboard right engine 30 seconds after liftoff.
right about when the sh!t hit the fan by the sounds of it!
wow.. bajarunner...that is one helluva
capt. mike - 1-28-2005 at 08:57 PM
lead in to a living story. Good on ya for posting here . will there be a
larger work??thebajarunner - 1-28-2005 at 08:58 PM
when that engine blew it felt like someone had slammed the side of the plane with a giant (I mean GIANT) 2x4.
it was just an incredible BLAMMMMMMMM!!
then it started to shake,
and we were literally looking in the windows of the apartments as we flew between them.
(been to Kai Tak- you know what I mean)
Baja Arriba!!
Jumbo jet excitement
thebajarunner - 1-29-2005 at 11:50 AM
Mike, not sure how much of the story you want to hear, obviously the 747 was fully loaded, enough fuel to make the 14 hour flight, that certainly
added to the drama because we blew right after lift off. Also, anyone who has flown out of Kai Tak knows that the "City Departure" is one of the
really incredible ones, even when normal, you fly right between the buildings while you gain altitude slowly.
Two fun sidebars to the story, I discovered a good friend was taking the same flight when we checked in. In the departure lounge he showed me this
real "bomber sleeping pill" that he takes just as he boards the plane, knocks him out for most of the flight. So, poor Mike has popped the pill and
60 minutes later we are leaning on a counter getting hotel rooms assigned, and he is totally passed out standing up.
I shared a room with a young Hong Kong boy, headed off to SF for college. When I turned in I told him that I was setting my alarm for 6 a.m. because
the 49er-Bengal Super Bowl would come on TV and I wanted to see it, would leave the sound off. He looked very solemn and in his accented English
said, "ah, no football in Hong Kong- 6 a.m. , sorry" Big surprise to wake up to the red and white Niners. (the only benefit of the whole deal was
that I would have flown all nite, through the game, got to see my Niners win another ring)
Now, want to hear about the time we landed in Kano, Nigeria, en route to Accra, swallowed a vulture in the top engine on our KLM L-1011, and sat for
10 hours in the plane on the tarmac while they sent to Lagos for new fan blades and rebuilt the motor???
Baja Arriba!!
o.k., just one more
thebajarunner - 1-29-2005 at 11:10 PM
Long, long trip... SFO to JFK, four hour layover, then to Amsterdam, another couple hours at Schipol, then 8 hours to Kano with a brief stop and a
quick hop to Accra. Landing in Kano there was a small thump, not much to notice, but as soon as we made the turn the captain came on and said "looks
like we ate a turkey vulture on landing, going to have to check it out"
So, sure enough, top motor is seriously scattered and they decide they will fix it, then go on.
Kept one engine on for a/c and lights, etc. and kept all of us on the plane after the Nigerians departed. So, they showed movies, poured drinks, fed
us often and kept promising a fix. Hours later a jet lands and the captain says "our parts have arrived"
Still keeping us aboard (although I stepped out onto the top of the ramp to look around and had a Nigerian soldier gesture with his rifle to go back
aboard) Finally the Ghanains have drunk up all the KLM booze, all the bottles they brought in their duffle bags and they start to get ugly. Captain
comes back and chews everyone out. Gets worse. Here comes the Nigerian Army, jackboots, rifles and all. (sort of like a Baja checkpoint with scowls)
Finally the captain wanders back and shows us one of the fan blades that came out of the engine. Interesting--- twisted in the middle and covered
with duck yuck.
Finally, eight hours later, off we go with a bunch of drunk Africans, a few scared Gringos and another story to remember. (yep, when the Army came in
I was under the seat, just like the carryon luggage is supposed to be)
Accra is a pit, but it looked pretty good at 3 a.m., even though we had planned to be there for dinner the night before.
O.K. that's it for tonite....
Unless you want to hear about the night we took out of Varanassi en route to Jaipur on Air India 737 and halfway down the runway some idiot turns off
the field lights and the Sikkh driving the plane stands on the brakes and slides us up to the outer fence. .... nah, that is for another nite, great
story, though.
Baja Arriba!!lizard lips - 3-3-2005 at 06:13 AM
Great stories Bajarunner! Keep em coming......
Bajarunner...
Mexray - 3-5-2005 at 01:16 AM
I've been in and out of Hong Kong a couple of times, and it's an exciting time, indeed. Never as much 'fun' as you've had there, though!
One other 'thrilling' strip is over in Indonesia, coming into Jakarta...when I went there in the 70's, it was lush green jungle foliage, with
scattered plane wreckage all over the place! It seems when they have a 'aircraft malfunction', they just shove the left-overs off the strip into the
jungle! Makes one think a bit as you land! When the original runways were built ages ago, there were native trails in the area. So to appease the
locals, they had 'crossing guards' with hand held stop signs to hold up, to stop the pedestrians, whenever a plane needed to land!
I was flying a domestic flight on Garuda (the national airline) from Medan in northern Sumatra, a 727, as I remember...and I kid you not, several
passengers came on board with all they could hold, including live chickens! No stowing your crap in the o'head compartments before takeoff...just sit
and git!
Flew shotgun in a small twin engine plane around Northern Sumatra and got some real sight-seeing in along the way, as the old Dutch piloto would peal
off to show me the wild country and rivers below. That's real 'outback' country, with wild tigers other wild critters and lots of nasty
snakes...would have really hated to have one of those 'aircraft malfunctions' around there!
The only 'exciting' time in an aircraft that comes to mind (we tend to forget the bad stuff) was back in my Naval Air Reserve days...flying in an old
SP2E (two props & two jets) , sub chaser, doing 'touch & goes' to qualify a new pilot at Moffet Field. As we 'bounced' in on our first landing, the
3rd time we 'hit'...BANG went our nose wheel! We made it back in the air and finally had to go back up to our base in Alameda, where they foamed a
patch on the runway for us to slide into, to try and keep the Magnesium rim from heating up to flash temp. As we came to a stop, you never saw 10
guys get out of a plane quicker than us! Didn't catch fire, and all ended well.
Flying can be real fun at times...Sharksbaja - 3-5-2005 at 02:31 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by JESSE
A cabron!!!!!! i think i am taking a bus.
dittoelgatoloco - 3-5-2005 at 12:33 PM
Wow! Scary stuff.
Jet Flies On With One Engine Out
Despite LAX takeoff malfunction, British Airways pilot continues nonstop trip to London. The 747 lands safely but short of its destination.
By Eric Malnic and Hector Becerra
Times Staff Writers
March 1, 2005
A British Airways jumbo jet lost power in an engine on takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport last month, but the pilot elected not to make an
emergency landing for repairs, deciding instead to continue the 5,400-mile, transatlantic flight to London on the remaining three engines, officials
said Monday.
Because of unfavorable winds and inefficiencies resulting from the engine loss, the Boeing 747-400 burned more fuel than anticipated, and the pilot
was forced to cut the nonstop flight short and land in Manchester, England, the airline said.
The incident occurred three days after the European Union required European-based carriers to compensate passengers whose flights were delayed.
But Diane Fung, a spokeswoman for British Airways, said the pilot's decision had nothing to do with that requirement.
"We would never compromise the safety of our passengers," she said. "The plane is certified to fly on three engines. It is perfectly safe to do so.
The pilots are trained for such situations."
Aviation officials in England and the United States are looking into the incident, and two retired jumbo-jet pilots now serving as air safety
consultants said they were amazed at the decision to continue the flight.
"It's not impossible for him to make it, but he'd be a fool to try it," said Barry Schiff, a former TWA pilot. "That decision just doesn't make any
sense."
Mel Heflinger, who used to fly 747s for United Airlines, said, "I think he really stretched his luck to try to make the whole trip on three engines."
"We are concerned," said Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. She said officials were determining whether any federal
regulations were violated.
Robin Hayes, British Airways' executive vice president for operations in the United States, said the incident was not unprecedented. He said a British
Airways 747 lost an engine after takeoff from Los Angeles two years ago and continued on to London's Heathrow Airport without further problems.
Fung said the latest incident began as British Airways' Flight 268 lifted off from LAX at 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 20. It carried 351 passengers.
"Right after rotation, there was an engine surge, like a backfire," Hayes said.
Air traffic controllers at the airport tower saw sparks flying from the crippled engine and heard popping noises.
Checking his instruments, the pilot, whose name has not been released, decided to shut down the affected inboard engine on the left wing, Hayes said.
Heflinger said the plane was quite capable of climbing out on three engines.
The pilot flew two 20-mile circles in a holding pattern over Santa Monica Bay, talking by radio with British Airways' flight technical team and
operations control team in London.
"It was sort of a mini-conference," Hayes said. "But the final decision was up to the pilot."
Instead of choosing to dump fuel and return to LAX to repair or replace the crippled engine ? a delay that officials say could have held up the flight
for five hours or more ? the pilot continued to England. Hayes said the passengers were told about the situation and the decision.
European Union regulations that went into effect Feb. 17 require airlines to pay each passenger up to $523 for delays of more than four hours on
flights longer than 2,215 miles.
The pilot and the airline officials in London "wouldn't even have discussed that," Hayes said. "The procedure [continuing a flight on three engines]
is within our normal operating protocols."
He said the airline had continued long flights with an engine out on several occasions.
"Normally, pilots are not that interested in what the bean counters are thinking about back home," said Peter Garrison, a pilot and contributing
editor to Flying magazine. "The basic rule is that the captain has final authority over what the flight does. But I don't think most pilots would have
undertaken such a bizarre-sounding flight, partly just because it sounds kind of dangerous. Sooner or later, someone is going to find out, and that's
just bad PR."
Schiff said a 747 flying on three engines would reduce the margin of safety. "You can't go as high and you can't go as fast," he said. "The airplane
doesn't perform as it was designed."
Flying lower, a 747 consumes more fuel. And because one engine is out, the plane crabs slightly, forcing the pilot to correct with deflection of the
rudder ? the large, hinged slab on the vertical part of the tail. Rudder deflection creates drag, further increasing fuel consumption.
On Flight 268, these fuel-consumption problems were exacerbated by tail winds weaker than anticipated. It eventually became clear that the plane could
not make it to Heathrow.
"There were several alternative landing fields," Hayes said. "The pilot chose Manchester" ? 163 miles from London.
He said the pilot made a routine landing with enough fuel on board to satisfy international safety regulations.
Dumb Move!!
thebajarunner - 3-5-2005 at 03:00 PM
What the article omitted was that the pilot had to declare a "fuel emergency"
Also, per NBC newscast (not the most reliable, I know) that was not his first time to continue on a flight with an engine out.
As my Skywest pilot daughter commented, "It may have been legal, Dad, but it sure was dumb!"
I think I raised a pretty smart kid...
lead in to a living story. Good on ya for posting here . will there be a
larger work??