Boris Johnson RAF BAE 146 Makes Emergency Landing at Luton

[Warmtoast]

From The Guardian

Boris Johnson hit an immediate hitch on his first assignment as foreign secretary when the plane carrying him to Brussels for talks with EU officials was forced to make an emergency landing.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that the aircraft, believed to be an RAF passenger jet, a BAE 146, experienced a technical fault – thought to be an issue with the plane’s hydraulics - and had to land at Luton airport on Sunday.
Flights to and from the airport were grounded while emergency services dealt with the situation.

Or he could have gone London - Brussels by Eurostar.
e.g. ETD London 11.04 - ETA Brussels 14.05 and then every hour

It's quicker by train
..or what's the saying "If you've time to spare go by air"

[FAStoat]

No no!!!If you want a scare Fly Ryanair,OR If you have time to spare Fly Ryanair!!

[Courtney Mil]

Welcome to club, Boris. You watched your Government cut funding, now you see the consequences. Sucks, doesn't it? Imagine what that would be like if you were trying to get home after 6 months in the sandpit of your Tornado on a mission in the bad lands.

[ShyTorque]

Welcome to club, Boris. You watched your Government cut funding, now you see the consequences. Sucks, doesn't it? Imagine what that would be like if you were trying to get home after 6 months in the sandpit of your Tornado on a mission in the bad lands.
Yeh....ending up in Luton after all that would be terrible.

[cessnapete]

Why are we still flying our Gov VIPs etc in clapped out old 146? At lease rent a modern reliable Bizet.

[BEagle]

Lootnairpawt is only 498m longer than Northolt, so it must have been something pretty serious if the corgi-carrier had to land at Northolt rather than returning to Northolt. If it had needed a long runway, surely Stansted would have been a better choice? Or Brize Norton?

Or was it simply that what the MoD sniffily describes as the 'alternative means' which BoJo was obliged to use was only available at Luton?

A good job the aircraft wasn't carrying HM.....

[MATELO]

Why didn't they use the new shiney A330, or did the PM veto its use.

[hunterboy]

It does seem that UK plc likes to do everything on the cheap. I can't imagine many other countries flying its' representatives around in clapped out 146's. As a previous poster said, why not a decent second hand private jet painted up in UK colours? I'm not sure flying a 330 to Brussels makes sense for half a dozen pax, but surely a 6-8 seat private jet would for all those short trips around Europe.

[BEagle]

A small bizjet would be a waste of time and money for such work. But a brace of A319CJ, such as the Luftwaffe operate for VIP work, would seem reasonable. Preferably operated by the Royal Air Force and not by some PFI mercenaries.

A330 pilots can be rated to fly the A319CJ with only a very short conversion course.

[Tankertrashnav]

Centre to centre Eurostar must be quicker as Warmtoast points out. An 0650 departure gets him in to Brussels at 1007 local (2hrs 17 mins). Factoring in getting from Whitehall to Northolt and getting into Brussels from the airport it doesnt matter if you are flying in a "clapped out " 146 or a brand new shiny bizjet, train is going to be just as fast, if not faster, and a lot cheaper.

[NutLoose]

The plane, described by the Ministry of Defence as a small military aircraft, took off from RAF Northolt on Sunday afternoon but had to land at Luton Airport.

Emergency Landing For Boris Johnson At Luton (http://news.sky.com/story/emergency-landing-for-boris-johnson-at-luton-10504829)

One wonders how they would describe a Tutor then.

[superplum]

Perhaps they were trying to emulate the "Specsavers" advert on the cheap!

[Geordie_Expat]

Yeah, and if he had used the train, the very same posters would be moaning that our FS is having to go by train instead of flying.

[BEagle]

...train is going to be just as fast, if not faster, and a lot cheaper.

And totally insecure unless the whole train has been booked. Even then, there's a distinct possibility that a terrorist with an RPG would be able to take out the train without very much difficulty.

[PDR1]

Even then, there's a distinct possibility that a terrorist with an RPG would be able to take out the train without very much difficulty.

I'm getting confused - are you citing this as reason why Boris should or shouldn't use the train?

PDR

[Martin the Martian]

As No.32 has the role of flying senior government ministers around how else would he get to Brussels? In any case flying RAFAir is quicker than queuing up with the rest of the plebs at Somewhere-near-London Airport, and probably quicker than Eurostar.

Except of course when you have to divert for technical issues.

[Warmtoast]

It wasn't so long ago that Margaret Beckett the then Environment Minister was given the sobriquet 'Air-Miles Margaret' for overusing 32 Sqn for her jaunts around Europe.
See here: 'Air-Miles Margaret' faces criticism for private flights | UK Politics | News | The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/air-miles-margaret-faces-criticism-for-private-flights-300715.html)

[NutLoose]

A spokeswoman for Ms Beckett said "there's often not much choice" in using RAF flights because European meetings ended at unpredictable times, often after Eurostar services had finished. She said that the emissions created by ministerial travel would be offset by planting trees and funding low carbon projects from next year.

Silly me, and I thought Europe also had those strange buildings everywhere called Hotels.

[ShotOne]

Frankly I don't want our government figures in hotels awaiting trains when they're doing important business on our behalf. No, not even those as useless as Margaret Beckett or as controversial as Boris.

Is there any suggestion, Courtney that this diversion was caused by budget cuts?

[TCAS FAN]

Boris must be toning things down, not so long ago would have expected a para descent with a badly fitting bone-dome, waving a couple union jacks!

[TrakBall]

Since you're getting P8s, may I suggest a few Boeing BBJs as well?

TB

[Treble one]

Boris must be toning things down, not so long ago would have expected a para descent with a badly fitting bone-dome, waving a couple union jacks!


Yeah, he's had his hair cut as well TCAS. Very ministerial. He's our big beast in Europe now you know.

[RRAAMJET]

3 decades since I flew that very jet, can't imagine they have that many cycles or hours on them, even now. And that may be the problem: not enough usage for reliability. Hard to tell from photo, but looks like some flap extended. So maybe only a single hydraulic fault? Can't really recall the systems, but yellow and green had PTU connection and Ac pump. I diverted once purple for an engine prob after departing LHR; landed LGW. So it happens....

[Beancountercymru]

Now her 146 has gone tech at Cardiff..

[Tankertrashnav]

Good GWR rail service from Cardiff to Paddington

Beagle - HM has used a normal service train when travelling to Kings Lynn on the way to Sandringham. IIRC a small portion of 1st class was sectioned off. If it's good enough for her it should be good enough for Boris.

[Hueymeister]

Where's the photo?

[BEagle]

Tankertrashnav wrote: Good GWR rail service from Cardiff to Paddington.

BEagle - HM has used a normal service train when travelling to Kings Lynn on the way to Sandringham. IIRC a small portion of 1st class was sectioned off. If it's good enough for her it should be good enough for Boris.

While some might consider Cardiff to Paddington as being an international railway journey, it hardly exposes rail travellers to the same level of threat as using the Channel Tunnel. A 'good' GWR service is, in any case, very much an oxymoron these days .

As for travelling to Norfolk, there would have been very little threat to HM from the cyclopean six-fingered N4N inhabitants of that neck of the woods...:rolleyes:

[Wander00]

Ring Henry Labouchere at Langham and get him to take her in his Tiger Moth..................

[RRAAMJET]

We used to fly HM to Marham for Sandringham, often with the dogs aboard. The Royal Train was used infrequently.

BEags is absolutely correct ref security and imposing risk to the travelling public. There are many other flying office aspects to using VIP transport, in addition.

[Martin the Martian]

With two technical issues in quick succession forcing inconvenience, I wonder if thoughts may turn to a replacement? We only have the two 146s and an Agusta A109 now. And with the Brexit team being formed there may be more need to be shuttling ministers to and from Europe.

[BEagle]

Only 2 corgi-carriers now? I thought that a further 2 BAe 146 QC were acquired in 2012 under a UOR for an increased CSAT requirement?

[Martin the Martian]

Yes, but they aren't used for VIP ops generally.

[TBM-Legend]

....was it the same gent who didn't do the oils right as happened a few years ago???

[taxydual]

Bring back the Andover's and a proper Queen's Flight.

[BEagle]

TBM-Legend wrote: ....was it the same gent who didn't do the oils right as happened a few years ago???

Actually it was 19 years ago and a horror story in its own right....

See http://flightsafety.org/amb/amb_jul_aug99.pdf

Fortunately neither royals nor corgis were on board at the time.

[West Coast]

Dear Gawd, an emergency landing and not a one of you slackers has posted the METARS!

What has come of pprune...

[aviate1138]

"Ring Henry Labouchere at Langham and get him to take her in his Tiger Moth.................."

At Henry's flight level Boris would think he was on a train anyway!

[aw ditor]

Lots of still good' 125-800s' on the market.

[Wander00]

Aviate - that's true - many years ago at the instigation of that lovely man Peter Charles, Henry flew me from Lt Snoring to Langham. It was as well all the farm gates were open!