bsevenfour
17th Aug 2003, 10:19
This question was inspired by a post I read on the Rumours Forum. It talked about a JAL 747 jettisoning fuel after take off to return to Tokyo after the Captains wiper blade was found to be unserviceable. The reason for the return was that at their destination YVR rain was forecast.
Given the same scenario what would you do and what would be your considerations ? Also what would you think of a similar scenario exept that the fault is discovered at the holding point of the runway?
The situation about wipers is left a little vague in our MEL in that it says that for the wipers 2 are installed and none are required provided there is no rain at departure or destination airfield. It does not however give any reference to a situation where only one wiper is not working. For instance if it was the F/O's wiper that went tech in the above scenario would that change your decision ?
For me personally if it was the F/O's wiper that went unserviceable at the holding point I would still depart even though rain may be forecast at destination. I would however be paying very careful attention in making that decision to the autoland status of the aircraft and the weather at the enroute and destination alternates to cover the scenario where the fault may also occur on the left hand side. The rationale behind the decision is that should the worst occur at the destination and it be raining heavily I would be carrying out the landing anyway and the F/o would be head down monitoring the approach as PNF.
If it were the left hand side wiper the situation would be slightly more tricky. Other factors would be included in my eventual decision such as the experience of the F/O and whether or not the flying conditions are within F/O flying limits. Arriving at the destination if the weather conditions had worsened suddenly or were outside of F/O limits I would try an autoland and if unhappy with the visual reference at minimas I would divert to an alternate where it either wasn't raining or where conditions were more suitable for landing.
All the above decisions assume that the aircraft has dispatched an that the MEL is now being used as a reference rather than as a bible.
Given the same scenario what would you do and what would be your considerations ? Also what would you think of a similar scenario exept that the fault is discovered at the holding point of the runway?
The situation about wipers is left a little vague in our MEL in that it says that for the wipers 2 are installed and none are required provided there is no rain at departure or destination airfield. It does not however give any reference to a situation where only one wiper is not working. For instance if it was the F/O's wiper that went tech in the above scenario would that change your decision ?
For me personally if it was the F/O's wiper that went unserviceable at the holding point I would still depart even though rain may be forecast at destination. I would however be paying very careful attention in making that decision to the autoland status of the aircraft and the weather at the enroute and destination alternates to cover the scenario where the fault may also occur on the left hand side. The rationale behind the decision is that should the worst occur at the destination and it be raining heavily I would be carrying out the landing anyway and the F/o would be head down monitoring the approach as PNF.
If it were the left hand side wiper the situation would be slightly more tricky. Other factors would be included in my eventual decision such as the experience of the F/O and whether or not the flying conditions are within F/O flying limits. Arriving at the destination if the weather conditions had worsened suddenly or were outside of F/O limits I would try an autoland and if unhappy with the visual reference at minimas I would divert to an alternate where it either wasn't raining or where conditions were more suitable for landing.
All the above decisions assume that the aircraft has dispatched an that the MEL is now being used as a reference rather than as a bible.