Originally Posted by
Icarus2001
The words EMERGENCY LANDING certainly get thrown around a great deal don't they.
"forced to land in Canberra" do they mean the PIC decided to divert there?
Never let it be said that I stood up for the newspapers and their drivel but I think that you may be trivialising this a bit.
It may not have been an EMERGENCY LANDING however it was certainly not in the same league as a simple divert because of crappy weather at destination.
The pilot was faced with:
- Wing body overheat - tech problem requiring unplanned descent
And why would that be. One pack already out of service.
- Flying without functioning PM
- Uncertainty about condition of PM - no CC to assist
Assurance that "I'm OK now" is no assurance at all.
- 2nd unplanned descent
- Uncertainty about condition of masks
- Possibly not feeling too good himself - the newspapers reported that both crew were taken to the hospital for observation raising this possibility.
I also
don't like to use hate using the Swiss cheese analogy, but this one looks like it could have been heading that way.