Originally Posted by
Uplinker
Not on an A330, they are at about mid wing.
[rhetorical question]; why have I never been trained or briefed in the SIM to throw all the checklists and SOPs out the window and just get it back on the ground? Even an uncontainable fire has a checklist. Nor have I ever been criticised for actioning a complete checklist - in fact, I am usually bollocked for jumping parts or missing parts out in my 'excitement'.
Hi Uplinker.
Uncontainable Fire Checklist? Have not seen that one so please post it. It is a great step forward because up to now I have never seen one.
That must be why they don't discuss it in your airline.
After 'JL' 737-200 at Manchester 1986? (and because Whiskey Echo was not that long before, 1968, but never forgotten) and 'JL' happily did not get airborne, but nearly did, and even then many people died, we had a sim session of unconfined fire in an engine affecting the fuselage. Bit like Concorde. Now to run the entire checklist takes about 20-45 minutes depending on how frightened you are or how competent I guess. So the trainers at the time who had considerable latitude in how they ran a session demonstrated that you only need the gear down and some flap and about 160 knots to get back on the ground. It is true when you think about it. Now of course those trainers are now flying with the angels and I will soon be joining them, but the truth is, that is all you need to land a jet safely. In an extreme situation.
What is there in the checklist that is going to be more important than a raging fire? So it is back to the good old airmanship thing I suppose. Even recently (2017) I have heard trainers asking students what they would do if the fire did not go out (as it always does on the good old sim) and passengers are reporting an inferno on the wing. OK, this is in the briefing room. And they discuss it and agree that they cannot sit there for the best part of an hour running checklist after checklist until the wing falls off. Thats it really. I know what I would do. But then I am not allowed to any more, so I just try to pass on a bit of lateral thinking to those who follow, as was kindly done to me. Passing on the knowledge pool and at least getting a bit of thinking going on about non normal situations beyond the QRH. There is a chapter about this in the Boeing QRH which basically says that there will be situations where the QRH is no longer applicable due to multiple failures and then the Captain has to decide what to do. I will get the passage and post it.
OK it is some time since I flew for a real airline so I have missed this new checklist, but it cannot be too different from the one that I describe due to time constraints?
All the best
R Guy