Originally Posted by
MechEngr
I'm interest to know how the pilots came to believe that only right hand turns were acceptable and if they would actually have been a problem.
Just guessing :
If the disturbed flow was pushing the rudder to the right, the imbalance may have been similar to a reduced thrust on the number 1 engine.
And if the imbalance was the only indication of a malfunction to the pilots, they may have thought that they were really having trouble with that engine and decided to avoid turning towards the dead engine.
They may have also felt intense buffeting.
@Uplinker, I read that Mbuji Mayi runway is 2000 x 45 meters with poor quality pavement.
And probably, the fire fighting service at Mbuji Mayi is at a lesser level to Kinshasa's.