Originally Posted by
Justapax1
There was a bit of discussion at the PPRuNe bash about the BAe 146/Avro RJ, both as pilots and passengers. Comments on this, the last British airliner, were generally positive - what are your views on this series? Were you ever in one when it had a bleed air issue?
I think I was the one of the Bashees who may have originated this, and by our home location used them a fair amount out of LCY. My last ever ride was an RJ of Jota, a small Southend charter independent, who occasionally stood in for a BA Embraer at London City. I had seen it was scheduled back from Dublin one evening when I was visiting there, so just somehow managed to get booked on it ... described in more detail over on our parallel Old Airliner thread on Flyertalk
Old Timer's Airline Quiz and Discussion. - Page 389 - FlyerTalk Forums
I also noted the very last 146/RJ out of LCY, this time really by chance, Aer Lingus had started a separate Dublin operation, leased from Cityjet and lightly decalled, which was lifting off one Saturday just as we got into Covid Lockdown. I chanced to be outside at the time. It was actually their last flight before they stopped it, and it never came back.
Most chaotic was a short-lived operation Euromanx about 20 years ago, with short-body RJ70 (alias a 146-100), LCY to Isle of Man. Previous evening flight cancelled, my next morning one thus had two planeloads, complete ground disorganisation, left an hour late. Around Top of Descent, from somewhere directly above my head, was a loud KER-BOING sound, presumably some large spring had let go with this Spike Milligan-type noise. All us pax looked at each other, crew said nothing, on we went.
There were a couple of landing mishaps at LCY. A Swiss one was eventually repaired by floating it across the dock on a barge, doing the repairs over there where the university buildings now stand, and floating it back for departure. The BA one wasn't so lucky, it stood right there at one of the gates for a while, eventually it was completely sheeted over for a month or so, when the sheeting was removed it had gone. Apparently all covertly broken up inside, and the scrap spirited away each night in trucks.
It's sufficiently long ago that I can possibly now report I once parodied on here the Cityjet France-based staff at LCY (apparently they used it as a training base for ground service apprentices, on their considerable 146/RJ operation there), with their "Zeetyjott" pronunciation, and received a PM from other LCY staff saying they had such a laugh they had put it up on their noticeboard !