US agency voices concern over captain’s decision
The US Federal Aviation Administration has raised concerns with its UK counterpart over the recent decision by a British Airways Boeing 747-400 captain to continue a Los Angeles to London flight following an engine failure seconds after take-off. The FAA’s surprise move is likely to have significant ramifications in the ongoing transatlantic debate over future regulation of long-range airliner operations.
The FAA says the BA captain’s decision – which the UK flag carrier has subsequently said it fully supports – was contrary to the course of action it would expect the crew of a US-registered aircraft to take. However, it recognises that the UK Civil Aviation Authority is the agency responsible for setting the rules by which UK-registered operations fly.
“A US carrier would not typically fly any distance with one engine shut down,” says the FAA. This would not necessarily mean the crew would land at the nearest airport, the agency says, because the captain could reasonably take into account the feasibility of reaching “a base where the [failed] engine could be looked at”.
The FAA says its discussions with the CAA are intended to establish “what the exact facts are”, and the agency says its only concern is “the safety of aircraft operating in our airspace”. The CAA says that it is “continuing closely to monitor the BA investigation into the occurrence and is in contact with the FAA on the matter. But at this stage, and without wishing to pre-empt the outcome of further investigations, the CAA sees no necessity to issue any new operational advice to UK carriers in comparative situations where an aircraft has suffered an engine failure.”
The 19 February BA flight did not, in the event, reach its London Heathrow destination, but diverted to Manchester 320km (170nm) to the north because it ran short of fuel.
The No 2 engine suffered a surge as the aircraft was passing 100ft (30m) just after take-off from Los Angeles (Flight International, 1-7 March). The captain elected to continue the flight to London Heathrow on the remaining three engines, but the aircraft ran short of fuel after failing to obtain its optimum flight level 310 cruising altitude.
Should make the B 777 etops look really good.
