Prudence
OK, having been thoroughly smacked upside my head by Nigel on Draft, I must beg to differ.
I still can't see the logic of continuing on to the initial intended destination 10+ hours away when losing an engine immediately after takeoff.
Athough the 747 is certified to fly on 3, that number is for either ferry or survival purposes. To lose one right after liftoff opens a can of worms that we are experiencing here right now.
What IS the right decision?
Well, from my comfy chair in front of my super PC, the decision is easy. Land now and sort it out. Obviously, the crew, having left the ground had other ideas.
I am of the opinion that the ground staff screwed the pooch when they elected to go along and in fact, assist the crew in their idea to continue.
Before you all start screaming at me, think about it for a minute. There was no plan to leave LA for London on three engines. What happened was in fact a flight from LA to London on three engines. The failure scenarios depicted on all the checklists are for engine failures that happen when you are going somewhere from altitude. Not from takeoff. Maybe I'm wrong there, but I don't think the slide rule guys figured that someone would lose an engine, climb out and continue to their planned long range destination.
Considering the outcome, the decision to continue the flight and overfly suitable airports where repairs could be made is telling. There is also the idea that the aircraft left a station where repairs could not be made.
Los Angeles, an airport located in the United States happens to have at its disposal numerous maintenance facilities and in fact, happens to have on the property Engineers in the employ of.. British Airways.
I read a post earlier that had me rolling: "Suffice to say that this crew, and all the other professionals involved (engineers, ATCOs etc), did an excellent job in getting their customers to within 200 miles of their destination in a safe and professional manner."
Hardy har ha! That's our new goal. We don't need to get them where they're going! Within 200 miles is fine!
Oh please.
Now I see a post from a 747-400 Flight Engineer/Engineer who believes the crew did everything right.
Who wants to tell the guy there are only two seats in the -400 cockpit? OK, not counting the jumpseat.
Whoops! I guess I just did.
Anyhoo, everyone lived, the only thing injured was maybe somebodies pride, so overall, no foul. But I have to ask, why would anyone lose an engine on takeoff and consider flying the rest of the day?
And stop comparing the 747 to ETOPS! Different kettle of fish entirely!
PB