Well, I will confess that I have only read about 50% of the posts in this thread. I got tired of the bitchy comments and doing down of other posters by some who should know better.
Woodpecker's is, so far, the most sensible. Many of the rest are pure BS, speculation and BA bashing.
Just like reading the Mail (haven't rad anything about this there but I'm sure it would have been a narrowly averted disaster).
Had this been a Virgin flight, there would probably never have been any mention i any papers or criticism of the crew's correct decision to continue. They would be a hero crew.
Have we heard from the operating crew themselves?
None of us really has a right to criticise or judge as we weren't there.
Having made the decision to continue, there must be 100 or so airfields within very easy diversion range OVER LAND before you need to decide to cross the Atlantic.
At decision to cross time, you'd be at optimum 3 engine cruise and know you will reach at least EGCC comfortably, so you make the crossing with the met available for EGCC at the time.... you could always turn back or go to Iceland before the point of no return... the company then has time to dispatch one of it's dozens of idle aircraft and ample spare crew(scoff) to EGCC to pick up the pax to continue to EGLL.
I believe it is standard op for ATC to call local standby for engine out approach?
What did the cursed spotters actually hear? Have we heard from them in this thread?
Speculate away but post carefully.
I'm off now to recreate the flight in FS2004
I agree it should be a poll but only B744 captains should vote. They are the only ones I believe qualified to even comment. The rest of us are just "The General Public"