The reverser failed partially deployed on landing. The problem was caused by a failure in one of the gear boxes. Because it was partially deployed the engineers could not get easy access to the gearbox to release it. Consequently the crew ran out of hours. The engineers were still trying to get access to the gearbox at the top of the engine in the pylon six hours after the a/c landed. The blocker doors in the tailpipe were fully deployed and restricting access. It became the usual creeping delay with the added difficulties of NBO being a High security alert airfield meaning that the movement of the passengers off the a/c into the terminal was severely limited.
Reverser lock-out is normally a straightforward fix, on this occasion it proved not to be.
On the second night the a/c was taxied out and an engine control message EICAS advisory was received. This is a nil dispatch item and requires further engineering action. The a/c was not blocking the runway.
Onboard was the Evening Standard editor and her husband, Tom Bowyer (Richard Branson autobiographer!!). They took exception when the Captain decided to move 8 passengers to the other BA flight. These were the only seats available. The passengers that were moved all had close relatives who were dying and one was deaf. Unfortunately Mr. Bowyer did not believe this. No one was ever rude to him or the passengers but obviously tabloid journalists have no desire to report the truth and this was the only way that they could get back at the Captain and the crew by distorting the truth yet again. (One relative actually died during the second delay so morally it had been the right decision, corporately perhaps the press should have been got rid of first!!!)
In fact the crew including the pilots stayed with the passengers until the last one was sent to the hotels on both nights. They reunited passengers with their bags, and generally helped and assisted the ground staff. No one was rude to anyone.
On the final night they reported ahead of their duty to assist passengers with their check-in and security procedures. The press had already gone off via Ethiopian airways and never saw any of these efforts!!
Unfortunately BA is not flavour of the month with certain sections of the press.
Moral of the story.Treat the press with the contempt they deserve. treat their articles with even greater contempt because the truth is rarely there.
As an aside BA management were incredibly supportive of the crew and their actions. Moral of the story managers are not always out to get you.
BALPA were also very helpful and the issue of pilots being named in the press will be raised at the next NEC meeting. The Times refrained from naming but the Evening Standard had no such reservations.
