Re: SAA's London Flight out of Cape Town in trouble?
Hi there.
Captain's decision IS the final authority,or so it should be.However i'm willing to bet the captain wouldn't have had a problem shutting down number4 and diverting to FAJS.It makes much better sense.There is no imminent danger in a compressor-stalled shut down engine.A B744 can easily climb to altitude and cruise safely to FAJS on 3 motors.
Logistically,thats where SAA Technical is,and there are many more hotels for pax accomodation at joburg international,so it made much more sense to divert.
The principles of "Aviate,Navigate,Communicate" in that order were followed and that is good airmanship-a passenger will likely flinch and make wise-arse remarks at hearing the gear drop down,so its no use trying to give an AT&G lesson to 400 hyperventilating cabbages (as many tend to become in an emergency.)
What annoys me no end is the irresponsible,ignorant and opportunistic reporting on such incidents.702 had an interview with a british journalist on their "midday hour" today,and he was pretty much intoning that they had just escaped death,while the talkshow host claimed "its not possible for a birdstrike to cause an engine to cease functioning" citing the "fact" that ,and i quote:"Even a refugee was found alive recently hiding inside an engine hub on a jumbo" (????????). The mind boggles.
Sounds like a job well done by the crew of Sa220.