Originally Posted by DA50driver
How would you feel about this if you considered this from the point of view? You are at home in London. You hear that the flight your wife and two little children are on had an engine failure shortly after take-off. Would you want the airplane to come to London or maybe make a precautionary landing at a suitable destination? (No, Manchester was not a suitable airport for the sake of discussion.)
I know how I would feel if my entire genepool was onboard.
I understand the instinctive reaction of many in such a case is probably to "land, check and sort it out". This view is inevitably encouraged by the tabloid images created by headlines such as
"Pilot Grapples with Stricken Jet" and
"Hero Pilot Avoids School" that we see so often, which are designed simply to sell newspapers.
However a considered and more informed reaction is not quite the same. I realise I will be expressing a minority view in that I have considerable experience of 747 operation in BA, in both LHS and RHS and from Training and Route Check perspectives (NOT Management, by the way!). From first-hand experience, therefore, I know both the aircraft and the operating standards within the fleet and also know enough to realise that an "engine failure" on the 747-400 is generally not a big deal. Thus, I would not be over-anxious in the circumstances described because I am familiar with both the aircraft and the environment in which the decision whether or not to continue would have been made. I would of course be concerned and interested to learn full details after the event but I have sufficient confidence in the Command and crew standards within BA to let them get on with the job that they are professionally qualified to do.
That's how I would feel.
