Originally Posted by Pontious
Why not Fairford or Macrahanish? They're both 11,000ft+ & FFA is or was a USAFE tanker base.
Er, guys - it was (apparantly) a MAYDAY. Remember that hydraulic failures (more often than not a loss of hyd oil) can affect the flying controls, so a diversion would be made to the nearest suitable runway. There may not be time to fly to Brize, and certainly not all the way to Scotland!
As to who fixed it, they would carry a / some engineer(s) on board who might be able to do a fix, otherwise it'd be a case of someone going to Hethrow with the required tools and spares.
Hope this clears up your questions / thoughts
