There are a lot of B744 pilots who do not necessarily think it was a good decision to continue but none will argue that they endangered anyone or even broke any rules. The point being made here against jondc9 is that he
has made a claim that the crew did wrong based solely on the fact that he is a pilot who also happens to provide background to CNN on aviation matters.
He has
NO experience on the B744 or its systems and therefore should qualify his claims by stating that they are the equivalent of those of a layman. Assuming that you have the respect of your colleagues just because you talk on TV obviously leads to a tone that irritates many of us on here. Comment on the event is fine but when someone like jondc9 adds a verdict that in effect criticises the crew without him having a full understanding of the aircraft and its systems thyn it leads, as has been seen here, to ridicule and irritation.
As a B744 pilot myself, I have discussed this incident with many colleagues and we all have different opinions on what we would have done under similar circumstances. Some say they would probably have continued, refining their decision as the flight progressed, just as the BA crew did. Others say that they would have continued to the US east coast instead of dumping fuel and then landing normally at a base where the pax could be accomodated on other flights and maintenance could be performed on the engine. A few even said they would probably just dump fuel and go back. However, not one of them could criticise the BA crew because we all know that the B744 flies perfectly well on 3 engines with only a small penalty in performance.
The fact that they had an engine surge after getting airborne and subsequently decided to shut the engine down should not be equated to a 3 engined ferry flight and those putting that argument forward only show their lack of experience or knowledge of 3 or 4 engined a/c ops. The previous thread on this topic hashed the subject to death yet we once again have jondc9 actually turning this into a song and dance with his lack of credibility due to his judge, jury and executioner approach to the BA crew.
As a B744 pilot I will say that they didn't "
FU#$up" as jondc9 like to claim. They didn't break any rules either which is why the FAA had to drop the charges. Their spin is irrelevant as nothing has changed over here.
So, let's try and put this one to bed without any more plugs for CNN shall we?
