I rediscovered the link below which was contained in the previous thread from the PPrune rumor mill before the topic was moved to the Tech area. There are likely many now participating in this present thread who haven’t read this very interesting and revealing interview of a senior ck pilot who was onboard QF32. It’s not often “we the public” get to read or hear in such candid fashion the particulars of such a momentous event - litigiousness being what it is at least in the US.
For instance, I had forgotten (see previous post) there is an engine fuel shut-off feature associated with the cockpit “fire” buttons.... I don't know if that also includes the pylon valve but would presume so. The pilots were surprised to discover, however, that #1 was literally OOC. In line mx., when these systems are “tested” in hangar or on the gate there are no engines running, so who’d know if a particular s/o redundancy would actually be functioning or not? Bottles would be disconnected and what could ECAM tell you that you could believe? There was such severe damage out there in that wing that possibly no amount of redundancy engineering would have saved the day anyway.
The whole thing will probably be made into a movie soon.
http://www.aerosocietychannel.com/aerospace-insight/2010/12/exclusive-qantas-qf32-flight-from-the-cockpit/[/URL]
If the link doesn't work you can find it archived (I believe) at aero's site...
Last edited by radken; 12th Feb 2011 at 23:49.
Reason: clarity