Originally Posted by
WillDAQ
You didn't, there was no bullet.
1. Hydraulic system failure.
2. Isolate fault
3. Return to airport, burn off fuel until maximum landing weight is reached
4. Land.
While not a common fault, it is something that all of the crew are trained for. Your 'chance of death' was increased from "phenomenally unlikely" to "exceedingly unlikely" while they isolated the fault. After that it's service as usual.
Man up.
Pretty much - the aeroplane is fully controllable on any one of the three hydraulic systems, possibly with loss of a few facilities, but nothing critical.
In the event of failure of all three hydraulic systems, the aeroplane remains controllable - albeit with rather more difficulty.
Burning off fuel is a common and legitimate action; much slower than dumping but upsets the locals less and gives the airport time to prepare in case the emergency does escalate.
An interesting point about how much the captain chose to tell the passengers. Personally I think he was right to be open with them, but many experienced pilots would feel otherwise.
G