Originally Posted by
pattern_is_full
What would be the scenarios for a RAT deployment, while still
apparently having sufficient engine power to hold and then return?
A "just in case" deployment due to ratty (
) engine indications? Or might an accidental RAT deployment itself have been the reason for aborting the flight?
Don't know about this LHR case but years ago one of the Delta Professionals managed to shut off both engines of a 767 while flying from Los Angeles to Cincinnati. The RAT automatically deploys in this situation. The FO helped him get the engines relit and after getting salt spray on the plane from a low pass over the Pacific, the PIC decided to continue on to CVG.
Once deployed, the RAT stays out until maintenance can re-stow it on the ground. So, they had the pinwheel buzz going all the way.
Needless to say, the feds weren't happy and didn't wait for the mailman to deliver the captain's license revocation, it was delivered in person:
The agency delivered the revocation to the pilot, John Henry Gilfoil of Los Altos, Calif. An agency spokeman, Fred Farrar, called the revocation of Captain Gilfoil's airline transport pilot certificate a ''drastic and unusual action.''
Captain Gilfoil was flying a Boeing 767 on Delta's Flight 810 from Los Angeles to Cincinnati on June 30 when the power failed at about 1,700 feet. None of the 197 passengers or eight crew members were injured in that plunge that lasted about a minute before the crew was able to restart the engines.
The aviation agency said Captain Gilfoil had violated Delta and F.A.A. regulations and ''operated Flight 810 in a reckless manner so as to endanger life and property.''
Delta Pilot Loses License Over Plane's Power Loss - NYTimes.com
Boeing was not amused either but later relocated some switches to make the knobology less challenging.
A Boeing Co. official said Thursday that there is no ready explanation of how a veteran airline captain activated the wrong controls--pulling two round fuel cutoff knobs instead of pushing a square button two inches away--and caused a Delta Boeing 767 to plunge within 600 feet of the Pacific after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport.
The pilot, according to federal investigators, reacted to an amber warning light telling him there was a problem with the engines' fuel flow. The Boeing official said the original fuel problem was not critical and could have easily been corrected by pulling back the throttle and pushing the square button.
"One's a square button and the others are round knobs," said Elizabeth Reese, the spokeswoman for Seattle-based Boeing. "How could he make such a mistake? That's a good question."
Boeing Can't Explain How Delta Pilot Made Error - latimes
I'm not aware of an accidental B-767 RAT deployment airborne but I've sure heard of it on preflight. More than once, someone is reaching for the battery switch on the overhead panel and somehow pushes the guarded RAT switch instead. The RAT deploy mechanism is powered by the hot battery bus so the RAT will pop out even if the battery switch is off. Not a great way to impress your coworker who may be doing the walkaround while you are inside setting up the cockpit.
