Jethro's shows no planned date for NLL to be withdrawn from use. There are, however, quite a few scheduled for withdrawal in 2014. It might be that BA has some juggling around to do, as most of those being withdrawn will likely be due a major imminently.

I note that NLL has been at CWL twice in the last 6 months for maintenance, 3/6 - 13/6 and 12/8 - 25/9. The latter 6 week stint would suggest that a major check has been recently performed.

I further note that it was due to get a first class refit from one of the aircraft due to be withdrawn in the next few months, suggesting that NLL was scheduled to be operated for 2 - 3 years yet.

For BA, it may be a question of the cost of repairs to NLL vs the cost of a major check on another aircraft due to be withdrawn.

From a parallel universe ... FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Incident at JNB [BA 744 G-BNLL collides with building]

Bit of speed tape and she'll be good to go ;)

It would seem that threat was overlooked in the "interactive" pre-flight briefing.:*

Oops!
 

Strong old wings on the 747.

No-one was in the offices struck by the 74, for some reason. (Conspiracy theory?)

And as for Ms.H. Tolputt why was she travelling for Oxfam in Premium Economy? The extra few hundred pounds wasted on cushioning her ample posterior would have been better used helping supply clean water to an African village or shanty town. So much for corporate charities. Wasting well-meaning donations on Premium travel for employees....:=

There were people in the buildings !

Four injured as BA aircraft hits OR Tambo building | National | BDlive

I think it takes about 3 months to bring a plane back on line from the desert. At least, that's roughly how long it's taken BA to reactive several stored 744s in the last year. But, as far as I am aware, that time also included an installation of a refurbished interior.

I'd imagine it can be shortened to a top up of fluids, check flight and a quick clean in a pinch.

I feel for the crew - as has already been said "there but for the grace of God".

One can imagine certain factors such as poor signage, lighting and/or charts.

Maybe "someone" head down reprogramming FMC for change in SID/departure?

Am enjoying my retirement doing some light aircraft these days after an airline career - I find myself constantly nagging people to slow down on the taxi speed!

I know airlines have max speeds which are monitored on OFDM etc but the key point is slower taxying speeds give you more thinking time and if any doubt then STOP.

Am sure the report on this one will be very interesting - holes in the swiss cheese methinks.

British Airways Incident at Johannesburg
 

Standing up one of the Victorville aircraft isn't an easy task. Interiors are stripped and many components are removed / robbed to add to the material stock @ LHR or keep the in service fleet flying. Also the ones in storage are all (as far as I remember) due heavy checks soon.

For the poster who asked whether BA do a C or a D check, the answer is both, just depends what stage of maintenance check is next due.

Would certainly be a big repair. One of the older guys at work told me they rebuilt a 707 wing in the BOAC days out in HKG !


Safe flying
Tech_Log

This image of the damaged building is taken by a colleague whilst at the the CAT11 holding point, showing the perspective of the correct taxiway vs where the B747 ended up

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...21283981_n.jpg

The picture of the wing embedded is halfway through the building. How fast were they going down the wrong taxiway at night to chop through it like butter?

at coming up 24 years old, this airframe is worth the value of its 4 RB211 engines, so in the order of $15m, alas LL is unlikely to leave JNB under her own power, more likely on the back of a number of trucks....

Insurers generally work on a repair value of 60-70% constituting a total loss, this repair will easily exceed that, BUT it may be cheaper for BA to pay the difference themselves. Unless one of the very recently withdrawn units can be returned to service depending upon how stripped out they are.

Xulu

You have finally asked the question, but everybody is busy grieving , wondering about spare aircraft, there but for the grace of God etc

BA have announced the introduction the A-380 on the Johannesburg route, early in the New Year

Will it be feasible to bring this forward rather than find a spare B-747?

One thing that I have observed with OFDM is that max taxi speeds have unwittingly become targets rather than limits.

Before OFDM we would taxi at a speed which was (hopefully) appropriate for the situation. In certain instances this would be very slowly!

Had this incident happened to Korean, Asiana, Vietnam or any number of third world carriers would so many of you be repeating the mantras "I feel for the crew" or "there for the grace of God" etc etc?

I most certainly DO feel for the crew here, but then I feel for ALL crews who are involved in mishaps, irrespective of for whom they work, their nationalities or whatever cultural differences the may have when compared to the western world.

The collective outpouring of feelings here, and the absence of similar condolences in respect of other incidents being discussed on this forum seem, at least to me, to demonstrate massive bias!

Yawn.

Oxfam has already tweeted that she was travelling privately and they have an economy travel policy.

Why do events like this bring out all the halfwits.

Distraction from the primary task of taxying safely.

These days airline crews are given far, far too many tasks to do while taxying out to the runway.

It's become a macho thing: "Yes we can handle any task you give us while navigating to the end of the runway".

But be honest. Who hasn't looked up while taxying - and got a bit of a shock? Yes?

On the bright side, I'm sure that the crew was using impeccable ICAO standard RT phraseology.

Albert Driver, well said! Me too!

The workload on the Flightdeck is inversely proportional to the speed of the aircraft!

"How fast were they going down the wrong taxiway at night to chop through it like butter?"

Probably no more than normal taxiing speed. It looks like a brick building. You can take those apart with nothing more than a 2" brick bolster and club hammer. Once you've breached a mortar course, bricks come down very easily.

A 747 is strong and would take some stopping...

The first 388 service is BA057/25JAN.

It will then operate BA055 on WED FRI SUN from 12FEB - 07MAR.
From 09MAR daily except TUE.

Subject of course to change.

I saw the impressive on-site repair that Boeing did on the Condor 767 which was flown through the mast array on top of the mountain at Margarita Island. After a test flight, the aircraft went back into service. That was eighteen or so years ago, but I presume the capability still exists.

Eyewitness report, FWIW ... FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Incident at JNB [BA 744 G-BNLL collides with building]

I suspect that an A380 wing will also take a chunk out of the building if it is taxied down M :p

Sorry, that is ridiculous. If there are too many tasks while taxying you stop them or set the parking brake. All of the crew pays attention to the here and now. Taxying in an unknown area with minimal lighting (if it was well known to the crew or well lit.....) all heads are up. No exceptions.

I'm sorry are you a private pilot?

Airlines usually provide the performance numbers through ACARS or they are computed on laptops/tablets prior to pushback. The only task would be getting a route clearance (if not obtained prior to push) and the checklists.

I'm sorry but Nigel really did bad for the rest of perfection on this one. Pull the FOs head out of .. and have him look out the window.


Distraction from the primary task of taxying safely.

These days airline crews are given far, far too many tasks to do while taxying out to the runway.

It's become a macho thing: "Yes we can handle any task you give us while navigating to the end of the runway".

But be honest. Who hasn't looked up while taxying - and got a bit of a shock? Yes?

Someone claiming to have been on the flight has just posted this on the Daily Mail article comments....

Judge for yourself the veracity :hmm:

If it had been KAL or similar the place would be full of people blaming "cultural problems..."

exactly,

nigel's are again showing their superior airmanship!

Would you believe there are cultural problems at BA? Is there a Hierarchal culture which prevents crew members from expressing concern?

Gosh, flyertalk is even more uninformed and speculative than here. Didn't think that was possible. Whilst I'm sure it will fall on deaf ears is there any chance we could keep the speculation and uninformed comments to a minimum? I'm sure the guys were doing their best last night and I'm sure lessons will be learned.

Could ATC have warned them?

British Airways Incident at Johannesburg
 

Bus Junkie - I understood BA have role reversal across all fleets. One of the FO's may have been taxiing the aircraft. Where was the third crew member at time of impact?

See? There's denial about this issue.

And no, I'm not a private pilot. I logged many thousands of hours on this type of aircraft without hitting anything. But I am now old and wise enough to admit that unnecessary distractions lead to more close calls than there should have been.

boeingdriverx- I think most British Pilots would like to be a Nigel at one time or another- I never made it past the HR department. I think though the airmanship at BA probably reflects that of all British Pilots. The safety record of British pilots has been pretty good since the 80's.

Nope, the distance from the tower at night to this point is too great, and the B747 only deviated from the taxiway by a few metres before it hit the support equipment building, probably in the order of 5 to 10 secs from deviation from the taxiway to impact.

Last I checked, 744 have windows which enables one to see outside.

When in doubt, just keep taxiing................:ugh:

The surprise to me is not the ground Nav error but the width of the taxi-way they went into. It only looks about 20m wide. As for the Asiana apologists, a bit different, clipping a building in the dark to missing an airport completely on a clear day!