Qantas 747 emergency landing

[F900EX]

Anyone know why the QF26 747 made an emergency landing at LAX last night ?

[Nepotisim]

Rolls Royce engine failure.

[old,not bold]

Was it declared as an emergency, or was it simply a landing with one engine inop?

[jet_noseover]

ABC:

A Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Auckland has been forced to turn around after engine trouble over the Pacific.

Qantas flight 26, a 747-400 service out of Los Angeles with about 300 passengers and crew on board, was just 20 minutes into its flight to Melbourne via Auckland when a vibration developed in one of the aircraft's four engines.

David Cox, the airline's director of engineering, says the pilot shutdown the engine and returned to Los Angeles, where the plane landed safely without incident.

Passengers were taken to nearby hotels while Qantas made arrangements for them to be transferred to other transpacific flights.

[boaclhryul]

We know it was the #2 or #3 donk: a passenger on the flight was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying, "Sparks came out of the front engine..." :)
Clearly no risk here, as a Qantas spokesman said, "a Boeing 747 can fly on one engine if necessary."
Michael

[harrogate]

Oh, well done.

For christ's sake don't let Gordon Brown see that last post.

Imagine the cash saving projects he'll hatch for the RAF's Brize fleet when he finds out big jets don't need all their engines.

Think before you post next time, eh?

Tsk.

[Check 6]

It was more like "over the harbour" than over the Pacific. :rolleyes:
Flightaware (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/QFA26/history/20070502/0454Z/KLAX/NZAA)

[hetfield]

"a Boeing 747 can fly on one engine if necessary."

If the last one fails, it still has the APU.

No sweat!

[Taildragger67]

All getting a good run in the D&G forum (http://http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=274241).

Mods - candidates for a thread merge??

Was VH-OJI, apparently.

All walked away, nothin' to see here, move along folks...

[Colonel Klink]

So why didn't he continue on to Auckland with only three engines, then? I guess he must have used common sense!

[VHF1]

The dreaded three engine approach.......please!!!!!

[Jordan D]

Colonel Klink -not making any guesses, but to see the debate on 3 engine long flights, I suggest you do a search for the BA 3 engine flight LAX-LHR.

Jordan

[Colonel Klink]

Thanks, Jordan but even the simplest, most junior pilot amongst us would realise that it was the BA incident I was referring to and that I believe the Qantas crew excercised judgement and airmanship under similar circumstances to the BA flight which did not. I am extremely conversant with the argument with all the pros and cons and therefore why should I look at it again?

[Jordan D]

I'm SLF, I misread your comment, and your comment didn't have any particular reference to your knowledge. Maybe errors on both sides?

Anyway, let's keep it clean, and let the thread stay in R&N, instead of being shipped to Jet Blast.

Jordan

[electricjetjock]

CK

A little pompous in your reply to JD!:rolleyes:

Without starting the 3 engine fly-on debate again you are NOT comparing apples with apples. It is a bit different to go across miles and miles of ocean on three with only one alternate than flying LAX to LHR. Plus it mentions "vibration"!!!!!!!! It does not always stop when you shut it down!!!;)

[Capt Fathom]

Continuation of Flight by Multi-engine Aircraft with One or More Engines Inoperative (http://www.casa.gov.au/download/orders/Cao20/2006.pdf)

Unfortunately, what the Pilot In Command deems as safe and operationally acceptable, to what the Lawyers representing the company and the passengers deems to be safe and operationally acceptable after the fact, is where the problem begins (or sometimes ends!)

In these days of almost guaranteed Police involvement in any incident, perhaps it's prudent to err on the conservative side!

[vwreggie]

turn backs are required by the company. If for instance you departed on a 3 hour sector overflying numerous airports we would have continued on most days with an engine failure however I am told that did not sit well with CASA and so a note was made in our manuals " if an engine fails, or is required to be shutdown during climb, the primary consideration should be to return to the departure airport. The only exceptions to this policy would be weather precluding a return or a suitable airport being available within close proximity." On a seperate note the aircraft will easily fly a long sector on 3 engines however within the last 3 hours there needs to be a heap of airports available to meet your needs on two engines if a susequent engine fails and that is where you can find yourself in between nowhere and no where. Fine in practise returning to europe or asia overland but on a pacific route. no way withour rerouting and the plan and fuel carried would not allow this.

[Basil]

excercised judgement and airmanship under similar circumstances to the BA flight which did not
Silly boy:=

[J430]

Did the crew preserve the PAX and the aircraft 100%? Answer = YES

End of discussion.

Now talk about the engine failure in detail as much as you like....RR again!:}

J

[atr_in_himalaya]

If you loose only one engine on a 747 you dont even have to open up the red pages. Its fortunately just an abnormality not an emergency.

[GZip]

As a 744 P2, it seems that since BA's sensible continuation on 3 engines LAX-UK the 'journo' factor has changed the game somewhat, viz:
Airmanship-based decisions to continue to/near dest via oceanic/remote route (surely the whole point of having 4 motors in the first place) are now the subject of ill-informed media pressure on National Regulator (eg FAA - next time use some bloody common - you lot certificated the jet in the first place!)
BA are to be respected for supporting the Commander's decision in the public domain.
Just as valid is the QF Crew's decision to return to LAX in the light of new CASA guidance (another regulator buckling in public?). Just wonder if the Crew would have preferred, in the absence of such overbearing regulation, to continue across part/all of the ocean, assuming fuel etc permitted...