Exploding curry menaces 747

[ground_star]

Forget binary liquid explosives, a British Airways stewardess has shown how it's really done by popping her curry ready meal into a 747's club class microwave, with explosive results.


The spicy blast - caused by the supermarket-bought nosh's inability to withstand the might of the double-strength airborne microwave - provoked crew on the Heathrow to Miami jaunt to deploy a fire extinguisher "to douse the blazing oven".

The jumbo subsequently needed days of repairs totalling £20,000, The Sun notes. This prompted BA to circulate details of the incident in a secret email memo to long haul crews, chillingly entitled "Microwave incident". The missive notes that food intended for high-altitude reheating needs "special packaging" since the aircraft's ovens have twice the power output of your ground-based domestic model.


Accordingly, staff are now banned from preparing their own tucker in 747s' club class microwaves. One BA employee lamented: "Many cabin crew like to bring their own meals to eat. At first we thought the microwaves were a godsend. But this unfortunate incident has left us with egg on our faces."
BA stressed that at no time during the curry-based emergency were passengers or the aircraft at risk.



Taken from www.theregister.co.uk (http://www.theregister.co.uk)

[ground_star]

Balti was invented in Birmingham...oh er!

Don't tell the DfT for gawd sake or they'll ban food next! It's bad enough they've banned gel - this last winter was hell on-ramp without my microwave gel packs in my shoes!!

[spannersatcx]

Don't tell the DfT for gawd sake or they'll ban food next!

Actually this is a security breach, as food with sauces are banned, at least for ground staff anyway!

[Hotel Mode]

Actually this is a security breach, as food with sauces are banned, at least for ground staff anyway!

Dont know where you work but thats not true.

Crew may take personal food of a non-liquid nature (including, for example, pasta with sauce, or curry but excluding, for example, soup or yoghurt) for their duty period. This will be checked to ensure that no prohibited liquids are contained.

[spannersatcx]

Staff may carry small quantities of liquids, but only within separate containers each of which with a capacity not greater than 100ml.

[Clarence Oveur]

The liquid security rules makes sense now. Look what happens when you mix liquids with industrial-strength microwave ovens.

[flash8]

she probably forgot to pierce the plastic covering. Done it myself (at home)... makes a helluva noise. Probably scared the crap out of everybody.

[crewboi83]

basically... im not sure where you guys are working/got your info
but its the same DFT regulations for crew and pax (at least at my base it is)
Taking food through is no prob

[troff]

Try getting food though US Customs as crew... fun! Now you're forced to eat your crew meal :yuk:.

[bamcb38c]

got a circular about it 2day, apparently it was a baked potato not a curry.

[lomapaseo]

got a circular about it 2day, apparently it was a baked potato not a curry.

difficult to tell the difference to a casual observer after it explodes

[ground_star]

It could even have been a potato curry....

I'll get my hi-vi...

[ThreadBaron]

by popping her curry ready meal into a 747's club class microwave, with explosive results.

apparently it was a baked potato not a curry.

But this unfortunate incident has left us with egg on our faces."

Are we agreed it was food........?:}

[Capt. Inop]

Are we agreed it was food........?

Perhaps this time, but it's not always food everything that goes in to the microwave. :\

[ChristiaanJ]

Perhaps this time, but it's not always food everything that goes in to the microwave.You're thinking of those gel-packed "keep-you-warm" packs, aren't you?

Oh, eek.... GEL!

't Wasn't me guv.

[A2QFI]

So people have been cooking food in these double power micro-waves for weeks/months/years and suddenly one explodes? I don't think we are getting the full story! I can visualise a jacket potato blowing up but a curry would just get too hot.

[ChristiaanJ]

A2QFI,
IIRC the story DID say it was a "non-standard" "take-away" "carry-on" curry (if you get my drift)
Reasonably tough packaging, somebody forgets to punch a few holes in it, double-power microwave....
Yes I think the scenario is quite believable.

[World of Tweed]

Clearly in BA one is blessed with Microwave ovens... here in the World of Tweed we are only worthy of convection ones.....

I can only dream of a day when I might bring in my own curry....aah luxury. :)

[llondel]

If they'd been inbound it could have been an attempt to get a quick and efficient gate assignment...:}

What's probably happened is that the top wasn't pierced, the pressure built up until it burst, then at suddenly reduced pressure, the superheated liquid boiled pretty instantly. That would create a pretty good explosion.

[Few Cloudy]

This case just shows how stupidly secretive airlines are when something goes wrong.
The knowledge on safety levels must be shared with all who fly!
Secret memo indeed.
It also shows that to endanger an aircraft in flight, nothing needs to be got through security - all that is required is already on board - microwave oven - quite a good place to begin!!!
FC.

[Finals19]

Err...since when have BA had microwave ovens in the Club galley (or any galley??) Its been about 4 years since I worked L/H and at that point we never had microwaves - just high power convection ovens. It was also very rare for crew to bring their own food - more likely poach something out of the Club catering once the pax had eaten, or if the F galley girl/boy was feeling nice, the WT crew would get that brought down for them.

So these microwaves must be a recent addition?

[Lima288]

You must have been asleep through the launch of the new Club World product then.....! The new Club Kitchen includes a microwave oven for pax to get snacks between meals.
Someone must have thought this would be a good idea........ :eek:

[Muizenberg]

A few of points.

If the crew member had brought the microwave meal ex-MIA it is perfectly acceptable, working flight/cabin crew are exempt from liquid restrictions ex the USA.

The microwave is indeed double power. The only people allowed to use it are BA cabin crew, and the only meals that are allowed to be cooked are specifically designed and packaged for this oven. At the moment they are a veg mushroom and bean caserole and a chicken caserole.

£14,000 per aircraft to heat up the above which is irradiated like no tomorrow (meals are not chilled, but last 2 months) is criminal.

The crew member in question should have received a brief either at Premium Academy, her Mandatory E-Learning day, or read Cabin Crew News...if not stayed away from the microwave. I recently had a colleague trying to cover one of the afore mentioned meals with a lid from an appetiser as he didn't want the microwave to get dirty...I soon pulled out that plastic lid that wasn't stressed to be used in the microwave.

As far as I'm concerned the crew member who caused the damage should be suspended and investigated. Whoever made the decision to buy 57 microwaves @ £14,000 each should be sacked, and the money put to better use....could employ 70 new cabin crew for 1 year for the price of 57 microwaves.

p.s. don't even get me started on the £350m that has been put aside for the fuel surcharge debacle...

[Few Cloudy]

Well an oven such as this - especially if available to Pax, can make a bomb out of quite innocent objects, so we'd better up the rules, employ some more guards, increase check in times... or maybe remove the damn things.