1261
27th Aug 2001, 19:21
Picture the scene. ATC at adjacent airfield call with details of an RJ85 that has just suffered an engine fire indication on departure and wants to divert to us. No problem. Crew report on first contact that fire appears to be extinguished, and that they do not require any assistance. Aircraft makes normal approach and lands. Fire service inspect aircraft and see no signs of fire. As aircraft taxis in, Capt makes a series of abrasive comments to ground controller.
Our SOPs call for a Full Emergency to de declared in this situation. For a four-engined aircraft, a precautionary shutdown would initiate a Local Standby, but anything more serious is automatically a FE.
We realise that most airlines don't like to have their flights met by fire tenders, but get really pi**ed off when we get a formal complaint from the company in situations like this. The crew apparently believed that ATC had "grossly overreacted".
What I wonder is, are we overreacting? How would other crews have felt?
Our SOPs call for a Full Emergency to de declared in this situation. For a four-engined aircraft, a precautionary shutdown would initiate a Local Standby, but anything more serious is automatically a FE.
We realise that most airlines don't like to have their flights met by fire tenders, but get really pi**ed off when we get a formal complaint from the company in situations like this. The crew apparently believed that ATC had "grossly overreacted".
What I wonder is, are we overreacting? How would other crews have felt?