AIR NZ 101 This Morning
 

Anyone else hear the ANZ into SYD this morning call a 'PAN' due to having shutdown an engine to then cancel the pan 10 minutes later saying that it was an accidental shutdown due to dropping a clipboard when changing seats?? I think it was a 767, can this actually happen?? And why would you say that over the radio when you could just say you managed to re-start the engine??

I seem to recall that the fuel cutoff switches are vulnerable in the 767, maybe that was it.

They probably called PAN because it was a bit of an "oh sh@t" moment and they weren't sure what happened.

If you didn't bother with a PAN, why would you bother with a subsequent "we relighted it" call? :ugh::rolleyes:

If you've got an engine rolling back and you can't immediately see that it is a silly mistake, then a PAN call is prudent, in my view.

If things get worse suddenly, at least ATC knows that something non-normal is happening.

An ANZ returned to Sydney due "cracked windscreen" today, hmmmm:confused: Just wondering if this is part of the same story;)

Totally agree guys, I would have no hesitation in making a Pan call no matter how the engine was shutdown. What I was interested in was if it was possible on a 767 to accidently shut an engine down by dropping something. Also on the radio I probably would of not mentioned 'how' the engine was shut down.

Nothing "wrong" with telling all how and what happened:O

In any case - it does not really matter that they told us on the radio, because I am sure that it would come up in the safety investigation at some stage anyway.

It could easily be done - I know I have dropped a few clip boards on the flight deck in my time, probably more to come too. I have often looked at the 767 fuel control switches and wondered if they could get "knocked off..." - guess I now know:eek:

Looking from a human viewpoint - perhaps they were just a little startled at how events unfolded.....I am sure everyone will react slightly differently when startled (due what ever reason) - but the job got done never the less.

What a talking point at the bar - "there I was, clip board in one hand, pen in the other, smoking along at Mach 0.82 feeling like the biggest Big Kahuna of all Kahunas and nothing could possibly go wrong.........:mad: ....Holy Sux pack of fush and chups Batman...."

But where was the leading story in the Telegraph that the aircraft was "Seconds from Disaster"??!!! Where were the interviews with the traumatised passengers that were in fear for their lives when they heard the engine spool down?

The engine was shut because of a dropped clipboard? Where is the Pprune lynch mob exorting them to be sacked for carelessness or negligence?

Oh.... sorry.....just read that it was an Air New Zealand flight and not a Qantas flight. That explains it then. :mad: :mad:

Have heard of something very similar happening to a B717. It seems odd that there would be critical switches or levers without suitable protection from a knock like this.

Reminds me of the probably apocryphal story of a foreign student undertaking a solo flight at a military training school.

Student: "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is XXX, engine failure!"

Tower: "Roger xxx, what is your position?"

Student: "On the taxiway..."

to the gripers
 

Just maybe acft was at fl370 and incurred an inadvertant S/D. On one engine max alt for the wt would have been FL230. Just maybe the crew requested descent and were told to mtn 370 due traffic. Pan call made to obtain descent knowing that a restart would follow. Engine was subsequently restarted and Pan cxd. There have been 18 recorded instances world wide of F/objts striking the fuel S/Os and causing eng s/dwn on 767s and in one instance it was a double eng shut down. For all you opinionated ignorant wanabees honesty is the best policy in aviation. Sorry I missed the exta "p" in the title, they are people who haven't the nous to move their hand.

Sounds like particulalrly accurate insight to me...

Good call...

Hey All, correct me if i am wrong as i am trying to remember, but dont you have to pull the cutoff lever and then push down to shutdown the engine?

If So it must be a smart clipboard to shutdown the engine...ha :ok:

You only have to pull the fuel control switch up and over the latch. After that it 'drops' naturally into the cut off position. The right pressure in the right manner and this is feasible. You'd have to be unlucky but that's not unknown in aviation.

About 15 years ago a QF 744 had an engine shut down in similar circumstances. A sun shade had fallen down into that area and the 'notch' on the end (the bit that slots into the rail on the windshield) had fallen between two fuel control switches. As the F/O picked the sun shade up the notch caught one of the fuel control switches and lifted it up and over the gate. As it disengaged it dropped the fuel control switch into the cut off position.

OMG !! that is the funniest thing ever !!

Reminds me of the story of the crusty old airline pilot who decided to go flying in a friend's 172. He called "mayday" as soon as he had started the engine.

Tower: "What is the nature of your emergency?"

Pilot: "Only one engine, only one radio, only one nav receiver..."

Well I thought it was funny...

Now, if you dropped one of them Airbussy laptoppy things ... couldn't you do some damage?