Scavenging a crashed 777: for a book

[MAC 40612]

Originally Posted by kenpimentel

re: cargo doors
The aft tail (at row 40) is separated and open. Is it true if you can get into one cargo bay, you can get into the others? I also think one side of the airplane can be higher than the other and the cargo bays easily cleared.

No the rear cargo and the forward cargo are completely separate. There is the large box section containing the main [centre] fuel tank separating them.

both forward and rear cargo bays have cargo loaded onto ULD pallets/containers so not easy to move and most would probably still be in place as the containers/pallets are locked into floor rails that stop the cargo moving about. Also at the rear of the rear cargo bay is a sloping area called the bulk cargo. This is where loose cargo is typically loaded and just held down under netting, so bank on that breing scattered everywhere.

Cargo bays are typically horrible places to try and walk anyway, even as an able bodied person, I've lost count of how many engineers I've seen have a fall in a cargo bay over the years and get injured. I've attached a photo of a typical Boeing cargo bay [it's from a 747 but the B777 bays are very similar]

Also I've attached a photo showing how narrow access is from the forward cargo bay to the area you would need to get to that would allow you access to the main passenger deck via the [not very large] access hatch, again not really suited to getting injured people through.


Typical Boeing wide body aircraft cargo bay

This is what I meant about limited access from cargo bay to main deck. Where I've drawn the arrow from is the access from cargo into the electronics bay and where I've drawn the arrow upwards is where you would need to get people up and through to get to the main passenger cabin.

[MAC 40612]

Originally Posted by kenpimentel

Question: The wifi system will no longer work because all satellites will be missing. Is the error generated something the Captain/FO would be aware of or deal with? Or, are the attendants the ones to discover the error? Would there be an error code?

WI-FI errors/system failures are not normally shown as any sort of error message in the flight deck, it would be something the senior cabin crew member would see on the WI-FI system screen, that they would then raise a defect in the cabin log for an engineer to look at the next time the aircraft was on the ground. What you have to remember is that virtually all WI-FI systems on aircraft have been added to the aircraft in recent years as an additional system. The only thing the pilot ha any control over is the ability to switch the system off from the flight deck.

[MAC 40612]

Originally Posted by kenpimentel

According to a manual I found, the 777 has backup battery power to operate the cargo hatches in the case of main power failure?

That is or course, providing the aircraft battery stays intact, the main battery is a large heavy item [70-80 lb NiCad battery] that is bolted to the electronic bay floor but with an impact, the chances of it [and all the associated control wiring to control the cargo doors] being intact would be very unlikely

I don't want it to sound like I'm being negative with every scenario you come up with but if you are trying to keep it as realistic as possible, I'm just pointing out some likely problems.

I've seen far too many films and read far too many books where the aviation parts are laughable....

[Faolan]

Originally Posted by kenpimentel

Hi, I'm writing a book of fiction that involves a slightly damaged 777 that landed on a primitive island. I've been lucky to be in contact with a 777 pilot to get his input, but there are a lot of technical questions he doesn't know. Hopefully, some of you experts will answer my questions.

Appropriate title for an aircraft engineer?
One of the PAX is on the 777 in order to fix a 757 that is broken elsewhere. What is this person's correct title? Is it "Aircraft Engineer"? Or, Maintenance Engineer or something else? I'm assuming the person is about 35 years old and would be fairly knowledgeable regarding all the plane's systems.

Emergency radios on the raft - can you talk with them?
I know each raft has a radio set to 121.5Mhz, the question is if they just emit a homing signal or if you can talk to anyone else using one of these?

Galley hot water boiler
I'd like to use the hot water boiler as a pressure vessel to generate steam. My question is how large are these boilers (gallons) and how many a 777 is likely to have.

Cabin printer, cockpit printers
Are these regular 8.5 x 11 inkjet printers? Or dot-matrix? Or what? They would be valuable, at least until their ink ran out. Are supplies typically carried on board?

thanks!

Well, I think I can answer at least one question, I'm just a student, but if you are talking about someone who works on aircraft the title would be Aircraft Maintenance Technician, otherwise the person designing an aircraft would be an engineer. Also, the Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT) that are activated in the even of a crash, they are usually situated in the aft section of a plane, and I think that is what you are talking about. Without a mic, and some know how, you would not be able to talk through the ELT, it just sends out a signal. Newer ones operate at 406MHz and can be paired with the aircraft's GPS. The older ones, you'd have to have someone fly over you to be heard.
I don't know about that other stuff.