Emergency On Nw44 Msp-lgw Yesterday
 

Inflight emergency yesterday as DC10 pax flight NW44 MSP-LGW diverted back to JFK due to failure of 2 out of 3 onboard nav systems.
Anyone know anything else about this??
F:mad:

It doesn't sound much like an emergency to me; he just could't enter the MNPS with 2 Nav systems U/S.

When I was at British Caledonian, we rarely let an a/c leave the ramp if even one INS was u/s.
Bad Attitude policy was to let it go as they were still allowed to fly with one u/s.

Yawn Yawn

There you go proof that flying is Safe.

Given the unlikely event of losing the 3rd over the water. The crew elected not to Chance putting anyone at risk!

Not an Emergency

Not an Incident

Just a good piece of flying.


:)

I heard ages ago that the DC10s will be replaced by B753s and A330s soon...just out of interest any truth to this?

Looks like September
 

ETOPS,

They announced this at the beginning of last year, see below from Detroit News. Northwest's Chief Executive Richard Anderson also announced in March('02) that the airline will be retiring the remainder of its 21 DC-10-40 aircraft by the end of September('02) to save money:

"Northwest Airlines has placed a $5-billion order for 52 new passenger planes, a move primarily aimed at replacing the carrier's aging DC-10 fleet. In an announcement Wednesday, Northwest said they have ordered 24 Airbus A330-300 aircraft, 20 Boeing B757-300s, two Boeing 747-400s and six Airbus A319s.

The new planes will be delivered between 2002 and 2006. "All in all, this is probably the largest aircraft order in the company's history and will put the airline at the top around the world for international fleets," said Richard H. Anderson, Northwest's executive vice-president and chief operating officer.

"This is a major product enhancement across our Atlantic network, in our domestic network and our Pacific network." The A330s will replace the DC10-30s that are now flying trans-Atlantic flights mostly from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the airline's largest hub with more than 500 departures daily.

The B757s will take over domestic flights presently being flown by DC10-40s. The A319s will replace DC9s that are being retired. The two B747s will be used to grow business in Asia.

Mickey Foret, Northwest chief financial officer, said the carrier will use both leasing and purchasing options to acquire the aircraft. He said he doesn't expect any other major aircraft purchases in the foreseeable future, although the airline is always modifying its fleet to meet demands.

Northwest has one of the industry's oldest fleets. The airline has 172 DC9s with an average age of nearly 30 years in service. Foret said the airline is gradually replacing the DC9s each year. Some routes now flown by the smaller, older planes are gradually being taken over by regional jets.

"We don't contemplate a major order to retire the entire DC9 fleet until sometime in the latter part of this decade," Foret said. The new aircraft purchase will mean more jobs for Northwest. Service on the new airplanes will be handled in Minneapolis, and the two new B747s will require an additional 13 flight crews."

Then 9/11 happened and everyones plans got put on hold!

Bob Brown- <<When I was at British Caledonian, we rarely let an a/c leave the ramp if even one INS was u/s.
Bad Attitude policy was to let it go as they were still allowed to fly with one u/s.>>

Well BCAL weren't necessarily right were they- where are they now? I see nothing wrong with what you allege to be BA's attitude. One out of three U/S is no problem considering the Mean time between failures- losing another is extremely unlikely. When 2 are u/s, not the most sensible thing in the world despatching like that- trusting everybody to a single unit! You don't agree?

MEL does not allow dispatch with 2 INS's u/s in "Nav" mode.
Thus, the second INS must have failed, or given the crew cause for concern, before MNPS entry.
As already stated, no emergency, just correct decision-making by the crew.

Notso, my reference to the company BA was not in response to dispatching aircraft with two working INS, but to their attitude as a whole to their employees and customers in years gone by.
I am aware that it is safe to depart with two working, else I would not have signed it off.