Textbook Recovery by Swiss
 

I must say I am impressed with the recovery of the 777.
I am assuming this would have been the exact same outcome if it was more southern based airline. ( Not!)
Well here is the way to do it.
Make a study and a guide from this, or phone Swiss and the Antonov crew.

On another note, how much is Narsasuaq used as enroute alternate/ emg field and how realistic is this. Anyone?

Sure this link must be somewhere on the thread but couldn't find it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd0IRprnobs

As a side note,to anyone intimating not landing at the nearest (geographically)suitable airfield.
I know of at least one modern,heavy twin jet whose surviving engine was also found to be damaged,in a similar way to the one that gave up!
Food for thought...

Birmingham
thnaks for posting the An124 landing video, that does look likethe plane for all seasons doesn't it-all those mainwheels and anhedral wings looks absolutely made for the job which I suppose it sort of was back in the USSR days.

Speaking from the experience of multiple landings at Narssarssuaq (BGBW) I would not recommend its use as a diversion for a heavy jet except in the most dire circumstances. Located at the bottom of a glacier, rugged topography surrounding and with the fjord open to the ocean, the weather is just too unpredictable. And, don't even talk about the turbulence associated with surface winds over 20 knots.

I'm glad you stopped short of saying that it all went like clockwork ...

Was there end of 90's and eary 2000s a few times . Concur with what twochai said.
Plus runway only usable one way for most jets ( take off is opposite direction as landing ) with tailwind limitations an issue for some types. Same problems for Pax : no stairs ( back then) and accommodation limited to 40-50 pax max.
For info Narsasuaq total population is around 100.

Narsarsuaq is even more difficult since they took the sunken trawler away...:)

That was the place that Earnest K Gann went in to with a C54. I remember the bit about a trawler and that he called the place Bluie West One.

I don't think he was overly impressed with the approach up a winding fjord which was effectively a dead end. I think that the trawler marked decision point.

Does anyone know what happened to the defective engine? Back in Switzerland? Or to GE in the States? Or still at CYFB?

Also how the crew who flew the aircraft back to Zurich got there? Were they an ordinary crew or test pilots of Swiss.

Yaw String, your point is food for thought

Fair question..don't know how Swiss work but from what I've seen over the years unless there's a compelling reason for a crew change (contract, industrial agreements, impingement on leave, open ended delay) often as not the crew that broke it get to sit it out and fly the aircraft home when it is fixed.

Not sure why the thoughts about test pilot requirements, (unless something really odd went on or it's company policy.). .the post engine test requirement was discussed earlier in the thread.

Yes, it is food for thought.
Now try looking at that example from the perspective of "no alternate available for 180 minutes".
I have never questioned the efficacy of landing at nearest suitable. What sends shivers up my spine is the thought that the nearest suitable may be three hours away over a very inhospitable ocean, mountains or ice.

The passenger who flew out did say that the crew went with them... Not sure whether this included the flight deck crew or not.

Looks like the Ant went to East Midlands UK, not sure if it had the engine onboard:

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/a...-82007#c6831b1

Iqaluit’s airport wrapped up a remarkable—and busy—week Feb. 9, starting with the emergency landing of a jet en route to Los Angeles and ending with the day-long stop of Government of Canada aircraft carrying the Prime Minister and his entourage to Iqaluit.

The week kicked off with the Feb. 1 emergency landing of a Swiss International Air Lines Boeing 777-300 on one engine, followed by the Feb. 2 departure of its 200-plus passengers and crew on a Swiss International Air Bus rescue flight.

Then, Feb. 4 brought the landing of the Antonov 124, carrying the new $24-million engine for the Swiss International jet, with huge aircraft’s arrival just before sunset witnessed by many of Iqaluit’s keen plane-spotting 7,740 residents.

The activity put Iqaluit’s airport on the map, as a team of engineers worked 24-7 in frigid temperatures to take off the faulty engine and put on the new one.

Finally the Swiss International flight left Feb. 8 for Zurich—followed by the departure of the Antonov late in the evening for the U.K.

This operation would have been expensive and a good job that they could tow the 777 off the runway before The 11:31 p.m. departure of the hulking Antonov, a four-engine aircraft owned by the Antonov Co., a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company, put an end to the repair saga of the Swiss jet.

Stefan Vasic, a corporate communications manager at Swiss International, said the cost of the entire operation was “under evaluation and subject to further calculations.”

@ ATC watcher
No. RTFQ - I asked if it was - the clues to that are the word 'Is' at the beginning of the sentence and the question mark at the end :ok:

Probably headed for GE's MRO shop in Wales?

The interview with the captain in the Swiss news broadcast doesn't look like it was filmed in the Arctic...