Originally Posted by
davetravels
Can anyone elaborate about this plane? As I look over the FlightAware page posted above, it's unclear to me as to whether or not the plane in the photo is actually the type enroute with the new engine. It says - Flight #GTI5420 - It also says "Giant" - but it lists it as simply a B744/Q. Any thoughts?
"Giant" is the Atlas Air ATC call-sign.
The picture is of the Boeing Large Cargo Freighter (LCF). Atlas has a contract to provide the crews to fly the LCF. The airplane charter to Delta is not an LCF but a regular B747 freighter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_...argo_Freighter
The "/Q" indicates the flight's navigation capabilities to ATC.
Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
When you're dealing with an engine failure on an ETOPS aircraft, I don't believe you have much leeway -- you have to hand at the nearest airfield that accommodate the aircraft, with "accommodate" not necessary taking passenger amenities into account.
The ETOPS alternates are predetermed. The flight plan lists the Equal Time Point (ETP) between each pair of ETOPS alternates so that the crew always knows which alternate is the closest by flight time as they proceed along their route.