Incident at JNB [BA 744 G-BNLL collides with building]
Dec 23, 2013, 2:42 am
#77
Join Date: Feb 2006
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Are you aware of how risky an evacuation of an aircraft is? At night? With women, children and the elderly? It is very much at the "last resort" end of the scale rather than the "first response" end, during a ground incident like this.
Even the CX A330 that almost went off the end at HKG, or the QF32 at SIN, didn't evacuate and they both had undertaken emergency, fast landings with brakes reaching 900C+ when they stopped. The crew of both aircraft thought they had a fuel leak, QF32 actually did. But it was safer to keep everyone on the plane rather than send them down the slides.
Honestly, before you start throwing out statements like, "The captain should be fired!" do some research.
Even the CX A330 that almost went off the end at HKG, or the QF32 at SIN, didn't evacuate and they both had undertaken emergency, fast landings with brakes reaching 900C+ when they stopped. The crew of both aircraft thought they had a fuel leak, QF32 actually did. But it was safer to keep everyone on the plane rather than send them down the slides.
Honestly, before you start throwing out statements like, "The captain should be fired!" do some research.
Just because you think unloading a 747 via slides is dangerous does not mean it wasn't the right thing to do. Perhaps you should should do some research as to the responsibilities of a Pilot in Command?
Dec 23, 2013, 2:44 am
#78
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Well, the pilot will probably be fired regardless. He was PIC, even if he accepted ground control taxi instructions, he is ultimately responsible to see and avoid obstacles. He is also responsible for the safety of everyone onboard. Unloading immediately may have been prudent and it may not have. FT is a forum with lots of armchair opinions, mine is one of them, so take it with a grain of salt-its only my opinion.
Just because you think unloading a 747 via slides is dangerous does not mean it wasn't the right thing to do. Perhaps you should should do some research as to the responsibilities of a Pilot in Command?
Just because you think unloading a 747 via slides is dangerous does not mean it wasn't the right thing to do. Perhaps you should should do some research as to the responsibilities of a Pilot in Command?
Dec 23, 2013, 2:46 am
#79
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Seeing as how everyone got off the aircraft without injury then it's safe to say that (in this case) the crew made the correct decision.
Anyway, it's my understanding that cabin crew are able to independently start an evacuation if they sense a significant danger (I'm sure some of the crew on here can elaborate on that) so the fact that they were also comfortable to keep everyone onboard is important too.
Finally - I suspect that "Oh, I'm getting fired anyway, so might as well send people down the slides." Is not high up the list of responsibilities of the PIC...
Anyway, it's my understanding that cabin crew are able to independently start an evacuation if they sense a significant danger (I'm sure some of the crew on here can elaborate on that) so the fact that they were also comfortable to keep everyone onboard is important too.
Finally - I suspect that "Oh, I'm getting fired anyway, so might as well send people down the slides." Is not high up the list of responsibilities of the PIC...
Dec 23, 2013, 2:47 am
#80
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Dec 23, 2013, 2:50 am
#82
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
From the BBC:
The control tower "told them to take one taxi-way and they took another one. They took a wrong one," said CAA spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu.
So looks like its the end of the road for this particular crew, if the South African CAA is so certain of the reason as to go on record already.
The control tower "told them to take one taxi-way and they took another one. They took a wrong one," said CAA spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu.
So looks like its the end of the road for this particular crew, if the South African CAA is so certain of the reason as to go on record already.
Dec 23, 2013, 2:50 am
#83
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Dec 23, 2013, 2:52 am
#84
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How often are wrong taxiways taken?. Evidently this was the wrong taxiway for a 744 (regardless of whether this was pilot error or an incorrect ground instruction from ATC), but the only time I can remember a wrong turning being taken was SQ6, and that was onto a closed runway rather than a taxiway.
Fingers crossed it wasn't Jumbodriver, and good to see no one on board was hurt. Sad that 4 in the building were.
Fingers crossed it wasn't Jumbodriver, and good to see no one on board was hurt. Sad that 4 in the building were.
Dec 23, 2013, 2:53 am
#85
Join Date: Oct 2009
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According to this http://ftdashboard.net/fleet/index.htm G-BNLL is one with Old First...too bad if it has to be scrapped
Dec 23, 2013, 2:59 am
#87
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Dec 23, 2013, 3:01 am
#88
Join Date: Apr 2005
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At the end of the day everyone is still breathing and the damage is some bricks and metal - I'm sure insurance will cover all of that.
To say that people should be fired over this is crazy especially as we don't know any real facts as of yet.
Dec 23, 2013, 3:01 am
#89
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From the BBC:
The control tower "told them to take one taxi-way and they took another one. They took a wrong one," said CAA spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu.
So looks like its the end of the road for this particular crew, if the South African CAA is so certain of the reason as to go on record already.
The control tower "told them to take one taxi-way and they took another one. They took a wrong one," said CAA spokeswoman Phindiwe Gwebu.
So looks like its the end of the road for this particular crew, if the South African CAA is so certain of the reason as to go on record already.
The taxiways would be lit. Say, for example, the lights for the wrong taxiway were lit. This could confuse the pilots.
Another possibility is that the nose wheel stuck. This has happened before.
Both scenarios are unlikely, but at least let the investigation start before speculating on the career paths of the pilots
Dec 23, 2013, 3:03 am
#90
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G-BNLL spent 6 weeks in Cardiff undergoing heavy maintenance this August which in theory should have given it another 3-5 years worth of flying. Indeed it isn't currently planned to be retired until beyond 2016 and was due to be re-fitted with NF at some point.
I suspect there may be a few curses muttered in the fleet planning department today as they may need to extend the life of one of the other 747s to cover if G-BNLL is indeed written off.
I suspect there may be a few curses muttered in the fleet planning department today as they may need to extend the life of one of the other 747s to cover if G-BNLL is indeed written off.