MADPhil

There was a discussion of this on FT a while back and of the 787. There is a video of the effect of a simulated strike on the fuselage skin with and without a thin metal layer which is built in. The effect on the unprotected carbon fibre was quite destructive but it looked as if even the protected version would require a local repair.

Geo772

The aircraft manual details a whole series of inspections that need to be performed. These vary from checks of electrical equipment, radios, navigation equipment etc to a visual check of the external fuselage. Many of the equipment checks can actually be performed by the flight crew in flight after the suspected lightning strike. This substantially speeds up the inspection process. Any visible damage on the fuselage is assessed against limits specified in the structural repair manual. In most situations the aircraft can fly straight away without the need for any repair work to be performed. In the case of the B787 a temporary repair using aluminium (speed) tape is often made. This is to protect the exposed carbon fuselage from UV light rather than to hold anything together. More serious lightning strikes can result in the need to replace rivets or perform skin repairs but these are rarer situations.

BOH

Anyone in the know aware of the reason for two flight diversions last week on my regular LGW-GOA route? Sitting here in the GOA lounge as the flight to LGW today is delayed due to industrial action here at the airport between 10:00 and 14:00 CET.

So I was idly looking on flightradar at the historic position on this flight for the last week and noticed on 18th March the 2688 LGW to GOA was diverted to MXP and on the 21st it was diverted to PSA. But out here for the past week the weather has been near perfect so simply out of curiosity I wondered why the 2 diversions as have never known this before (except for weather related issues)?

Can I help you

BOH

Ok thanks - makes sense given the weather here has been lovely. But in my experience, strikes in Italy tend to be national (as is the one today we were told between 10:00 and 14:00). So puzzled why the flight were able to divert to other Italian airports, unless of course the strikes last week were local to the Genoa area?

Another "out of curiosity question", what happens to the pax on those diverted flights? Do they get off at MXP / PSA and then get bussed to GOA by BA to complete their journey? With the corresponding departing pax at GOA bussed the other way to the diversion airport?

Or does the plane wait on the tarmac at the diversion airport until GOA opens (with all pax on board) and then continue on as usual? I think I know the answer but just wondered......

Can I help you

BOH

Ok thank you

BOH

Whilst queuing to board for the (increasingly delayed) BA2689 today from GOA-LGW a couple of other pax have mentioned that both flights last week were diverted to PSA and MXP respectively due to the crosswinds at GOA. Both pax I spoke to were on the two flights and there were 2 attempts on both days before the diverts. One said that one of the pilots stood by the flight deck door whilst everyone was getting off, (as they often do) and pax were having a go at him for not having completed the landing at GOA. Unbelievable

Can I help you

BOH

alpha320

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alpha320

All automatic! On the Airbus we have a section on the overhead panel for Fuel, but we very rarely make selections apart from on the ground. There are 2 fuel pumps in each tank (Left wing, Centre, Right wing) and a Manual/Auto selector. The normal selection is to have all pumps on and the system in automatic mode. This uses fuel from the centre tank first (keeping fuel in the wings helps reduce the strain from flexing) and then feeds each engine from its respective wing tank. If we end up with an imbalance of fuel we can switch off pumps on one side to help balance the load. The manual/automatic switch just allows us to control whether or not we use the fuel in the centre tank. In the event of an electrical failure fuel is fed by gravity to the engines from their respective left or right tanks! Clever, huh!

alpha320

As flight crew we try a few things to help smooth out the ride for you! Each aircraft type has published a "turbulence penetration" speed, which we target to help reduce the intensity and give us greater margin on our speed between maximum and minimum. (this margin reduces with altitude so the main risk of turbulence is going too fast!) On the Airbus this is Mach 0.76. Despite this, the aeroplane is more than capable of flying through even the most severe turbulence. Often there is no obvious cause so it is hard to avoid, but sometimes ATC give us a heads up about reports from aircraft ahead. These reports help us decide if we want to descend, climb or turn to find smoother air. The place you'll feel turbulence the least is over the wings, nearest the centre of gravity, as the whole aeroplane is pivoting around. You'll feel it most at the rear as the horizontal stabiliser moves frequently to maintain our intended flight path. Up front is also better than at the back! For this reason we ask cabin crew at the rear to be our eyes and ears for the seat belt sign! Hope this helps!

RB211

Great information - thanks! Is the gravity feed backup from the left and right tanks another reason why the center tank is used first?

rb211.

Waterhorse

We use fuel from the centre section to relieve the load on the wings. the fuel weight in the wings helps to reduce the bending moment and consequent stress on the wing section.