"Jet flies from L.A. to London with one engine out"

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Jet flies from L.A. to London with one engine out 
By Eric Malnic and Hector Becerra 
The Los Angeles (CA) Times 


LOS ANGELES - A British Airways jumbo jet lost power in an engine on takeoff
from Los Angeles International Airport last week, but the pilot elected not
to make an emergency landing for repairs, deciding instead to continue the
5,400-mile, transatlantic flight to London on the remaining three engines,
officials said Monday. 

Because of unfavorable winds and inefficiencies resulting from the engine
loss, the Boeing 747-400 burned more fuel than anticipated, and the pilot
was forced to cut the nonstop flight short and land in Manchester, England,
the airline said. 

The incident occurred three days after the European Union required
European-based carriers to compensate passengers whose flights were delayed.


But Diane Fung, a spokeswoman for British Airways, said the pilot's decision
had nothing to do with that requirement. 

"We would never compromise the safety of our passengers," she said. "The
plane is certified to fly on three engines. It is perfectly safe to do so.
The pilots are trained for such situations." 

Aviation officials in England and the United States are looking into the
incident, and two retired jumbo-jet pilots now serving as air safety
consultants said they were amazed at the decision to continue the flight. 

"It's not impossible for him to make it, but he'd be a fool to try it," said
Barry Schiff, a former TWA pilot. "That decision just doesn't make any
sense." 

Mel Heflinger, who used to fly 747s for United Airlines, said, "I think he
really stretched his luck to try to make the whole trip on three engines." 

"We are concerned," said Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation
Administration. She said officials were determining whether any federal
regulations were violated. 

Robin Hayes, British Airways' executive vice president for operations in the
United States, said the incident was not unprecedented. He said a British
Airways 747 lost an engine after takeoff from Los Angeles two years ago and
continued on to London's Heathrow Airport without further problems. 

Fung said the latest incident began as British Airways' Flight 268 lifted
off from LAX at 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 20. It carried 351 passengers. 

"Right after rotation, there was an engine surge, like a backfire," Hayes
said. 

Air traffic controllers at the airport tower saw sparks flying from the
crippled engine and heard popping noises. 

Checking his instruments, the pilot, whose name has not been released,
decided to shut down the affected inboard engine on the left wing, Hayes
said. 

Heflinger said the plane was quite capable of climbing out on three engines.


The pilot flew two 20-mile circles in a holding pattern over Santa Monica
Bay, talking by radio with British Airways' flight technical team and
operations control team in London. 

"It was sort of a mini-conference," Hayes said. "But the final decision was
up to the pilot." 

Instead of choosing to dump fuel and return to LAX to repair or replace the
crippled engine - a delay that officials say could have held up the flight
for five hours or more - the pilot continued to England. Hayes said the
passengers were told about the situation and the decision. 

European Union regulations that went into effect Feb. 17 require airlines to
pay each passenger as much as $523 for delays of more than four hours on
flights longer than 2,215 miles. 

The pilot and the airline officials in London "wouldn't even have discussed
that,' Hayes said. "The procedure (continuing a flight on three engines) is
within our normal operating protocols.''


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************