BA jumbo flies 5,400 miles on three engines
British Airways this morning stands accused of flying a jumbo jet from Los Angeles to London on three engines – because turning back would have meant paying out more than £100,000 in compensation.
According to The Times, the incident took place when one engine failed shortly after take-off on Saturday morning, just three days after new rules were introduced forcing carriers to compensate passengers for long delays.
After circling over the Pacific Ocean while in discussion with the BA control centre in London, the decision was made to continue the flight on three engines – even though doing so would burn more fuel.
While over the Atlantic, The Times reports, the pilot realised he would not have enough fuel to reach Heathrow and requested an emergency landing at Manchester.
Captain Doug Brown, the senior manager of BA’s Boeing 747 fleet, is quoted as saying: “The plane is as safe on three engines as on four and it can fly on two. It was really a customer service issue, not a safety issue.”
He reportedly said the pilot would have had to dump more than 100 tonnes of fuel if the plane was to return to Los Angeles.
“The authorities would have had words to say about that,” he added.
However, David Learmount, of Flight International magazine, is quoted as saying: “It was a very odd decision to return to London. Even if the pilot didn’t want to dump so much fuel, he could have diverted to Chicago. You are not as safe on three engines as you are on four and I suspect that, given the choice, most passengers would have opted to return to LA.”
Chairman of the pilots’ union Balpa, Mervyn Granshaw, is quoted as saying: “The EU regulation is poorly drafted and increases the pressure on pilots to consider commercial issues when making judgements in marginal safety situations.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
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