BA 777 landing accident at LHR

[Chris Kilroy]

Has it been determined whether or not there was fuel around the crashsite? Looks like the gear ripped through the tanks.

The 777 has both wing and center (body) tanks although, in the landing phase, you'd expect much more fuel to be in the wings than in the center tanks. Reports yesterday were that there was 'sufficient' fuel still in the aircraft when it crashed.

[Dmmoore]

Has it been determined whether or not there was fuel around the crashsite?

Looks like the gear ripped through the tanks.

It appears the damage caused by the overload on the gear is aft of the wing box and the tanks are relatively intact.

Small leaks from sheared bolt's are possible but I don't "think" the tanks were ruptured.

[control_freq]

RAT deployed?

The video is pretty grainy. I think the RAT could have been deployed - it's tiny compared to the landing gear, as seen in this photo: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/971431/L/

[Dmmoore]

The 777 has both wing and center (body) tanks although, in the landing phase, you'd expect much more fuel to be in the wings than in the center tanks. Reports yesterday were that there was 'sufficient' fuel still in the aircraft when it crashed.

Thanks Chris, I had not seen that report.
All (except trapped, unusable) fuel should be in the wing tanks. If not, there is a FSC error with notification to the crew.

By the way,
Another nice site.
Thanks!

[Arrow]

The bottom line, of course, is that we have no idea whether the pilots will turn out to have done a good job or a poor one.

Witness the initial response to either Air Transat 236 or the Gimli Glider

[~InsertNameHere~]

ooo http://news.bbc.co.uk now!

they're just about to have a live interview with the captain...

[T.O.G.A.]

It appears the damage caused by the overload on the gear is aft of the wing box and the tanks are relatively intact.

Small leaks from sheared bolt's are possible but I don't "think" the tanks were ruptured.

Maybe the box wasn't ruptured but the photo from left rear wing shows a pretty warped rear spar. There is always residual fuel in the wing tanks.

Even if it was limited to a small leak, I would expect to see some effort to protect the environment from a (potential) fuel spill but I havn't yet.

So if it wasn't a fuel issue, could it have been a commanded shutdown ala Delta out of LAX or a massive "fly by wire" failure?

[pelican98]

Hi, everyone, can anyone tell from the gear tracks what was the angle of attack at the moment of impact, it looks like he brought the nose down considerably after clearing the fence compare to the high aoa on the existing video.

[sjwk]

A British Airways jet that crash-landed at Heathrow was being controlled by the co-pilot, it has been revealed.
Captain Peter Burkill told a press conference Senior First Officer John Coward brought the plane in to land on Thursday afternoon.

"As British Airways flight and cabin crew we are trained on a regular basis to deal with emergency situations," he said.
"We have procedures to follow and everyone knows their place.
"Flying is about teamwork and we had an outstanding team on board."
He said Mr Coward had done a "most remarkable job" in landing the aircraft.

It doesn't say what the captain was doing though, if not flying the plane - which I'd have expected to be 'his place'?

Would it be normal in that situation for the co-pilot to land the plane or would that normally be the job of the most experienced pilot?

Steve.

[uy707]

More

DATE:17/01/08
SOURCE:Flightglobal.com
VIDEO & GRAPHIC: Flight's safety editor David Learmount gives his account of what happened to the BA Boeing 777 that crash landed at Heathrow
By Barbara Cockburn

Flightglobal.com's safety and operations editor David Learmount gives his views on what he describes as a "remarkable" accident at London's Heathrow airport on 17 January.

Learmount says: "The aircraft had either a total or severe power loss and this occurred very late in the final approach because the pilot did not have time to tell air traffic control or passengers."





He says that it was "quite a remarkable accident" and unlike any he has seen before.

He says: "The pilot had no choice but to heave the aircraft over the boundary fence and put it down."



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This graphic shows what happened to the aircraft as the pilot put the aircraft down




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Related content:

BREAKING NEWS: BA 777 severely damaged in Heathrow landing accident
Aircraft profile - Boeing 777
Have your say about the incident on AirSpace
Pictures of the incident

Close-up pictures, if not a writt-off, looks she will be unavialable for months.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/01/18/220935/pictures-ba-boeing-777-heathrow-crash-evidence.html

Some opinions

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/01/18/220942/what-pilots-are-saying-about-the-ba-777-accident.html

[Half Bottle]

It doesn't say what the captain was doing though, if not flying the plane - which I'd have expected to be 'his place'?

Would it be normal in that situation for the co-pilot to land the plane or would that normally be the job of the most experienced pilot?

Steve.

If the F/O is flying the leg, I would expect the Captain to let him land it unless the former was doing something so dangerous that he had no choice. In fact, in many emergency situations, the Captain may do the reverse: hand the flying duties over to the F/O so he can manage the emergency. That's where the Captain's experience is most needed.

(Again, neither was likely in this case if the emergency really developed on very short final).

This talking from the parlour brought to you by the letter B and the number 3.

[Vnav]

Something else that impresses me that we take for granted are the actions of ATC. those boy and girls must have been working their butts off for a while, especially at the point of the accident.

Well done ATC

You're kidding right?

Nothing against the fine ATC folks, but what exactly do you think they did for a crew that had a dual engine flameout on short final aside from offering..."Good Luck, we're all counting on you!"

[sickbag]

How are they going to move it now it hasn't got any wheels?

[sjwk]

How are they going to move it now it hasn't got any wheels?

They'll declare it a wreck, and hordes of Devon-folk will appear and cart it away, piece by piece...

Link, for non-locals

Steve.

[brianw999]

How are they going to move it now it hasn't got any wheels?

Most likely in two or three pieces on lowloaders. Get ready for a huge traffic jam on the M25 and M3 as the convoy wends its way to Farnborough or wherever the bits will eventually be taken to..