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FLIGHT FRIGHT

February 23, 2004 -- Passengers on a Tokyo-bound flight out of Kennedy Airport got the scare of a lifetime yesterday when one of the plane's engines failed and the aircraft was forced to turn around and make a dramatic emergency landing.
"There was a big bang. We took off and it was like we'd just run over something - just a huge bang," said Adrian McDermott, 38, one of the 153 passengers and 10 crew members aboard. "It actually kind of made us dip."

The short and scary round trip of American Airlines Flight 167 began when the Boeing 777 took off at 12:31 p.m. - an hour late.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said one of the plane's engines stalled at take-off.

"I heard there was a backfire on the left side. It was scary," said Shigeki Fukushima, 27, who was returning home to Tokyo.

As the pilot radioed in word of the trouble, emergency crews scrambled to JFK to get ready in case the plane had a rough landing - or worse.
Before the plane could return, the pilot told passengers that he was going to fly over the ocean and dump fuel. Passengers gasped as they watched a stream of jet fuel shooting out of a nozzle on the wing, dropping harmlessly into the Atlantic Ocean below. With rescue crews at the ready, the plane and its shaken passengers came in for a safe landing at 12:59 p.m.


After the initial shock and fear, the flight ended calmly, passengers said.
Jos

glad to hear no one was hurt. But really not that big of an incident, the 777's engines are immensly powerful so single engined ops is no problem

I'm not sure this statement is true.

Passengers gasped as they watched a stream of jet fuel shooting out of a nozzle on the wing, dropping harmlessly into the Atlantic Ocean below.

Gasp....gasp......
Here is all the HARMLESS fuel dropping into the atmosphere!

"We were not afraid - we were surprised."

I somehow like that statement...speaks for the japanese mentality.

I dunno about you, but I would rather see jet fuel dumped over the atlantic then to see another jet crash with over 150 casualties

I'm not sure this statement is true.

True! Although they also said most of it vaporizes, I don't think that is all true either. They said that too keep the enviromentalist at bay probably. Because if it will vaporize before returning too earth then what differance would it make where it was dropped?
I'm just glad too know everyone was safe!!

I've never liked the fact that fuel has to be dumped.  Not one bit...

Is the A380 going to be capable of landing with a full load of fuel?  I think I read that somewhere.  Or maybe I made it up.

I remember some years ago an airliner from Gatwick "accidentally" dumped fuel over a local farm instead of going a few extra miles to the designated area well out to sea. The land is still useless. Even vapourised fuel has to fall somewhere.

The A380 might well be able to land on full fuel tanks, its going to have pleanty of wheels to support it.(assuming it even gets into the air, which i still think it wont):)

My grandparents live next to a small airstrip over in Western Washington, a few years ago they found what looked like a large oil stain on their deck one morning. The deck had to be re-finished

Besides living directly under the traffic pattern, there was no other possible explanation.

How often to small aircrafts lose oil inflight?

lucky no one was killed thats all that matters. . . . . .

How often to small aircrafts lose oil inflight?

I'm no professional and I'm sure there are others here that can give a more specific answer. But in my limited knowledge of aircraft it seems it is common for GA aircraft to lose oil on a regular basis, and I know they use allot. No matter what the age is. But I wouldn't think one would lose enough to stain a deck but if it is under the traffic pattern i guess it could be much the same as the stip in the middle of the road!?

My grandparents live next to a small airstrip over in Western Washington, a few years ago they found what looked like a large oil stain on their deck one morning. The deck had to be re-finished

Besides living directly under the traffic pattern, there was no other possible explanation.

How often to small aircrafts lose oil inflight?

GA aircraft have comparatively small capacity oil tanks or sumps like a car engine. Losing enough oil to stain anything on the ground would almost certainly cause the engine to seize up. It's possible this was hydraulic oil but the same applies there. I don't think they are capable of dumping fuel like a bigger aircraft. If they needed to lose weight they would simply fly around for a while to use it up.

I used to live under the approach to JFK and I tell you, every morning I would go out to my car and there were little pieces of black sediment all over the winshield and car. My wife's car is white and they looked like little pellets. I know it was droppings from the aircrafts that were flying overhead!