BA 777 lands short of runway at LHR

[Hagar]

This might appear cynical but we don't know for certain what caused this incident. It shouldn't take long to find out as fortunately everyone survived & the flight recorders should be easily recovered. There was obviously a certain amount of luck involved but why does everyone seem so surprised that the crew did their jobs competently & with the minimum of fuss? This is no more than I would expect from the captain & crew of any major airline. Yes, they did well but it's what they're trained to do & what they're paid for.

[Chris_F]

[quote]Sky TV interview with Air Accident Investigator.(retired)

Sky: "Why do you think there was no warning to the passengers that there was a technical problem and that they were going to crash?"

AAI: " Who said there was a technical problem?

[mrjake2002]

A beer from me... (if the smiley was still here)  :)

[Brett_Henderson]

This might appear cynical but we don't know for certain what caused this incident. It shouldn't take long to find out as fortunately everyone survived & the flight recorders should be easily recovered. There was obviously a certain amount of luck involved but why does everyone seem so surprised that the crew did their jobs competently & with the minimum of fuss? This is no more than I would expect from the captain & crew of any major airline. Yes, they did well but it's what they're trained to do & what they're paid for.

I'm not surprised.. I'm just tipping my hat and raising a toast.  :)

[DONTREADMYUSERNAME]

Whoa!

[a1]

This is a very intriguing accident. I wounder what happened inside the cabin and all the procedures that led to this. The gear does look quite damaged and looks more nasty than it is really.

[61_OTU]

This is no more than I would expect from the captain & crew of any major airline. Yes, they did well but it's what they're trained to do & what they're paid for.

A fair point Doug, it had occurred to me in a lighter moment that the pilot probably gave no thought at all to the passengers behind him, and was slightly more focused on getting his own backside safely within the LHR fence in the smoothest and safest way!

I suppose that some of the surprise is due to the fact that this accident was just on the borderline of being fatal for someone. Any shorter and lives probably would have been lost. This is mainly, as you say, down to luck, but also had the Captain not done his job to the best of his ability then it could very easily have resulted in a number of deaths. His skill under pressure was clearly demonstrated, yes it is what pilots are trained and paid for, but it is still impressive to see someone complete their job under such trying conditions.

[EGNX]

Short clip of the approach... Hopefully some video of the "landing" will surface shortly too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYwQ4EHQY8Y

Boy is he trying to keep that nose up to clear those houses and roads!  :o

[Fozzer]

...a comment made by a Professional Pilot on BBC Radio this morning....

"On this occasion, if the incident had occurred 30 seconds earlier, the whole outcome would have been completely different"....

...makes you think!... ...!

Paul.

[EGNX]

"On this occasion, if the incident had occurred 30 seconds earlier, the whole outcome would have been completely different"....

Quite scary really. If they only just managed to clear the perimeter fence by around 20ft and if all of this happened 200m or 5 seconds earlier (Considering the plane was travelling around 200Km/h) then there would of been no chance of them clearing the road.  :o :-/

[C]

http://www.heathrowpictures.com/pictures/pictures.html

Pretty telling photos at the above link. Take a look at the engines - looks to me like they were pretty stationary...

[C]

...a comment made by a Professional Pilot on BBC Radio this morning....

"On this occasion, if the incident had occurred 30 seconds earlier, the whole outcome would have been completely different"....

...makes you think!... ...!

Paul.

Looking at the point it touched down, I'd say that 30 seconds may well be 3 seconds, or even less - going at 150mph + that'll be covering 100m in a couple of seconds... 2 or 3 seconds earlier and thats landing on the road or worse...

[EGNX]

http://www.heathrowpictures.com/pictures/pictures.html

Pretty telling photos at the above link. Take a look at the engines - looks to me like they were pretty stationary...

Hmmm.... If you look at this pic
http://www.heathrowpictures.com/pictures/images/picturegallery_baw_b772_gymmm20.jpg
The N1 compressor blades seem quite intact, if not a little muddy.

Whereas the N1 compressor blades on engine 1 look like they have been torn off on impact.
http://www.heathrowpictures.com/pictures/images/picturegallery_baw_b772_gymmm3.jpg
This could well be the reason why the aircraft was seen to be banking moments before touch down? It would seem that the No 2 engine either wasn't running or wasn't operating at the same power as engine 1 as they both seem to have taken similar damage.

Looking at the point it touched down, I'd say that 30 seconds may well be 3 seconds, or even less - going at 150mph + that'll be covering 100m in a couple of seconds... 2 or 3 seconds earlier and thats landing on the road or worse...

I know! Like I said, any more than 4-5 seconds earlier that 777 would be resting on the road after ploughing through some houses...  :o :-/

[C]

http://www.heathrowpictures.com/pictures/pictures.html

Pretty telling photos at the above link. Take a look at the engines - looks to me like they were pretty stationary...

Hmmm.... If you look at this pic
http://www.heathrowpictures.com/pictures/images/picturegallery_baw_b772_gymmm20.jpg
The N1 compressor blades seem quite intact, if not a little muddy.

Whereas the N1 compressor blades on engine 1 look like they have been torn off on impact.
http://www.heathrowpictures.com/pictures/images/picturegallery_baw_b772_gymmm3.jpg
This could well be the reason why the aircraft was seen to be banking moments before touch down? It would seem that the No 2 engine either wasn't running or wasn't operating at the same power as engine 1 as they both seem to have taken similar damage.

So they are - I see what you mean about the no 1's compressor blades - my mistake...

As for the bank, a sudden large appilcation of power could lead to a reasonably significant amount of bank to counter-act the yaw, which at low speed would be significant.

Looking at the point it touched down, I'd say that 30 seconds may well be 3 seconds, or even less - going at 150mph + that'll be covering 100m in a couple of seconds... 2 or 3 seconds earlier and thats landing on the road or worse...

I know! Like I said, any more than 4-5 seconds earlier that 777 would be resting on the road after ploughing through some houses...  :o :-/

Sorry, missed that post entirely... Great minds etc...

[Brett_Henderson]

I know we're all still speculating.. I've mentioned wind shear, and engine failure...

Is it really possible that they just ran out of fuel ? That would explain one engine quitting before the other..  kind of ..as it would be odd for both engines to fail; one right after the other  ..and I'll assume that if it were just one engine out on short final, they could have made the runway.. even gone around if need be... especially at the end of a long flight with a light fuel load..

hmmmmm....