Boeing 757-200 technical advice

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I think we are done here. Thread closed.

Sorry, I have to agree with the other people commenting on your post. It seems like you had a bad holiday experience, however instead of putting it down to just that, you feel the need to try and get some of your money back by using whatever means possible.

You mention that your holiday was awful in general. It doesn’t sound like this was down to the holiday company as I’m sure that you would have been claiming from them for this too, or is it that you have and didn’t received any compensation and so you’re trying a different slant?

I too had a five hour delay, also with Thomas Cook from Antalya last year. This was down to two drunken yobs on the inbound flight, requiring the aircraft to return to the terminal at Manchester in order to off-load them and their baggage. The time this took, followed by the flight having to obtain a new slot meant that I too had the awful wait in a hot airport. Unfortunately because the delay wasn’t six hours I didn’t get anything and saw very few Thomas Cook staff at all. All I got was a letter thrust into my hand at the gate confirming the flight delay!

Had I been like you, I would have spent time trying to source the yobs and take them to court to gain a few bob for my awful ordeal. I do however live in the real world and take these things as they are – unavoidable in modern day life.

Good luck with the compensation claim.

What would you call an “extraordinary circumstance”?? A valve that NEVER fails, failing is pretty extraordinary to me.

Rgds Cking

How many working parts are there in an operational commercial aircraft? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? You could argue that the part was due to fail as it had never been replaced for a considerable amount of time. An extraordinary circumstance is defined as something totally out of the airlines control such as the weather, a strike or a terrorist attack.

I came across another would be claimant who wanted compensation after his plane had to turn around after somebody had DIED mid flight. Now that was definitely an extraordinary circumstance.

I cannot comment on the customer service only the engineering standards that are second to none.

Rgds Cking

They can’t be that great if the planes keep breaking down! A little research tells you that although Thomas Cook came second out of the least delayed airlines (Thomson have been 1st for several years running) last year they had the highest percentage of delays over 2 hours of all the airlines.

You can say what you like mate. The European law says otherwise:

Technical issues cannot be described as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under regulation 261/2004 as follows:

Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that a technical problem in an aircraft which leads to the cancellation or delay of a flight is not covered by the concept of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of that provision, unless that problem stems from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier concerned and are beyond its actual control.

Please also see the court ruling of Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia – Linee Aeree Italiane SpA (C549/07).

What would you call an “extraordinary circumstance”?? A valve that NEVER fails, failing is pretty extraordinary to me.

Rgds Cking

Could you give me the link to these technical forums. I am interested.

Rgds Cking

I have looked again and I stand corrected. One of the members wrote this:

Yes, the HP valve supplies the pneumatic system which includes aircraft pressurization, air conditioning, wing and engine cowl anti-icing, etc. Depending upon what was wrong, it could have affected aircraft operation in a couple of ways. It may have limited the aircraft to operating at or below 35,000 ft. alt. And, or, the aircraft may have been limited to not being operated in known icing conditions. It could be that known icing conditions existed, causing the delay, which after conditions changed the aircraft was able to depart, un repaired (discrepant system Deferred).

Although if it is responsible for supplying the A/C why could it not affect the operation of it?

Never thought they did. I assumed it was a mistake but it came from the CEO’s office so maybe they should check their facts first.

Good point, well made.

Rgds Cking

But sadly very low customer service standards.

Tell that to the other 200 odd people almost fainting on the way home.

I cannot comment on the customer service only the engineering standards that are second to none.

Rgds Cking

I have heard from several people on other technical forums that would disagree with you.

Could you give me the link to these technical forums. I am interested.

Rgds Cking

I don’t think that the airline made up the valve

Never thought they did. I assumed it was a mistake but it came from the CEO’s office so maybe they should check their facts first.

Tommy Cooks would have dispatched the aircraft in the correct manner. They have very high technical standards. Rgds Cking

But sadly very low customer service standards.

Tell that to the other 200 odd people almost fainting on the way home.

You can say what you like mate. The European law says otherwise:

Technical issues cannot be described as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under regulation 261/2004 as follows:

Article 5(3) of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that a technical problem in an aircraft which leads to the cancellation or delay of a flight is not covered by the concept of ‘extraordinary circumstances’ within the meaning of that provision, unless that problem stems from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier concerned and are beyond its actual control.

Please also see the court ruling of Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia – Linee Aeree Italiane SpA (C549/07).

as they made up a valve that doesn’t exist (or got the name of it wrong).

I don’t think that the airline made up the valve, it was more likely that a member of the ground staff miss heard the aircrew and engineers and then passed that on to the staff. Remember the vast majority of airline staff have no technical knowledge.

I’m pretty sure they flew with it unrepaired

Tommy Cooks would have dispatched the aircraft in the correct manner. They have very high technical standards. I do not work for them but some of my friends do.

the plane was so hot on the way home

The high stage bleed valve would not have caused that.

I take it this valve has something to to with the A/C?

It supply’s the air-conditioning during taxing and during descent, NOT during the cruise.

I did asked a two 757 guys at work today if they have ever had a High stage bleed valve fail on them. To a man none of them have. One had worked the 757 since the beginning, thirty years ago and the other guy had worked it for the past fifteen years. So, combining the collective experience of three guys gives us about seventy years experience of the type! So I would still say that this was an extraordinary issue.

Rgds Cking

Good for you if you enjoyed your delay.

I didn’t enjoy sitting at a very hot, crowded, expensive and uncomfortable airport for over 7 hours with an ill crying pregnant girlfriend and the TC reps were next to useless.

4* hotel for dinner? Lucky you. We had a lukewarm chicken wrap that we believe gave us food poisioning the next day. They wouldn’t even give us free bottled water. It was a can of coke or nothing!

My case does not hinge on a single misplaced word. I am entitled to compensation under the European law and I intend to get it. My holiday in general was awful and these holiday companies do not give a toss about you as soon as they have parted you with your money and it’s time to readdress the balance.

If they had treated me as an individual instead of a statistic when I originally complained and even offered me a token amount of compensation I would be happy. But all I got was a standard template rejection letter.

It’s not about making a fast buck and if everyone stood up to these airlines then it can only improve delay times and conditions in my opinion.

It’s people like you who are happy to do nothing that makes me laugh. If you were happy being delayed then great, I’m pleased for you. But having a go at me for trying to claim for something that’s well within my rights to do says to me that all those delays you encountered have left you with a little too much pent up anger and frustration!

Under 4 hours of delay and you want compensation?
How could this possibly cause you any distress or hardship as to warrant compensation?
Seriously now, what do you expect?

Your entire argument seems hinged on a single word or misquoted line. No judge is going to grant compensation, especially if the airline produces a maintenance log and proves what went wrong with the plane, which they can and probably will if you insist on pursuing this case.

Let’s put things into perspective here.
I was delayed over 8 hours getting out of Corfu after the plane that was supposed to operate our flight went tech somewhere up river in the schedule that day.
Apologies were given on site, we were sent to a local 4 star hotel for dinner until our replacement arrived. More apologies were given and updates were available every hour. Food was eaten, we were taken back to the airport, put on a replacement aircraft and arrived in Glasgow 8 hours 35 minutes later than planned.
I actually made the most of the unscheduled extension of my stay in Corfu and went to take scenic photos.

On another occasion, my flight to Newark (USA) was delayed. Consequently I arrived to late for the connecting flight to Ft. Lauderdale and onward to Nassau. I was rebooked on he next available flights, total delay just over 3 hours.

I did not go looking for a quick buck. I had had my holiday and got home safely, just with a delay. It is the getting home safely part that counts for me.

The airline gave you a reason for the delay. The person delivering you the reason was likely not of a technical background so probably misquoted what they were told. (Chinese whispers anyone?)
Bottom line is, safety comes first. Delays happen. It’s a fact of life.
Don’t want a delay getting home from a holiday? Don’t fly.

nm

How about some more details about the flight? Route, Airline, Date?

Hi, it was Thomas Cook flight number TCX1745 on 21st September 2012 from Antalya to Gatwick with the scheduled departure time of 21.10. This flight arrived 3 hours 45 minutes late at Gatwick.

How about some more details about the flight? Route, Airline, Date?

cking is exactly right.

Bleed valves take air from the engine compressor for pressurization, air conditioning and pneumatic systems such as wing and engine anti ice and hydraulic reservoir pressurization.

Engine bleed air comes from either the high pressure (HP) or low pressure (LP) engine compressor sections. LP air is used during high power setting operations, HP air is used during descent and other low power setting operations.

Thank you. If safety was an issue then that would be fine but the airline in question seem to be blanket banning compensation where it should be paid so I think I will let a court decide as they made up a valve that doesn’t exist (or got the name of it wrong).
I’m pretty sure they flew with it unrepaired as the plane was so hot on the way home everyone felt faint and were complaining. I take it this valve has something to to with the A/C? So instead of cancelling the flight after they failed to repair it it was more likely the crew ran out of hours and had to wait for a changeover. I’m waiting for the information regarding the flight from the CAA.