I know that in the UK you can ferry one engine with passengers on board. It may be possible to ferry 2 (presumably without passengers) but I don’t know for sure. Skycruiser is the one to answer this.

With regard to the three engine ferry scenario, I should think they would use a slightly higher thrust setting on the missing side than the two engined side and also use some rudder trim. I shall have to ask Skycruiser again or my 146 mate.

regards
wys

aaahhh that’s right Galdri. My memory forsake me!

The missing engine scenario would only be permitted for ferrying the aircraft empty to somewhere where it can be repaired. It is referred to as a ‘three engined ferry’.
I worked for Virgin on the first flight they did when carrying an extra engine with passengers on board. I have a picture similar to the one above which I took on the flight. I’ve been meaning to dig it out for ages. Only 1 engine is permitted to be carried at a time.

Originally posted by Matthew Murray
…you could even open the hatch int he cabin, down into the forward cargo bay, through into the avionics bay and up into the cockpit through the hatch…

I don’t know any western airliner where that is possible. The A340 has access from the flightdeck to the avionics bay (I have been down there in flight) and the 747 has access from the forward cabin area down to the avionics bay and on to the nose wheel bay. I don’t know any narrow body aircraft that has any cabin/flightdeck access to anywhere underneath.

The official answer is that all forms of electrical equipment generate magnetic fields, etc to some degreewhich can either directly or indirectly by harmonics, etc cause interference with onboard systems. For example, if a mobile phone is in use in the cabin the flightcrew will get an occasional pulsing type sound through their headsets.

The reality which applies more to what you are asking is ‘if we can’t control it we’ll just apply a blanket ban on it’! The reality being that the airline considers the peace of mind of the other 399 passengers not worrying about what you may be doing to the aircraft systems more than your need to listen in on what’s going on!

Nail clippers and tweezers – well I’ve got to agree with you on that one! It’s amazing how security concious an airline can be until it gets to the lucrative subject of duty free!

I don’t know about the costs in France but in the UK you’d be looking at 30-35,000 Euros for a 320 or 777 rating at your own expense. I do know that it is cheaper to do training in the UK compared to Germany as in the UK if you already have 1000 hours on medium/heavy jets and the TRTO (type rating training organisation) holds the relevant approval you can be exempt from the base training requirements (this is referred to as Zero Flight Time). Base training is where an instructor and typically four new pilots to type take an aircraft somewhere convenient and typically do 6 touch and go’s each. My airline is also a zero flight time TRTO which saves 26,000 Euros each time base training is avoided!

…probably because they have some sort of arrangement with KLM engineering so it would be a sensible place to get it fixed. In the meantime another aircraft could be despatched to AMS to intercept the freight and get it home nearly on time. A gear fault doesn’t necessarily mean having to get the aircraft on the ground immediately so it pays to take the problem to a more convenient location.

Originally posted by Ren Frew
… and there’s only 10,000 feet of breathing space between two fast moving airliners…

It’s only 1000′ in reality assuming both aircraft get it right!!! Worst of all, alot of these controllers struggle with English so when the going gets tough they frequently go quiet so you end up trying to contact the other aircraft yourself to negotiate your own separation!

wrt the AirLib/Streamline crash – we all knew it was going to happen sometime, it was just a matter of when and how big the resultant bang was going to be. The most dissappointing thing is that despite a father of two losing his life it still wasn’t deemed important enough by Air France pilots to use a common language.