The APU intake is open.

Does anyone know is its BA SOP to start the APU on any stage of approach?

Or is this further indication of a power issue?

Don’t know exact BA 777 SOP but 757 would start APU at FL100 in descent if LVO conditions in force (which was not the case at the time). The APU on the 777 would auto-start in the event of failure of both main AC bus’s which opened the flap. The RAT would also deploy automatically. Whether or not the APU had time to fire up or not we don’t know yet.

and 7) if this really was an uncommanded dual engine shut down/failure wouldn’t the type have been grounded immediately.

My thoughts are with the crew as whatever the outcome, their problems are only just about to start.

I love the way some airlines/manufacturers make a big song and dance about something that has been in operation on other types/carriers for 6 years!

I remember Air South as my brother and I did our PPLs there in the mid 80’s. That Cub was hanging on the hangar wall at the time awaiting restoration. There was a Tiger in the hangar along with John Poth’s Redwing but I can’t remember its reg unfortunately. I saw John and Jenny at Old Sarum in the mid/late 90’s so I wonder if the Tiger ended up over there?

Jet engines produce more thrust when flying through rain. Remember from school Force = Mass x Acceleration. Acceleration is the same as in dry conditions but the mass of the accelerated gasses has increased, therefore more force is created. This is one of the reasons why some engines such as the RR Dart and the P&W JT8 have water tanks (sometimes with added methanol) to actually squirt water into the intakes.

Atomisation occurs fairly quickly. We usually consider a minimum of 5000′ terrain clearance to be adequate but ATC in most places will give you higher. We assume a descent rate of around 500′ per minute for the jettisoned load and will usually ask for 2 minute legs in the hold to avoid flying into our own efflux.

Moving to the short/medium haul charter twin jets doubled my turboprop salary and then moving to long haul schedule quads very nearly doubled my charter salary. All of this without considering changing which side of the cockpit I was sitting on. My brother (national carrier long haul ETOPS skipper) approximately doubles my salary. What annoys me though is that his ex-wife gets more in alimony than I earn!

It’s not just a case of whacking on a pair of old floorboards at a jaunty angle! The research and design costs millions before you even start looking at manufacture, test flying and approvals. The cost to make the upgrade is monumental and likely to add benefit solely to aircraft spending a significant proportion of the airborne time in the cruise phase. Then you have to consider who owns the aeroplane. If it belongs to a leasing company and you only have a short while left to go on the lease it won’t be worth it. You will also have to return the aircraft in the condition you took it in, ie no winglets. If you own the aircraft, will you be keeping it in service long enough to warrant it. What are the implications of one being damaged and what is the likelihood. If you do a lot of turnarounds and the aircraft is not allowed under the CDL part of the MEL to dispatch with one missing it may not be worth the risk.

There are just a handful of reasons why some people chose not to bother. If it comes as standard fit then that is a whole different ballgame.