The 777 is a fantastic aeroplane and its impeccable safety record is testament to modern technology (it was the first commercial aircraft to be designed entirely using computers).

An aircraft which (until 3.5 years ago) also had an impeccable safety record was the A330. Airbus had issued an airworthiness directive about AA series Thales pitot tubes.
The week before AF447 went down AF engineers got their first batch of AB series Thales pitot tubes. The doomed aircraft (F-GZCP) was just 2 months away from its scheduled repair.

I don’t think the moment an AD comes in all operations should grind to a halt to fit in the repairs and I’d quite happily board a 777 tomorrow. But it does stop and make you think how quickly things can change and you shouldn’t stay complacent where safety is concerned.

*Actually, perhaps it was almost inevitable with the A330? I believe Airbus received 27 reported incidents regarding faulty Thales pitot tubes prior to issuing the AD? Boeing has had just 2 previous crew mask short circuiting induced cockpit fires. But, both those fires occurred pre-departure… Whilst uncommon, it is more serious as both aircraft have ended up write-offs
http://avherald.com/h?article=408ec81b

they weren’t Christmas trees on the MEA they were Cedar trees Lebanon’s national emblem

Haha, it was meant to be an ignorant joke 😮 I have to admit, their call-sign is a bit of a give away.

One of the last remaining A300s still flying passengers!

KLM’s take on the polished aluminium look – this time, with paint

Not to be outdone, Star send a 747 as a response

MEA’s flagship aircraft (registration OD-MEA) – sporting festive Chirstmas trees…

Soon to become a 787 🙂

Definite crosswind component

G-VFAR, all the way from Cape Town

Soon to become Spain’s #1? :diablo:

There are some other pictures I didn’t upload, http://www.flickr.com/photos/90708027@N04 – feel free to have a browse.

If anyone would like to recommend any camera settings (shutter speed, ISO etc.) it would be appreciated – I’m still very much a photographic virgin.

Thanks for viewing!

Matt

But I’m not saying the 777 fleet should be grounded – 18 months is a reasonable time frame.

Also, you don’t just ground an aircraft to complete an AD. These can easily be incorporated into the aircraft’s maintenance schedule at an appropriate time. It is safe to say an aircraft will have a maintenance input at some point within 18 months.

Where does anyone say anything to the contrary? 😉

Can I point out that it can’t be THAT dangerous

Hmm… Have you seen the pictures?

Also, the event you mention happened in 2011.

I bring it up as the final report was released today.

airlines have 24 months to correct the problem

It’s actually 18 months, United’s request was denied.

“United Airlines requested we increase the compliance time for the
replacement of the oxygen hoses from 18 months to 24 months. The
commenter stated that based on parts availability and its normal
maintenance schedule, it believes that 24 months would be an
appropriate interval for the timely accomplishment of the actions while
maintaining an adequate level of safety.”
“We disagree with increasing the compliance time. As stated
previously, in developing the proposed compliance time, we considered
the safety implications, parts availability, and normal maintenance
schedules for a timely accomplishment of replacement of the oxygen
hoses.”

The pilots unions were working on getting it reduced to 12 months.