The very same Dubai Air Wing was down in AGP a couple of weeks ago.Great shots too.

Forgot to say before but the oil on the Captains shirt came from helping the baggage people move the luggage to the forward hole.

You could try theairplaneshop.com they seem to have the biggest selection ive come accross on the net.

Joined: 30 Sep 2000
Posts: 1950
Base: UK
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 18:24 Post subject: The 757 “Incident”

——————————————————————————–

Some of you may have seen press reports about flight delays – in particular a delayed flight from Mahon to Leeds-Bradford. The story reported in some papers was some way from the truth.

MYT 392 was delayed at Mahon by an indication fault. The captain did everything possible to fix the problem, including taxiing at speed and changing the weight distribution of the aircraft. He kept customers fully informed throughout.

Finally, after ensuring that the aircraft had been thoroughly checked, he announced that the aircraft was safe to fly and ready to depart. He stressed that safety is our priority and that we would never fly unless we were totally confident of the safety of the aircraft.

A very small number of customers chose not to fly on the aircraft. They were helped with alternative flight options and overnight accommodation. One of those customers told BBC Radio 2 this afternoon: “The company, MyTravel, were very helpful. As soon as the plane had departed, a minibus was there already waiting for us, and hotel accommodation had been found for the night.” Another customer, who did fly on MYT392, confirmed on air that she would be quite happy to book with MyTravel again. These comments speak volumes about the way our people handled the situation.

I have done television interviews this afternoon to put the record straight and show the Company’s support for our captain and crew.

Frank Pullman,
Managing Director, MyTravel Airways (UK)

————————————————————-

You may have seen a great deal of coverage in the press and on television with reference to an incident on one of our B757 aircraft this weekend. A great deal of the reporting is inaccurate and misguided and I am happy to report that the crew involved, far from acting unprofessionally as is intimated in the reporting, in fact did a particularly good job in proactively managing the situation in an attempt to give our customers the best possible option of getting home, and they are to be thanked for going above and beyond what might be expected.

You may be interested to know that our Managing Director is currently being interviewed by the BBC to respond to some of the speculation that has been generated. I currently expect this interview to be transmitted on the evening news.

Steve Solomon
Director of Flight Operations

Back to top

Britain

August 12, 2003

I’ve fixed the plane, now hands up if you want to fly with me, says pilot
By Steve Bird

A PILOT asked nearly 200 weary British tourists to give a show of hands if they wanted to fly home on board an aircraft that he had personally repaired.
The holidaymakers had been stranded for seven hours in Minorca after the Boeing 757’s onboard computer repeatedly insisted that it was airborne despite being parked on the sweltering Tarmac.

Covered in oil after resetting a sensor in the aircraft’s nosewheel, the pilot stood on a chair in the terminal building and pleaded with the exhausted tourists to join him. But despite reassuring them that the MyTravel aircraft was safe, families were split over whether to board. In the end 13 passengers refused.

Johnathon McMillan, 36, said that his wife Fiona, 34, and son, Ross, 6, began to cry when one of the passengers mentioned his fear that the aircraft could crash. “I’ve never had to make a decision like that in my life before. If the truth be known, we thought it was a decision between life and death. The prospect of being in a plane which doesn’t know whether it’s in the air or on the ground is terrifying.

The aircraft had been due to fly at 5.20pm last Friday. Nearly seven hours later the pilot took off, and landed safely at Leeds-Bradford airport at 2.13am on Saturday.

The McMillan family flew home the next day. Mr McMillan paid £350 for his family to fly with another airline. They plan to try to claim back the money.

A MyTravel spokeswoman said that the problem was “merely a faulty indication light” and that the captain had kept passengers fully informed at all times. “Any customer who did not choose to fly was assisted with alternative flight options.”

Ewen Godrey, 50, a senior education officer from Bingley, West Yorkshire, also refused to board. He said: “There were a lot of scared people.” He said that passengers were told that accommodation on the island was full and they would have to pay for their own flights back if they did not board.

Wys glad you said that as we both know in the real world it happens to anyone I didnt want to point it out as it would look like i was defending my own. batboy i know what you are saying about age but did you know Monarch have the oldest 757 in the u.k ? As wys said it could happen to any of us. And on another note there are plenty of brand new Airbuses going tech all the time.

God knows when it will sort itself out ? A proper mess this one,glad ive got a few days off now.

Dont know about the ALC ? The crew are still in IBZ waiting for a Learjet to get to PMI. The 30 hours is going to look more like 40 at this rate.