Arg, those passengers should be paying BA money as a thank you to the flight crew for getting them on the ground safely with no loss of life! 😡

In conclusion: oil is wasted today on a still staggering amount, so that it seems dubious why civil commercial aviation should be concerned about its efficiency, which has reduced its fuel burn per seatmile about 50-70% since mid 60ies, and does continue on a rate of 5-10% per decade.

Yes, engine manufacturers have made tremendous achievements in cutting the fuel burn and increasing the efficiency of the power plants. Combined with the (comparatively smaller) increase in aircraft aerodynamics, this technique of fuel saving has helpped a lot more jets take to the skies as fuel is available.

There are a lot of other areas that fuel can be (and is) saved, as mentioned. Through fuel cell/hydrogen cars that have been developed. Maglev trains have pretty much eliminated on-board fuel being used. Combined heat/power plants for individual houses/communities, solar panels, small wind turbines for household use. I even saw somewhere (I think FHM?) that they are trialling tankers or cargo ships with huge sails on the front to ‘pull’ them across the Atlantic to save fuel?

In short, I think it currently easier to develop and use ‘alternative’ fuels for these application, though they just have to be more widely implemented. It is harder for alternative technologies to be implemented into aviation at the time being.

This topic has popped up here in the past several times, but again I will throw my 2c in.

For a long time, the global estimate for KNOWN oil reserves have been around 50-60 years. This figure may go up as fuel powered engines become more efficient (be it aircraft, automotive, locomotive, ship, industrial etc), however you also have the counter argument that more cars/planes are taking to the roads/sky so are using more. There may be more oil wells not discovered though that will put this figure up and if worst comes to the worst, if the reserves do get low (down to a decade or so), then the treaties put in place to stop people mining the reserves in Antarctica may be lifted.

As mentioned, alternative fuels are being tested and prototypes are being made. Hydrogen fuel cells are somewhat of a “developed technology” by now and have gone through several redesigns and improvements. The problem arises however, that it is currently still expensive to generate the hydrogen required for these fuel cells and as such it is not yet economically viable. You also still need to use energy (be it nuclear or fossil) to produce the hydrogen – the alternative being to generate through the use of a wind farm or another renewable source though this would take some time.

With regards to pure hydrogen as a fuel, frankvw is on the right line. It takes 15t of storage to store 1t of hydrogen due to the pressures involved. I believe hydrogen jet engines are being developed and possibly even tested, though the difficulty is acquiring the infrastructure at the airports to store the fuel. Also, concerns arise that the by-product of hydrogen fuel (water) may actually cause adverse effects on the environment at the heights airliners fly (something to do with Ozone if I remember correctly).

My personal view is that yes, oil reserves are depleting but as new fields are discovered and mining techniques are improved, the limited increase in oil is just about counterbalancing the increase in use. There is definitely money in next-generation fuels and power plants. There is a wide belief that if you crack the hydrogen storage problem then you will become one of the richest people on this planet. I look forward to seeing the outcome of the bio fuel power plants.

Absolutely fantastic post, thanks for taking the time to take those and share them – and include descriptions of what we are looking at! Do you have to be careful that you get an obliging Captain, or are most ok with pictures being taken?

I was in Salzburg for a day during the summer, though went by rail so didn’t get to see that kind of view!

The other week I sent a package (just a booklet) to NZ from here. I sent it on the Fri and I had an email from the people I sent it to on the Wed saying they had got it – pretty fast in this case!

Do all commercial airlines carry post between countries? Or is it only one airline per country that picks up the mail to take it home or to pass it on for further travel?

One thing I did learn today, when it comes to scavaging from a wreck for re-usable parts…….Pax seats are a class 1 structural item and must withstand 16g before they rip out of the rails. So, if saving the seats for spares was a thought, that’s a lot of cost!

I got a tour round the Air NZ Auckland Maintenance facility a few years back and got taken through one of the hangers where a 744 was undergoing a D-check. As such, it was the first airframe to be fitted out with the new interior and I remember my guide told me they were having problems getting the new business class seats certified because of the extreme forces they had to be able to withstand – not helped by the angle they are at.

However, Emergency Orders detail just that. That is EXACTLY what is, or should be, provided for passengers. Emergency Orders state that a response from organisations and personnel who are trained to deal with bereavement ‘situations’ and distressed victims after accidents is given in within hours. Airports are capable of providing this sort of response in less than an hour, in some situations.

When I was working there, EDI dedicated gates 1A-D for emergencies. If there was one, it would be cleared and then sectioned off and used for the passengers/survivors with another section for relatives. And of course most managers, various other staff and specialists would be on hand for comforting, counselling etc.

Just watching the news just now and the 777 has been moved to outside the BA engineering base. Apparently it won’t be going into the hangar and a scaffold will be built around it to allow investigators to begin their work. BA have described the scene as “The aircraft’s final resting place…” Make of that what you will.

Is the southern runway open again?

A note on the media reports from yesterday, they are not broadcasting to the general public and not to fulfil our curiosity as aviation enthusiasts/workers and as such I don’t think it’s fair to expect them to report to a level of technicality and accuracy that would satisfy the small percentage of us that know a thing or two about it – especially in such short time frames when it may be difficult to obtain anything accurate!

Back to the aviation matter at hand, I am looking forward to the results from the AAIB – especially as to why IF there was double engine failure, why power was not given from the Battery/APU/RAT. Interesting that it was the SFO that was the PF, he would have been feeling both utter fear and joy when he managed to get the aircraft within the LHR perimeter so close to the runway away from anyone on the ground, but still had to deal with getting it to a stop safely.

I’m at the stage in my study where I need to be applying for jobs (*sigh*). I’m lucky to be going into such an exciting industry!