Daft off topic question, but is it normal for aircraft to take off in t-storms?

What can be more dodgey looking that a guy in jeans and trainers carrying a briefcase who flies 4K plus miles just to fly back 48 hours later… lol

Oh dear, have I been rumbled? 😉 They weren’t just ordinary trainers I’ll have you know; they were real Chav..

Enjoyed it personally.

More varied than Airline which is in effect the same story but with different people every week. Also enjoy how Airport focusses on employees where as airline often focusses on quirky passenger stories which I find a bit boring.

Ren,

It’s all in the language….

but what I don’t understand is why 4 engined planes are therefore considered as being safe to continue with one engine down ?

The aircraft is safe. However, it is less safe than had it had 4 normal engines running.

Some hypothetical numbers to highlight the point….

4 Engines working out of 4 = 99.9999% safe
3 Engines working our of 4 = 99.9900% safe

Both fantastically safe statistics but one is clearly less safe than the other and therefore the public are more at risk in the latter of the scenarios.

Well said TTP.

I’m not a pilot (far from it) but as a passenger, thats exactly the kind of response I would want to see from the boys up front.

Hand you’re exactly right.

Sandy; whilst in all probability you are also right, you cannot hide from the fact there is an increased risk to passengers safety. Like your comments the other day in a thread, a delay is a delay, well here there is an increased risk – FACT.

The risk may be tiny, but IF and its a big IF, a plane falls out of the sky as a result of this (because we don’t know why the engine failed or something could happen which means the plane is less able to cope on 3 engines) then I’d put my life on BA being hauled over the coals. Why? Because there was an increase in risk to passengers and they chose money over safety.

In all air accidents, the risk of them ever happening is so small, its probably hardly worth noting. In all probability, many of recent air accidents shouldn’t have happened and in all probability, I and you would have felt perfectly safe in the hands of the metal tube and its experienced mechanics, pilots and ground staff. Sometimes though, these short cuts come back and bite us. The vast majority of time, they don’t.

I guarantee your view would be different if BA’s actions were partly to blame for a hull loss with major loss of life.

All theoretical. But no matter how small the increase in the risk is, the most safe route out of the situation should be followed.

Answer me this; is flying over the Atlantic with 3 engines more or less safe than landing as soon as possible, given you may not know what caused the problem?

I am not asking is it safe; I am asking is it more or less safe?

If you had family on a flight that was flying in a less safe situation and something happened; would you be so willing to accept the same conclusion?

WD, you have have backed up my comments perfectly. 🙂