A British Airways (BA) Boeing 747-400 scheduled flight from Los Angeles to London was forced to divert to Manchester, UK, after running low on fuel following the crew's decision to continue the flight despite having shut down one of the aircraft's four engines shortly after take-off.
The aircraft, carrying 351 passengers and 16 crew, was bound for London's Heathrow airport but had to divert to Manchester having declared a fuel emergency.
BA senior 747/777 fleet manager Capt Doug Brown says that the captain made the decision to proceed having consulted with the airline's operations department using satellite communications. He adds that the airline, having studied the circumstances, "is fully happy with what the captain decided on this occasion" because this was "not a safety issue". BA says that the just-enacted European Union regulation on passenger compensation for flight delays or cancellation played no part in the decision to proceed (Flight International, 22-28 February).
The UK Civil Aviation Authority says the passengers were "not endangered at any time" and that, "without prejudging the outcome of the investigation, [it is] reasonably relaxed" about the incident.
Brown says the aircraft was passing 100ft (30m) just after take-off from Los Angeles airport on 19 February when the number2 engine surged and its exhaust gas temperature (EGT) exceeded limits. The crew retarded the throttle to idle, but that did not get rid of the high EGT so they shut down the engine. The pilots continued the climb and worked out the driftdown height should they lose a second engine. Having calculated that the performance was adequate, says Brown, they estimated the fuel on board would enable them to reach London on three engines. Because at any point en route they were sufficiently close to a diversion airport, "safety was assured", maintains Brown. "The only issue was where to land, which is a customer service issue."
When Gander oceanic control cleared the aircraft for FL290 (29,000ft/8,800m) because the aircraft's requested cruising level of FL310 was not available, the crew recalculated expected fuel usage and it became clear the 747 could not reach Heathrow. The crew decided on Manchester for diversion, but during the descent indications led the crew to believe they might not be able to use all the fuel in one of the tanks, so they declared a full emergency, says Brown. The cause of the engine malfunction is not yet known.
DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON
Source: Flight International
