Down to Earth at Heathrow?

The crash landing of the British Airways flight BA038 from Beijing on the 17th January 2008 at London Heathrow Airport has elicited praise for the crew for landing the plane, which appears to have lost power two miles out, safely with no loss of life and miraculously, no major injuries. All 136 passengers and 16 crew on the flight from Beijing survived - one person suffered a broken leg and others received minor injuries during the emergency evacuation.

The plane was being flown for its landing approach by First Officer John Coward, who was credited by his captain, Peter Burkill, for averting a major crash, said he was humbled by people calling him a hero, but said: "I was only doing my job. The crew, the passengers, and everybody else acted heroically. Flying is definitely all about teamwork and that is what we all displayed," he added. Earlier Captain Burkill said Mr Coward had done a "most remarkable job" in landing the aircraft. He also praised all the crew for showing "the highest standards of skill and professionalism".

An initial report into the crash-landing by the Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) found the jet's engines failed to respond to demands for increased thrust from the crew two miles from touchdown. The AAIB is now investigating "the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operation", and a more detailed analysis of the flight recorder is also taking place. The results of the investigations are expected within 30 days.

At a press conference at their headquarters near Heathrow Airport British Airways played up and lauded their crew’s professionalism in landing the plane and pointed out the excellent safety record of the Boeing 777 long distance twin jet. The Irish Chief executive of BA (And former MD of Aer Lingus) Willie Walsh said he was "very proud" of the crew and the Boeing 777 was an "excellent aircraft. We train hard for incidents such as this, and all that training has paid off today,"

There is of course a certain problem to all this elation, as pointed out by industry safety experts. Commentators have pointed out that if the engines had failed 30 seconds earlier the plane would have crash landed on the busy A30 approach road where Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s convoy was travelling to (coincidentally) take a BA plane to Beijing. It had failed a minute earlier the plane would have crashed over densely populated West London. This has added a certain frisson to the debate about expanding Heathrow and the application by Heathrow’s owners BAA (Owned by Ferrovial, a highly indebted Spanish brick making company) to build a 3rd. runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow. This is opposed by all the Local Authorities in the area and the four candidates for Mayor of London. One of the reasons they are opposing it is that Heathrow is something of a planning disaster for it is built in the wrong place as the approaches are over London with all the attendant safety risks and environmental pollution. When I lived (for a short while) on the Great West Road near Heathrow the houses had triple glazing fitted for sound insulation and sound baffle ventilation boxes for the same reason. When walking outside the smell of “paraffin” was prevalent in the air for when planes are slowly approaching for landing jet engines are at their most inefficient and dirtiest at burning fuel. It is estimated that the homes of 1.5 million Londoners are blighted by noise pollution from Heathrow. If London’s main airport had been built to the east on the Thames estuary the approaches would have been over the sea, not the metropolis, and there would have been plenty of room for further expansion.

Now the uncomfortable problem which needs to be faced by British Airways, Boeing and potentially the well funded lobby of vested interests supporting Heathrow’s expansion is this;

The probability of an accidental simultaneous shutdown of two engines on a modern twin jet due to mechanical problems is virtually zero due to both the reliability of modern wide-fan jet engines and the duplication of control systems. Therefore it is virtually certain that the shutdown of the two engines was in response to “command”. The issue the Air Accident Investigations Branch will now need to establish is was that “command” from the onboard computers or from the crew?

Either way the conclusion will be uncomfortable for British Airways, Boeing and an aviation industry which has promoted Extended Twin-Jet Operations (ETOPS). It will also be uncomfortable for supporters of Heathrow expansion and support opponents who have said that having approaches over densely populated urban areas is a disaster waiting to happen.

For those looking for light relief in this serious issue the British Press, as always, delivers the goods. They door stepped a neighbour of BA Captain Peter Burkill for some background on the hero of the moment and he described him as being “Very down to earth”. In the circumstances it is hard to argue with this description!