Why my job gives me satisfaction.
This is why we spend so much time agonising over our simulation system and the details, so that when pilots get into a critical situation for real, people walk away.
A BA 777 crashed at Heathrow today, well short of the runway, collapsing all the undercarriage as it slammed into the ground. Everyone evacuated OK with only 13 injuries. From the initial description, it sounded like wind shear just off the end of the approach. Now it seems they lost all electrical and engine power as the gear came down so the pilot had to glide the aircraft in. He missed the housing estate and road and managed to get it on the grass inside the airport fence.
One quote from BA chief exec Willie Walsh : "We train hard for incidents such as this, and all that training has paid off today."
Irritatingly, the BBC are reporting this as a 'miracle' which is something I detest. To call something like this a 'miracle' detracts from the skill and judgement of the people responsible. It belittles them. In this case, the pilot did a great job.
More irritating still is that they reported "Police say the incident was not terror-related." Why must everything slightly out of the normal have the "T" word in the news? If there was no relation, which any halfwit could tell you was the case, then why even mention it? Why not just leave that line out of the report completely. The only possible purpose for that line is to keep the subject fresh in people's minds so they continue to be afraid.
A BA 777 crashed at Heathrow today, well short of the runway, collapsing all the undercarriage as it slammed into the ground. Everyone evacuated OK with only 13 injuries. From the initial description, it sounded like wind shear just off the end of the approach. Now it seems they lost all electrical and engine power as the gear came down so the pilot had to glide the aircraft in. He missed the housing estate and road and managed to get it on the grass inside the airport fence.
One quote from BA chief exec Willie Walsh : "We train hard for incidents such as this, and all that training has paid off today."
Irritatingly, the BBC are reporting this as a 'miracle' which is something I detest. To call something like this a 'miracle' detracts from the skill and judgement of the people responsible. It belittles them. In this case, the pilot did a great job.
More irritating still is that they reported "Police say the incident was not terror-related." Why must everything slightly out of the normal have the "T" word in the news? If there was no relation, which any halfwit could tell you was the case, then why even mention it? Why not just leave that line out of the report completely. The only possible purpose for that line is to keep the subject fresh in people's minds so they continue to be afraid.
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