Just watching this on BBC new. Nice to see its only the aircraft that was hurt.
Does anyone have a link to more info?
BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
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Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Yikes
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europ ... index.html
LONDON, England (CNN) -- An emergency operation is under way at London's Heathrow Airport after an inbound passenger jet landed short of the runway on Thursday.
British Airways confirmed its flight BA38 from Beijing, China, was involved in the incident. Images showed the Boeing 777 grounded on tarmac several hundred meters short of the airport's south runway, close to a perimeter road, with its emergency chutes deployed.
The undercarriage and right engine of the aircraft appeared severely damaged, as if it had slid across the ground. Tire tracks hundreds of meters long could be seen in the grass behind the plane. Fire engines and other emergency vehicles surrounded the plane which appeared to have been doused in fire-fighting foam.
A spokesman for Heathrow said the flight had carried out an emergency landing at 12.42pm GMT.
In a statement, British Airways said all 136 passengers had been evacuated from the plane with three minor injuries.
Airport authorities said Heathrow's southern runway had been closed, but the northern runway remained open.
A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said there was nothing to suggest the incident was terror-related.
The incident occurred as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for a visit to China and India. His flight was delayed but his jet was not directly involved, PA said.
British Airways has set up a helpline number in the UK for friends and relatives concerned for passengers involved in the incident: 0800 3894193
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europ ... index.html
LONDON, England (CNN) -- An emergency operation is under way at London's Heathrow Airport after an inbound passenger jet landed short of the runway on Thursday.
British Airways confirmed its flight BA38 from Beijing, China, was involved in the incident. Images showed the Boeing 777 grounded on tarmac several hundred meters short of the airport's south runway, close to a perimeter road, with its emergency chutes deployed.
The undercarriage and right engine of the aircraft appeared severely damaged, as if it had slid across the ground. Tire tracks hundreds of meters long could be seen in the grass behind the plane. Fire engines and other emergency vehicles surrounded the plane which appeared to have been doused in fire-fighting foam.
A spokesman for Heathrow said the flight had carried out an emergency landing at 12.42pm GMT.
In a statement, British Airways said all 136 passengers had been evacuated from the plane with three minor injuries.
Airport authorities said Heathrow's southern runway had been closed, but the northern runway remained open.
A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said there was nothing to suggest the incident was terror-related.
The incident occurred as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for a visit to China and India. His flight was delayed but his jet was not directly involved, PA said.
British Airways has set up a helpline number in the UK for friends and relatives concerned for passengers involved in the incident: 0800 3894193
It's better to break ground and head into the wind than to break wind and head into the ground.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
More Pics
It's better to break ground and head into the wind than to break wind and head into the ground.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
There's no advertising like free advertising.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Somebody didn't follow the glide slope 
Glade nobody is seriously injured.
136pax only they must have been very light.
Glade nobody is seriously injured.
136pax only they must have been very light.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
oops.
no sig because apparently quoting people in context is offensive to them.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Witnesses have described how the pilot of a British Airways passenger jet that crash landed at London's Heathrow Airport on Thursday appeared to be struggling to bring the plane down safely as it came in low over surrounding houses.
Images showed the Boeing 777 -- BA flight 38 from Beijing, China -- grounded on tarmac after touching down several hundred meters short of the airport's south runway, close to a perimeter road, with its emergency chutes deployed.
The undercarriage, left wing and left engine of the aircraft were severely damaged, as if it had skidded across the ground. At least one of the plane's wheels had been torn off.
Eyewitness Neil Jones said the plane had made a "very, very unusual approach" to the airport and sounded louder than usual, the UK's Press Association reported.
"The aircraft was banking to the left and it was coming in very low over the surrounding houses," Jones said.
"The plane was significantly lower than it would normally be. I could see the undercarriage was down and the wing flaps were down. I don't know how many engines were working.
"You could see the pilot was desperate, trying to get the plane down. The aircraft hit the grass and there was a lot of dirt. The pilot was struggling to keep the plane straight. I think he did a great job."
Jerome Ensinck, a passenger aboard the flight, said there had been no indication that the plane was making an emergency landing, PA reported.
"There was no indication that we were going to have a bad landing," he said. "When we hit the ground it was extremely rough, but I've had rough landings before and I thought 'This is the roughest I've had.'
"Then the emergency exits were opened and we were all told we should go through as quickly as possible, and the moment I was away from the plane I started to realize that the undercarriage was away, and we had missed the runway.
"I feel lucky at the moment, but I think now I realise I've had a close call. If we had hit the runway, it would have been worse."
Tire tracks hundreds of meters long could be seen in the grass behind the plane, which was surrounded by fire engines and other emergency vehicles and had been doused in fire-fighting foam.
A spokesman for Heathrow -- the world's busiest international airport -- said the flight had carried out an emergency landing at 12.42pm GMT.
In a statement, British Airways said all 136 passengers had been evacuated from the plane with three minor injuries.
Airport authorities said Heathrow's southern runway had been closed, but the northern runway remained open. But the incident immediately led to major delays for passengers. Some incoming flights were being diverted to other airports on a flight-by-flight basis, according to Heathrow's Web site.
A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said there was nothing to suggest the incident was terror-related.
The Boeing 777 is the mainstay of many airlines' long-haul fleets and has never been involved in a fatal accident. However, the aircraft involved in Thursday's incident appeared to have had a fortunate escape, having approached Heathrow over heavily-populated west London suburbs before its crash landing.
"This is the closest we've come to a major catastrophe," CNN's Richard Quest said.
The incident occurred as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for a visit to China and India. His flight was delayed but his jet was not directly involved, PA said.
• British Airways has set up helpline numbers for friends and relatives concerned for passengers involved in the incident:
Images showed the Boeing 777 -- BA flight 38 from Beijing, China -- grounded on tarmac after touching down several hundred meters short of the airport's south runway, close to a perimeter road, with its emergency chutes deployed.
The undercarriage, left wing and left engine of the aircraft were severely damaged, as if it had skidded across the ground. At least one of the plane's wheels had been torn off.
Eyewitness Neil Jones said the plane had made a "very, very unusual approach" to the airport and sounded louder than usual, the UK's Press Association reported.
"The aircraft was banking to the left and it was coming in very low over the surrounding houses," Jones said.
"The plane was significantly lower than it would normally be. I could see the undercarriage was down and the wing flaps were down. I don't know how many engines were working.
"You could see the pilot was desperate, trying to get the plane down. The aircraft hit the grass and there was a lot of dirt. The pilot was struggling to keep the plane straight. I think he did a great job."
Jerome Ensinck, a passenger aboard the flight, said there had been no indication that the plane was making an emergency landing, PA reported.
"There was no indication that we were going to have a bad landing," he said. "When we hit the ground it was extremely rough, but I've had rough landings before and I thought 'This is the roughest I've had.'
"Then the emergency exits were opened and we were all told we should go through as quickly as possible, and the moment I was away from the plane I started to realize that the undercarriage was away, and we had missed the runway.
"I feel lucky at the moment, but I think now I realise I've had a close call. If we had hit the runway, it would have been worse."
Tire tracks hundreds of meters long could be seen in the grass behind the plane, which was surrounded by fire engines and other emergency vehicles and had been doused in fire-fighting foam.
A spokesman for Heathrow -- the world's busiest international airport -- said the flight had carried out an emergency landing at 12.42pm GMT.
In a statement, British Airways said all 136 passengers had been evacuated from the plane with three minor injuries.
Airport authorities said Heathrow's southern runway had been closed, but the northern runway remained open. But the incident immediately led to major delays for passengers. Some incoming flights were being diverted to other airports on a flight-by-flight basis, according to Heathrow's Web site.
A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said there was nothing to suggest the incident was terror-related.
The Boeing 777 is the mainstay of many airlines' long-haul fleets and has never been involved in a fatal accident. However, the aircraft involved in Thursday's incident appeared to have had a fortunate escape, having approached Heathrow over heavily-populated west London suburbs before its crash landing.
"This is the closest we've come to a major catastrophe," CNN's Richard Quest said.
The incident occurred as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was due to leave Heathrow for a visit to China and India. His flight was delayed but his jet was not directly involved, PA said.
• British Airways has set up helpline numbers for friends and relatives concerned for passengers involved in the incident:
It's better to break ground and head into the wind than to break wind and head into the ground.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
So anyone got any new as to the "emergency landing" reason? Where they landing because of a problem or are they just calling it an emergency landing because, well they made it into one.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Early word is that the pilot had to deadstick it into the field... lost both engines and electronics while inbound, if so, bloody good job getting it in at all.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Lost both engines> Wouldn't an emergency been decalred right away?
Interesting to see what really happened.
From the read there were no emergency calls
Interesting to see what really happened.
From the read there were no emergency calls
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Ya, i saw that, no emergency calls in the plane to pax either apparently, which may be the engine/electrics failure confirmation, or at least lend it some more credence
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Bloody 'ell!
Putting money into aviation is like wiping before you poop....it just don't make sense!
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happy_flyer
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Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Someone told the BBC that he talked to the pilot right after the crash. Its seems that the pilot lost all power on short final.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Ahh, maybe thats because they had about 55 seconds to get the thing on the ground or pile into some buildings?? Seems they ran out of fuel, what else would cause both engs to pack up..wan2fly99 wrote:Lost both engines> Wouldn't an emergency been decalred right away?
Interesting to see what really happened.
From the read there were no emergency calls
You will never live long enough to know it all, so quit being anal about it..
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airborne_artist
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Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Seems you know Jack Sh!t about airplanes, mister. Sure it's possible, but if you thought about it, but there's plenty of other reasons that are far more likely than that. If the pilot knew he was short on fuel he'd have declared a fuel emergency plenty earlier and landed far sooner.Seems they ran out of fuel, what else would cause both engs to pack up..
What is far more likely is a problem with electrical power, which then caused perhaps fuel pumps to stop, and so a loss of engine power, and if you don't think that can happen, then search on the Quantas flight that had just that very recently, though the engines stayed running.
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invertedattitude
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Zapp Brannigan
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Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Thanks for the vid post. They sure touched down closer to the highway than the runway. Good thing there is such a wide grass barrier between. Glad to hear there was only 3 injuries, everyone must have been buckled in, that looked like a damn hard touchdown.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Not exactly a "shortfield landing" as I define it.
Seems to me that FADEC engines have self-contained generators that provide the power independently to each engine so that a system failure will not stop the engines. Boost pumps will fail but not the engine-driven pumps. With fly-by-wire engine controls those same generators provide the power for that system too. For some reason, he might not have been able to call for power when he wanted it - I'll be very interested to hear if the engines were in fact running, otherwise it would have had to have been a fuel problem.
Maybe it was the kid in the back with a laptop?
Seems to me that FADEC engines have self-contained generators that provide the power independently to each engine so that a system failure will not stop the engines. Boost pumps will fail but not the engine-driven pumps. With fly-by-wire engine controls those same generators provide the power for that system too. For some reason, he might not have been able to call for power when he wanted it - I'll be very interested to hear if the engines were in fact running, otherwise it would have had to have been a fuel problem.
Maybe it was the kid in the back with a laptop?
"What's it doing now?"
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
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invertedattitude
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Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
One passenger said on CNN
"It seemed like a normal, but bumpy landing up until we were being evacuated"
Now either this guy is brainless or a first time flier, how the hell you wouldn't know something was wrong is somewhat incredible.
There are numerous redundencies built in to any transport category aircraft, but especially a 772.
It will be interesting to see exactly how a pilot could lose both engines and all electrics.
The APU intake is open in the pictures, which may or may not indicate that the crew had attempted to start the APU to gain electrical power again.
"It seemed like a normal, but bumpy landing up until we were being evacuated"
Now either this guy is brainless or a first time flier, how the hell you wouldn't know something was wrong is somewhat incredible.
There are numerous redundencies built in to any transport category aircraft, but especially a 772.
It will be interesting to see exactly how a pilot could lose both engines and all electrics.
The APU intake is open in the pictures, which may or may not indicate that the crew had attempted to start the APU to gain electrical power again.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
ITN reporting that both engines failed on short final......just heard it on the BBC.
Now guys how could that happen?
Now guys how could that happen?
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Simultaneous fuel starvation in the left and right side
Simultaneous dual channel FADEC failures
Simultaneous cow strikes
Someone shut off both fuel control switches.
That's all I can think of.
Simultaneous dual channel FADEC failures
Simultaneous cow strikes
Someone shut off both fuel control switches.
That's all I can think of.
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
If you notice - I said "seems". I did not say for a fact that they ran out of fuel. That will come out in the wash, but the lack of fire could suggest that is what happened. Why does it "seem" that you had to create a new user name to reply to my postairborne_artist wrote:Seems you know Jack Sh!t about airplanes, mister. Sure it's possible, but if you thought about it, but there's plenty of other reasons that are far more likely than that. If the pilot knew he was short on fuel he'd have declared a fuel emergency plenty earlier and landed far sooner.Seems they ran out of fuel, what else would cause both engs to pack up..
What is far more likely is a problem with electrical power, which then caused perhaps fuel pumps to stop, and so a loss of engine power, and if you don't think that can happen, then search on the Quantas flight that had just that very recently, though the engines stayed running.
You will never live long enough to know it all, so quit being anal about it..
Re: BA 777 shortfield landing at Heathrow
Maybe it was the electronic flash from something like a nuclear bomb - maybe somebody on the approach path turned on his new Vista computer? 
"What's it doing now?"
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
"Fly low and slow and throttle back in the turns."
