Boeing Not the only One having Problems

[MolaKule]

"A Miami-bound British Airways Airbus A380 jet made an unexpected return to London Heathrow Airport on Thursday evening after an engine shutdown more than 3 hours into the long-haul flight...

Flight BA209 left London at 16:04 GMT, roughly thirty minutes late, and was expected to arrive at Miami International Airport at 21:09 EST. But while cruising near Greenland at 37,000 feet, the aircraft made a U-turn due to an "engine 3 shut down" and began a direct flight back to its origin, according to AirLive.

The aircraft, registered as G-XLEF, arrived back in London at approximately 22:38 GMT, more than 6 hours after its original departure time. A total of 469 passengers and 26 crew members were on board the flight, according to reports from Aeronews Journal.

While British Airways has not specified the cause of the incident, this is not the first time that the airline has encountered technical difficulties with an Airbus A380 since it was returned to commercial service following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, an A380 on the same London-Miami service was forced to return to Heathrow after experiencing an oil leak from one of its engines. Reports from AirLive said the jet was just four minutes into its journey when it headed south toward the English Channel to dump fuel..."

 

[thescreensavers]

A380 uses a Alliance GP7200 or Rolls-Royce Trent 900 turbofans.

 

[supton]

4 engines and "not good enough to fly on three". Trashes my idea that 4 was better than 2 for trans-oceanic flight. [Yes I know it's hashed out here before. Old thoughts die hard in my mind--4 is better than 2, etc.]

So it left at 16:04, had a problem at 19:04(?), and turned around with just 2 hours left? I'm guessing on 3 engines it would not have made the scheduled/expected landing at 21:09 in Miami (not flying as fast) so rerouting back and landing at the later time of 22:38 was the "fastest" thing to do to get back on the ground. Not questioning the decision here. Just questioning how I'd feel, after leaving 30 minutes late, flying for 3 hours, then flying 3 back... right to where I started from. Net sum zero. [Yes better to have loss of time than loss of life. All the same. Had to be frustrating.]

All the same. It's all fun and games until someone loses a door (or wheel). Nobody expects an engine to last forever.

 

[Owen Lucas]

A total of 469 passengers and 26 crew members were on board the flight

I forgot how many people an airliner can carry, wow!

 

[Propflux01]

4 engines and "not good enough to fly on three". Trashes my idea that 4 was better than 2 for trans-oceanic flight. [Yes I know it's hashed out here before. Old thoughts die hard in my mind--4 is better than 2, etc.]

So it left at 16:04, had a problem at 19:04(?), and turned around with just 2 hours left? I'm guessing on 3 engines it would not have made the scheduled/expected landing at 21:09 in Miami (not flying as fast) so rerouting back and landing at the later time of 22:38 was the "fastest" thing to do to get back on the ground. Not questioning the decision here. Just questioning how I'd feel, after leaving 30 minutes late, flying for 3 hours, then flying 3 back... right to where I started from. Net sum zero. [Yes better to have loss of time than loss of life. All the same. Had to be frustrating.]

All the same. It's all fun and games until someone loses a door (or wheel). Nobody expects an engine to last forever.

Any time you have an engine failure is an automatic cancelation of continuance. While turning around obviously was not the fastest, it was the most economical for the airline, as maintenance at home station is worlds cheaper than it would be in Miami. And with 3 engines, it was safe to do it, as well. If it were an ETOPS aircraft, it probably would have continued to Miami because of ETOPS 120 (138) rules. But gotta say, six hours going nowhere had to really have sucked for those people.

 

[4WD]

Been on that route and other airline’s A380’s - I never liked the sheer amount of passengers that overtake the arrival process …
Other than that - they all buy the seats …

Have BA in January - Dreamliner though …

 

[mk378]

Can it fly on two engines though? Failure of one engine is completely withstandable, but having another then fail would likely be fatal. So you never try to go on to the intended destination unless that really is the soonest opportunity to land.

On a four engine plane the chance of a second engine failure is three times higher than with two.

 

[dkryan]

It appears to be more of a “Pratt & Whitney isn’t the only engine maker having problems,” versus the “Boeing versus Airbus” thread title.