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:shock: Glad they all got off the plane safely... question is how you get back into the air after experiencing something like that.
I think they have to change the engine first!
:shock: Glad they all got off the plane safely... question is how you get back into the air after experiencing something like that.
Not so sure I would be feeling very calm when looking out the window with that amount of fire.
Personally I would have preferred to have vacated as soon as practical via the Emergency Exits rather than awaiting stairs, assuming that it would have been safe to have done so.
I think they have to change the engine first!
Reckon I'd have had an involuntary evacuation.
BKK is in a different direction, although on the way back to SIN, there is also HKT, PEN, and KUL nearby before they get to SIN. I'm guessing all of them would be suitable alternates with the shortest runway being 3km long, and all of them handle international traffic and mid/large aircraft regularly. Guess the pilots just wanted to go home. I was on that aircraft some months ago, but it looks like I won't be on that specific frame again for a little while.Sadly neither FR24 nor Flightaware show the full track of the aircraft. The turn around is missing. But, from the fact that it's shown at FL170 for most of the return, you can reasonably assume that the engine has been shut down. As that U-turn took place over the Andaman Sea, the nearest good airport is Bangkok. I can understand not diverting to emergency airports, but flying past BKK is an interesting decision.
JB, from an earlier response you indicated surprise that PAX were not evacuated via slides, presumably on the left.
But assuming you had made the call not to evacuate... would you move PAX forward and aft of the wing, and on a twin aisle, to the left side of the cabin? (noting you don't have anything near the full facts, so it's a bit hypothetical.)
Or would there still be too much activity on the flight deck and the CSM & cabin crew still be making calls in the back at that stage?
Either way, the vision taken by pax not far aft of the wing on the right side really surprised me.
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My thoughts too, with one wing on fire why didn't they use the emergency chutes ?
I also find it surprising that the media reports all state that passengers alighted via stairs, rather than slides.
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You're not the only one....
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BKK is in a different direction, although on the way back to SIN, there is also HKT, PEN, and KUL nearby before they get to SIN. I'm guessing all of them would be suitable alternates with the shortest runway being 3km long, and all of them handle international traffic and mid/large aircraft regularly. Guess the pilots just wanted to go home. I was on that aircraft some months ago, but it looks like I won't be on that specific frame again for a little while.
...What's actually burning? Fuel, oil, hydraulics? Or a combination? Was the engine shut down? And if so, what was the ignition source? What was the reported leak (I've read both oil and fuel)?
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Some answers which will hopefully come out either soon or in the investigation:
- why didn't the pilots evacuate via slides?
- why didn't cabin crew initiate an exit on their own accord?
- did the culture at the airline prevent cabin crew initiating an exit on their own accord?
- did a passenger attempt to initiate evacuation?
- to what extent did pilots consider other scenarios in making their decision? For example, were they mindful of QF32? Or of the OZ incident where an ejected passenger was subsequently killed by emergency vehicles?
Adding to the speculation:
Stay on board or evacuate?. Every situation different. Did QF32/RdC introduce a "grey" to a black and white decision?.
I fly SYD to SIN on Saturday (SQ242). I am not nervous however from a selfish perspective, would prefer to know what caused this incident before Saturday.