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BA Boeing 787 returns to LHR four hours into flight to India

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http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BAW277/history/20160612/1420Z/EGLL/VOHS Defective weather computer. (www.standard.co.uk) More...

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dtw757
mike SUT 4
Probably because they were going to be flying in night time conditions into unknown weather conditions and the most prudent thing was to return for a new radar or aircraft back through areas and a capable ATC that could steer them around weather if they had too. In airline flying, the Minimum Equipment List(MEL) which guides whether an aircraft can be dispatched with inop equipment lists the Radar as must be working unless,,,you can maintain visual separation from clouds, and it is a daytime flight only. Most pilots use it in flight for guidance sometimes in determining whether to continue on. Its not like a lot of spare parts are available en route so one could drop in. Plus it's the beginning of the rainy Monsoon season there aka thunderstorms.
SFOBro
SFOBro 1
Remind me to never fly on an airline where they can't keep tabs on the weather, don't know the difference between a thunder storm and a monsoon, and aren't sure if it's going to be dark outside or not. OH, and if they have a part that breaks before they are at the halfway point, if they DON'T turn around and go to home base and instead cross their fingers hoping to get to the destination safely, as it turns into night, and THEN wait for the part to catch up to them. Not interested either. I'm also pretty sure that ATC east of London can handle telling a pilot if there's bad weather ahead. MEL and all that.
chrisrobey
CHRIS ROBEY 2
Absolutely the only decision was indeed to turn back to LHR. In 1961, a Vickers Viscount 700 series(VH-TVC) disintegrated minutes after departing at night from Sydney SYD (Kingsford Smith) due to flying into a TS during climb for Canberra, just 128nm away to the southwest. The tailplane failed first. WX radar was made mandatory for all pressurised airline opertions in Australia very soon afterwards..
Moviela
Ric Wernicke 1
Sounds like a return to base for repairs was the fastest most ECONOMICAL way to keep the plane in the air. You really don't want to have repairs done in India. I've done it and the specialist showed up in short pants and sandals carrying a 13mm spanner and a slotted screwdriver with a chip on the tip.
mlknyc
Mitch Kanji 1
Air India owns 27 Dreamliners. Im sure their engineers arent like the one you have described above.
williambaker08
william baker 0
Actually Air India is poor with maintence on there 787's. They have so many issues with them in the past they kept having to make emergency landings almost 4:1 of any other airlines including Norwegian airlines. Yes they have gotten way better but there maintence program stinks. It's like a 2 year old 777 they ground and stripped to keep other planes going. Why not just order the parts then strip a brand new aircraft.
SFOBro
SFOBro 1
I could barely assemble that puzzle (comment).
I THINK you are saying that Air India has emergency landings that are almost 4 times as frequent as the next airline. I'd love to see your stat sheet on that.
chrisrobey
CHRIS ROBEY 1
Just been hearing on the News how ninety three people in India have been killed due to lightning strikes in the past few days, given this is the monsoon season. Even being on the ground isn't safe there right now!
ayayay
carlos rivera 1
They are professionals pilots,so whatever the reason,it was the best decision in order to have their passangers safe....
cpergiel
Chuck Pergiel 1
No place closer they could have set down? They had to fly FOUR hours back to London? There is something wrong with this scenario.
williambaker08
william baker 1
And They didn't Continue and land in India as planned why? or if they were worried about it that bad land at the nearest available airport possible.
KBFILearPIC
KBFILearPIC 7
In the air carrier world a failure of the weather radar system prohibits flight into areas of known or forecasted thunderstorms/convective activity. And this flight will most certainly have areas enroute (and at destination) of thunderstorms during this time of the year. Obviously after conferring with BA Dispatch and Maintenance of all possible contingencies, the best solution for this flight was to return to Heathrow.
SFOBro
SFOBro 1
The only logical thing to do before the halfway point is turn around and get your plane into it's own home. This is solely about math and time. Parts and spare planes are back home, that's where you go.
ToddBaldwin3
ToddBaldwin3 1
See above comment by Ric.
jpusser
josh pusser -1
Wouldn't a $50 xm weather subscription be a good backup. Maybe not up close and personal with a TS but maybe keep you severe clear
PLANESOLUTIONS
Having XM weather on board is great - But it does not replace air carrier requirements for onboard radar when flying in areas of thunderstorm activity.

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