5 ms·

Yikes. How would ya like to be a passenger on one of those planes: "We're returning to our departure airport because this airplane has been grounded."

jsty 8y ago
Although if you'd realised it was a 737 MAX, you might already be clutching a medicinal gin & tonic ...
- tivert 8y ago
  > Although if you'd realised it was a 737 MAX, you might already be clutching a medicinal gin & tonic ... I wouldn't, haven't all the problems so far have been during takeoff? So once you're cruising you're safe from them?
  - tapland 8y ago
    12 and 6 minutes after take-off.
  - dreamcompiler 8y ago
    The MCAS problem cannot occur when flaps are deployed, and it happens when flaps are initially retracted. So if it hasn't happened by now, it's not going to.
    - JshWright 8y ago
      It could also happen while resetting after a late missed approach.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
flurdy 8y ago
I was on a Norwegian plane once going from Oslo to London, 3/4 into the journey, just before descending into Gatwick, we got told the plane is turning around due to fault on the plane. So deflating when you are nearly home. The pilot did a good job calming everyone down and explaining it was a minor fault, two duplicate sensors were showing different values, but still, enough to recall the plane. So basically another 1.5h flight back to Oslo, a few hours wait, then on a replacement plane (thank god) with another flight back to London. A long day. I can, however, understand it. As with this 737 Max-8s they did not want the plane grounded in an airport where they don't have a full service centre with parts etc. Had it only been a few years later we could have continued as they made Gatwick one of their major hubs with probably full stock of parts. Though I do have a rule of preferring flying out from an airport with a "local" airline, as they are quite likely to have parts and chances of spare or frequent incoming planes to shuffle around to. Related, Norwegian plane was stuck in Iran: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2019/01/10/norwegian-air-plane-has-been-stuck-iran-4-weeks/2540327002/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2019/01/10/norw...
- Symbiote 8y ago
  I had the same experience with an Easyjet flight, which departed from the Easyjet hub (also Gatwick) and returned there. The pilot strongly implied that had I been on the British Airways flight, we'd have continued to the destination: BA would have flown their spare pilot + spare plane + repair crew out. But Easyjet didn't have a spare crew.

jsty 8y ago

Although if you'd realised it was a 737 MAX, you might already be clutching a medicinal gin & tonic ...

tivert 8y ago
> Although if you'd realised it was a 737 MAX, you might already be clutching a medicinal gin & tonic ... I wouldn't, haven't all the problems so far have been during takeoff? So once you're cruising you're safe from them?
- tapland 8y ago
  12 and 6 minutes after take-off.
- dreamcompiler 8y ago
  The MCAS problem cannot occur when flaps are deployed, and it happens when flaps are initially retracted. So if it hasn't happened by now, it's not going to.
  - JshWright 8y ago
    It could also happen while resetting after a late missed approach.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

flurdy 8y ago

I was on a Norwegian plane once going from Oslo to London, 3/4 into the journey, just before descending into Gatwick, we got told the plane is turning around due to fault on the plane. So deflating when you are nearly home. The pilot did a good job calming everyone down and explaining it was a minor fault, two duplicate sensors were showing different values, but still, enough to recall the plane. So basically another 1.5h flight back to Oslo, a few hours wait, then on a replacement plane (thank god) with another flight back to London. A long day. I can, however, understand it. As with this 737 Max-8s they did not want the plane grounded in an airport where they don't have a full service centre with parts etc. Had it only been a few years later we could have continued as they made Gatwick one of their major hubs with probably full stock of parts. Though I do have a rule of preferring flying out from an airport with a "local" airline, as they are quite likely to have parts and chances of spare or frequent incoming planes to shuffle around to. Related, Norwegian plane was stuck in Iran: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2019/01/10/norwegian-air-plane-has-been-stuck-iran-4-weeks/2540327002/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2019/01/10/norw...

Symbiote 8y ago
I had the same experience with an Easyjet flight, which departed from the Easyjet hub (also Gatwick) and returned there. The pilot strongly implied that had I been on the British Airways flight, we'd have continued to the destination: BA would have flown their spare pilot + spare plane + repair crew out. But Easyjet didn't have a spare crew.