Can you advise as to what the First Officer of the Boeing 777 which crashed at Heathrow would have done to extend the plane's flight in an effort to reach the runway? This plane was very low, if descending from a cruising height without power, how would the pilot maximize the glide distance?
Is it true the Boeing 747 has the best glider characteristics for a commercial jet?
In a recent flight I got the impression that the entire landing was one long glide. Are pilots encouraged to "glide in" to save fuel?
I live local to a relatively quiet airport and through casual observation I suspect that the cheaper budget airlines, when having to do a 180 degree turn on approach, bank steeply and join the glide path at a very short distance from the runway. Again, is this to save fuel?
I read from a Chinese Aviation magazine (April 2008) about this subject. It was reported that the crash was probably due to the existence of water (a natural phenomenon) in the fuel. The water was frozen solid when the giant plane was enroute from Beijing to London via the Artic Ocean. The frozen water or existence of mould blocked the fuel supply to the engines. As a result, the engines ignored the instruction of the flight computer to a small increase in power during its final approach. Was this a reasonable guess as to the cause of the crash?
Also, have all 777 pilots been trained to handle a complete engine failure during the final approach? I'm going to fly on a Boeing 777 on the same route in June 2008. Shall I consider choosing other airlines using other kind of aircraft?
I have been reading about the Swiss Air Flight 111. I remember when it happened and what an awful tragedy it was.
My question is - what improvements have been made since 1998, so that a similar tragedy would never occur again? Also, is there a difference between Airbus and Boeing in this regard?
Finally, do you feel that the pilots of Flight 111 could have made a safe landing if they had been more decisive and immediately diverted for an emergency landing?
I have read some of your responses to ladies aspiring to be pilots. However, there are a few things they never seem to ask. I know airline pilots can be very busy and I always wonder if it is possible for lady pilots to maintain fulfilling relationships with the opposite sex.
Is it even possible for then to have successful marriages considering the traditional roles of women. Can they even have children?
Thank you so much for your website that has helped many aspiring pilots. I have always wanted to be an airline pilot. Last year I applied for the Kenya Airways ab-initio pilot trainee program and I have been invited for the aptitude test on Wednesday at 8.00am Kenya time.
Please write to me soonest explaining what I should expect. Could the aptitude tests by Kenya Airways be any different from Cathay Pacific or Malaysia Airlines that I read in your website?
