Ask Captain Lim

Dear Capt. Lim,

I have a few questions that I want to ask.

Is it possible to land a Boeing 777 safely in situations where you are on a final approach with strong cross wind at the runway and all of a sudden, the plane's hydraulic system failed. Would there be any other alternatives?

I can still recall a Boeing 747-400 emergency landing at the Hong Kong Kai Tak's airport in the late 1990's. The cross wind was so strong that the pilot could not align the airplane with the runway and had one of it's right engine scrapping the runway.

What really happened anyway? When the plane touched down, would it be possible for the pilot to execute a touch-and-go in situation mentioned above. If I am not mistaken, it would be hard to get the plane airborne, is it true? What about the flap settings?

Thanks Capt. Lim.

Ariff

Hi Ariff,

There are three hydraulic systems in the Boeing 777. Under normal operation, the main hydraulic system would handle all services requiring hydraulics. If the main system fails, there is the alternate system. Then, if even the alternate system fails, there is the reserve brake to stop the aircraft. Don't forget, there is also the reverse thrust to assist in the deceleration during the landing!

I do not have the details of this particular incident and I have no comment on it. Anyway, once an airplane has touched down and one of the engine is damaged, it would not be advisable to attempt a go around. Go around should be executed by around 500 feet above ground level when a pilot thinks his approach is not stabilized by then. During a go-around the landing flaps are immediately reselected to the take off flaps to reduce any drag and improves the climb performance.