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Powerless Over London | The Story of British Airways 38
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This video is sponsored by War Thunder.
Speed 38. Clear line 27 left. The wind
21 10 knots
27 left. Speed 38.
Flying over London. A British Airways
Boeing 7 is on final approach. In just a
few minutes, the aircraft should be
safely on the ground. As the first
officer takes control to execute the
landing, he suddenly notices a drop in
air speed. The aircraft's automation
increases engine power, but the speed
keeps falling. Then comes a chilling
realization. Neither engine is responding.
responding.
The aircraft begins to sink toward the
ground. The pilots don't have time to
diagnose the problem. They need to act
quickly or risk crashing into one of
London's densely populated suburbs.
Can the crew glide the aircraft safely
to the runway or is disaster
unavoidable? This is the story of
British Airways Flight 38.
Mayday. Mayday. Speed bird. Speed bird
The story of British Airways Flight 38
began in Beijing, China on January 17th, 2008.
2008.
Operated by a Boeing trip 7, flight 38
was the return leg to London of the
regularly scheduled flight between the
two countries. The aircraft had touched
down in Beijing hours earlier and was
being serviced in preparation for the
journey to London.
In command of flight 38 was 43-year-old
Captain Peter Burkhill, a seasoned pilot
with 12,700 hours of total flight time
and 8,500 hours on the Boeing trip 7.
His senior first officer, 41-year-old
John Coward, had a total of 9,000 hours
of flight time and 7,000 hours on the
trip 7. First Officer Connor McGinness,
a 35-year-old pilot with 5,000 hours of
total flight time and 1,100 hours on the
He would replace Captain Burkel and
First Officer Coward in turn, allowing
them to leave the flight deck and get a
few hours of rest during the cruise
portion of the flight. All pilots had
arrived in Beijing several days prior
and had spent almost 2 days off duty
before operating flight 38.
The planned route of flight would take
the trip 7 over the northern parts of
China, then continue northeast across a
large part of Russia before reaching
Europe and culminating in the United
Kingdom. According to the flight plan,
the aircraft would climb to an initial
altitude of 34,100
ft before descending to 31,500
ft over the China Mongolia border due to
extremely low air temperatures that were
forecast on route.
Unbeknownst to anyone on board, the
expected drop in outside air temperature
would play a major role in the story of
At 10:09 Beijing time, carrying 136
passengers and 79,000 kg of fuel on
board, the Boeing 77 took off and
turning northeast began climbing away
from Beijing.
Shortly after, air traffic control
requested the crew to climb to an
initial cruise altitude of 34,800
ft. Although this was slightly higher
than the originally planned altitude for
the first portion of the flight, the
crew accepted the request.
Flying at higher altitudes in extremely
cold conditions can have subtle but
serious effects on the aircraft,
especially on systems like the fuel
supply. Considering a higher than
planned cruising altitude and the cold
conditions expected on route, the pilots
made a decision to closely monitor the
fuel temperature, ensuring that it does
not drop below the allowed limits.
As the aircraft continued its journey
over Russia and Northern Europe, burning
off fuel, it became significantly
lighter. The lower weight allowed the
crew to select a higher cruise altitude
for more optimized flight performance.
This practice called a step climb is
standard on longer flights.
Passing by Moscow, Russia, the flight
crew engaged the vertical speed mode to
command a shallow climb to an altitude
of 38,000 ft. A few hours later,
overflying Sweden, the aircraft climbed
further up to 40,000 ft.
By using the VS mode, the pilots could
avoid high pitch angles and abrupt
changes in engine power, providing a
more comfortable experience to the
passengers. As we will discuss further,
this seemingly positive choice
contributed significantly to the fate of
Flight 38.
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The cruise portion of the flight
continued as planned, and approximately
40 minutes prior to landing, the flight
crew initiated the descent. As the
aircraft approached London, air traffic
control instructed flight 38 to enter
the Lamborghorn holding just northeast
of London at 11,000 ft. The airplane
spent approximately 5 minutes in the
holding pattern and after descending to
9,000 ft in the hold was cleared for an
ILS approach to runway 27 left.
Having pre-programmed the aircraft's
automation, the crew instructed the
autopilot to intercept the ILS signal,
line up with the runway, and begin
descending on the glide slope. Passing
through a layer of clouds at 3,000 ft,
the pilots saw the airport straight
ahead and in clear view. They were only
a few minutes away from completing the
long journey from Asia. And the approach
continued without issue until the
aircraft descended through the last
1,000 ft of altitude. 1,00
1,00
at 1,000 ft above the ground with the
landing gear in the down position and
the wing flaps extended to 30°. The trip
7 was fully configured for the approach.
Although the captain was the pilot
flying for the initial approach, he
would hand over control to the first
officer in a few moments per the company
procedures. The autopilot was still
engaged at this time, but as briefed by
the crew earlier in the flight, the
first officer would complete the landing
manually, planning to disconnect the
autopilot at around 600 ft above the ground.
ground.
Throughout the aircraft's descent on the
glide slope, the auto throttle
maintained the desired approach speed of
135 knots by slightly moving the thrust
levers and thus adjusting the power. At
720 ft, the right engine began to
gradually spool down. Sensing the drop
in thrust, the auto throttle advanced
the left thrust lever to compensate, but
the engine did not respond. As the
aircraft descended another 100 ft, the
left engine also began losing thrust.
Just a minute from touchdown, the 160
ton airliner had lost nearly all
available power. Yet, it was still miles
To avoid overstressing the engines, the
auto throttle limited the movement of
the thrust levers, splitting them. The
resulting stagger with the left thrust
lever further ahead than the right
caught the attention of the first
officer. Focusing on the engines, he did
not disconnect the autopilot at 600 ft
as intended. The auto throttle then
gradually moved both thrust levers
forward to the full power position, but
nothing happened. 500.
500.
A short moment later, the radio
alimter's automatic call out informed
the crew that they had passed the
altitude of 500 ft. The captain
confirmed that the approach was stable
by making a corresponding call out and
the crew received the landing clearance
from Heathrow's tower controller.
We speak at 38 little line 27 left and
wind 2110 knots.
The aircraft was now only 30 seconds
from touchdown. Still having trouble
with the aircraft's thrust, the pilots
noticed that both engines were just
above idle power and the air speed
started to drop below the calculated
approach speed of 135 knots. The crew
moved the thrust levers back and forth
several times, but the engines did not respond.
respond.
Without sufficient air speed over the
wings, the aircraft would no longer be
able to produce enough lift to maintain
the desired approach path and the trip 7
started to slowly descend below the
glide slope. Because the first officer
had not disengaged the autopilot earlier
in the approach, the automation
attempted to catch the glide slope again
by raising the nose of the aircraft and
moving the thrust levers forward. But as
the engines were stuck, these commands
only caused the air speed to drop even
further, pushing the aircraft closer and
closer to entering an aerodynamic stall.
At 300 ft, this stall would be unreoverable.
Although the engines did not respond to
any input, they continued operating at
just above idle power and did not shut
down. There was no sound or visible
damage that could have explained the
sudden behavior to the pilots. So what
could have caused the issue at the most
critical stage of the flight? As is the
case with many accidents, it was a
combination of actions and environmental
conditions that led to the events of
flight 38.
The Boeing 7 has a total of three tanks,
one in each wing, as well as the center
tank located in the fuselage. By design,
the center tank was to be used before
fuel could be supplied from the wing
tanks. Although the fuel in the center
tank was fairly warm after takeoff, as
it traveled to the engines via the fuel
feed lines routed through the main
tanks, it began to gradually cool down
to freezing temperatures. The fuel
itself did not freeze, but the exposure
to this cold weather turned small water
droplets within it into ice crystals.
The temperature of the fuel during the
first few hours fell within what's known
as the sticky range, allowing the ice
crystals to form a slushy substance that
attached to the inner surface of the
fuel lines.
Although it may seem unusual, jet fuel
is known to contain water in very minor
concentrations. And due to the low
temperatures at high altitudes in which
aircraft operate, this water is expected
to freeze. Aircraft and engine
manufacturers have designed fuel systems
with consideration for the presence of
ice crystals.
For that reason, before fuel is supplied
to the engine, it passes through a fuel
oil heat exchanger, a vital engine
component that roots hot engine oil
around cold fuel lines, thus reducing
the temperature of the oil and warming
up the fuel before it is supplied to the
engine. Ice passing through the heat
exchanger melts and returns to liquid
form, ensuring uninterrupted engine operation.
operation.
However, because the crew of Flight 38
used the vertical speed mode to change
cruise altitudes, the fuel flow within
the aircraft's fuel feed lines remained
relatively low, and it was not strong
enough to push the ice crystals toward
the fuel oil heat exchanger. Instead,
once the aircraft flew through a region
of cold weather, the fuel cooled down
further, solidifying the ice that had
accumulated inside the fuel lines. It
was not until the aircraft began its
approach to London that the outside air
temperatures increased again, warming up
and softening the ice. Once the airliner
turned onto the final approach course
and established on the ILS, several wind
gusts shook the plane around, causing
its air speed to fluctuate. The auto
throttle responded to these drops in air
speed with multiple quick adjustments to
engine thrust.
Combined with a few jolts from light
turbulence, the resulting sudden
increase in fuel flow broke off the
softened chunks of ice inside the fuel
lines and sent them toward the engines.
Too big to pass through the mesh screens
of the fuel oil heat exchangers and
still too cold to thaw completely, the
ice continued to build up on the faces
of the heat exchangers. By the time
flight 38 descended below 1,000 ft, a
critical amount had accumulated, almost
completely cutting off the fuel supply
Back in the flight deck, still trying to
make the engines respond to the thrust
levers. The flight crew received an
airspeed low message on the engine
indicating and crew alerting system.
Programmed to maintain the glide slope,
the autopilot continued to raise the
nose of the aircraft and the air speed
dropped to 115 knots, 20 knots below the
desired approach speed. Coming to a
shocking realization that the aircraft
was too low, too slow, and still too far
from the runway, the captain moved the
It would cause the aircraft to lose some
lift, but moving the flaps up would also
reduce drag, allowing the crew to stay
in the air longer and increasing their
chances of reaching the runway. In a
matter of seconds, the trip 7 lost
another 7 knots of air speed, coming
dangerously close to reaching stall speed.
As a final warning to the flight crew
about the hazardous condition, the
aircraft's stick shaker, a mechanical
device attached to each pilot's yoke,
became active, sending strong vibrations
through the control columns.
Responding to the stick shaker, First
Officer Coward pushed the yoke down,
lowering the nose of the trip 7 and
preventing it from losing any more air speed.
speed.
Following manual flight control input
from the first officer, the autopilot
disconnected. The crew had avoided the
stall, but they continued to lose
altitude at a much higher than normal
rate. One thing became clear to the
pilots. They were not going to make it
to the runway. As the first officer
pulled back on the yoke to reduce the
descent rate, the captain made a mayday
call on the tower radio frequency.
Mayday. Mayday. Speed bird. speed 95 95.
He did not have time to warn the cabin
crew and instruct the passengers to take
the brace position. Thus, nobody on the
other side of the flight deck door
realized that they were mere seconds
from a crash landing and shortly after
Aircraft accident. Aircraft accident.
Aircraft. The position is the threshold
runway 27 left. Aircraft type is a
triple 7.
Flight 38 made ground contact only 330 m
short of the runway. Upon impacting the
ground, its landing gear collapsed and
the right landing gear punctured the
fuselage, severely injuring one of the
passengers. As the aircraft slid further
toward the runway, it veered to the
right before coming to a complete stop.
Despite the hard impact, the fuselage
remained largely intact. Many passengers
and crew members received minor
injuries, but by a true miracle,
everyone on board Flight 38 survived.
The story of British Airways Flight 38
shows how quickly a tiny design flaw can
turn a routine flight into a life or
death situation.
At the time of the accident, the effects
of ice accumulation within aircraft fuel
systems were not well understood, and
the investigation team spent months
recreating multiple scenarios before
making a determination that the design
of the fuel oil heat exchangers was the
most likely cause.
Postac accident calculations showed that
Captain Burkel's decision to retract the
flaps shortly before the impact resulted
in the aircraft traveling some 50 m
further. This seemingly short distance
allowed the trip 7 to overfly the ILS
antenna of runway 27 left without
contacting it. The damage from such a
collision was likely to have been more
severe. In November of the same year,
while the investigation into this
accident was still in progress, a Delta
Airlines 7 experienced an uncommanded
roll back of an engine while in cruise
flight due to the same issue. The flight
crew of that flight, however, was able
to clear the blockage by setting both
engines to idle power as they were at a
higher altitude, a luxury that the
pilots of flight 38 did not have.
The results of the British Airways
accident and the Delta Airlines incident
have forced the engine manufacturer
Rolls-Royce to review the structure of
the fuel oil heat exchanger, eventually
leading to a newer design that was no
Thanks again to War Thunder for
sponsoring this video. You can play it
for free right now on PC, PlayStation,
Xbox, or mobile using the link in the
pinned comment or video description. If
you're a new player or haven't logged in
for at least 6 months on PC or console,
you'll also get a massive bonus pack
that includes multiple premium vehicles,
100,000 silver lions, 7 days of premium
account, and the exclusive Eagle of
Valor decorator. It's available for a
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