A flight from L.A. to London in February of last year is back in the headlines after it was revealed that the flight went ahead despite one of the engines catching fire only seconds after take off:
Air traffic controllers monitoring a British Airways jumbo jet were stunned at the pilot's decision to try to "get as far as we can" after an engine caught fire on takeoff, a transcript of discussions between the plane and the control tower revealed. The controllers in Los Angeles expected the four-engine Boeing 747 to turn around but, after taking advice from BA's operations base, the pilot carried on towards London. He told air traffic control: "We just decided we want to set off on our flight-plan route and get as far as we can."
"As far as we can" turned out to be Manchester rather than London where the plane made an emergency landing, low on fuel.
According to ABC an American plane would have been forced to land at the nearest airport rather than head off for one 5,000 miles away, but in this instance the decision was made by BA officials who decided that the plane should head for home.
By pressing ahead with the flight, the aircraft avoided a £100,000 bill for delay compensation, though there is no suggestion that this is why this flight went ahead.
And there's likewise no suggestion that it would be safer to fly the Hoff-Plane.
