Engine failure? I'll drink to that

[Boac]

Initial rumours that the loss of an engine on Delta DL159 on 23rd Jan on an ETOPS sector were caused by spillage of a drink on the centre console were rubbished and laughed out of court. Evidence is now emerging that it was probably true. https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/a35 ... 34.article It looks as if the liquid started shorting out 'components in the console and caused ONE HP valve to close. God bless micro-electronics...................

It raises a worrying thought - ETOPS is predicated on the 'unlikely' loss of both engines due to a common fault. That may have to be revised! If the problem cannot be eradicated by protection or SOPs then it may have to be no liquid consumption INSIDE the cockpit on an ETOPS sector. Not too much of a problem as getting up and going out to chat up the birdies is always good for one, but it does raise the security issue a tad.

[llondel]

Some thought as to where people leave their cups might come into it. How many people have knocked over their coffee cup on their computer keyboard? I keep my cup two or three feet to the side of the keyboard where I'm unlikely to bump into it and even if I do, the spillage will merely be annoying. Of course, it doesn't prevent clumsiness, if someone wants to drop a cup.

[barkingmad]

If leaving the flight deck to consume liquids is too difficult howzabout a rule that either forward facing crew member should leave their seat and occupy the jumpseat for the guzzle?

'Snot rocket science, but I suppose since the Alps atrocity we can't trust aircrew to occupy the flight deck solo.

[G-CPTN]

Sealed drinks container with a straw?

There is an orange soft drink that is sold in a sachet (and numerous 'boxed' drinks).

[TheGreenGoblin]

A terrible drinking problem! Imagine what carnage this chap would have caused on the flight deck of the modern digital airliner?

[Pontius Navigator]

Sealed drinks container with a straw?

There is an orange soft drink that is sold in a sachet (and numerous 'boxed' drinks).

Perfect.

It was very hot so the Nav got his little Kiora container, inserted the straw, and had a pre-flight sip.

Passing 2,000 feet in the climb orange juice squirted over his chart as pressures equalised.

[Rwy in Sight]

PN, many thanks for adding that short story reminding us that nothing in aviation is simple.

May I suggest one of this or one of this

[llondel]

Sealed drinks container with a straw?

There is an orange soft drink that is sold in a sachet (and numerous 'boxed' drinks).

Perfect.

It was very hot so the Nav got his little Kiora container, inserted the straw, and had a pre-flight sip.

Passing 2,000 feet in the climb orange juice squirted over his chart as pressures equalised.

The trick there is to make sure there's no air in the container and that it's flexible and not filled to capacity so it would tend to pull in air when opened as the container walls expanded back to their natural position. Some creative genius would still manage to make a mess though.

[Pontius Navigator]

On reflection I had it wrong, it wasn't preflight but on descent. As we descended the pressure increased collapsing the container. A rigid, rather than a flexible one might have worked better.

[Slasher]

What was that 1950s Hollywood movie where all hell broke loose in a DC4(?) cockpit and subsequently pranged, then afterwards discovered having been caused by a spilt coffee cup on the central pedestal?

Damned if I can remember the title.

[emjay]

Fate is the Hunter?

[Slasher]

That’s the one. Thanks Mr jay. I deserve my arse kicked for not remembering it!

[Ex-Ascot]

Who in their right mind puts a drink on the central consul. Most aircraft I have flown had a cup holder to the side. Not sure about side stick aircraft but that is where you jam your camera. Just in case anyone has forgotten: http://news.aviation-safety.net/2015/03 ... ncident-2/

[Boac]

I suspect, ex-A, that no-one actually 'PUT' a drink on the console?

[Ex-Ascot]

I suspect, ex-A, that no-one actually 'PUT' a drink on the console?

Sorry for the spelling mistake. Don't think anyone put a drink on a diplomat*. So we think that it was just sploshed over there. For goodness sake after just one incident you can't ban drinking on the flight deck. One of my captains would have been devastated, he always had a large G&T re-positioning from LHR back to base at the end of the day. They had to close the bar so served us on departure. I drank mine on arrival.

*I once almost threw one over Douglas Hurd. Just as we were pulling off the stand at NBO I had to do an emergency stop, due to a stupid Kenyan Air Force pilot who had delivered him, having parked within our wingspan. You can't see the wing tip of a VC10 from the flight deck. Stewardess was as quick as a flash and caught the juice in the table cloth.

[Alisoncc]

Who in their right mind puts a drink on the central consul.

If you want an answer to that then you need to ask those employed to clean up the mess.

Been a long time since I got to play with heavies, and never with glass cockpits, so my current experience is limited. Typical GA config had comms and nav freq controllers, ADF & GPS computer, Transponder, etc. in centre consol. None of these were particularly enamoured with being drenched in hot coffee. At the facility at Rand Airport that I ran for a while at least once a month we would get an incident of such.

A bucket of warm water with few tablespoons of mild dish washing liquid was first course of action. Dunk the lot in it and briefly agitate. Repeat in bucket with no DWL a couple of times making sure all foreign contaminants are removed. Then the application of a hair dryer on low air flow and heat was called for. Once thoroughly dried out and left to stand for 24 hrs would the unit be tested for electrical malfunctions.

Once an owner received the bill they never did it again.

[Boac]

The 'authorities' have, I think, now accepted the high risk of a double engine shut-down due to liquid spillage. There is an AB AD out now.

[Boac]

Interesting problem - I well recall the steady 'dripping' of condensation from the OHP on some jets on descent (I won't talk about the maggots falling on our Chief Pilot's head ) - now, where would that go.......? Is 'water' OK but coffee not? Not quite sure what the 'new' procedure is for keeping pilots alive by preventing de-hydration. Anyone know? O'Leary will be absolutely delighted.

[barkingmad]

F A O Flight Management’s next meeting;



Alas it doesn’t delete the requirement for a sweet-smelling nymphet to pop in to the flight deck every 20 mins to check whether the “drivers” are conscious and functioning?