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792 Part Version

Original Creator Credits:
Original aircraft from RealSavageMan's Boeing 747-100 City of Everett Prototype
Engines from ReignSUPREME's Boeing 747-267 Cathay Pacific

Special Thanks To:
JP11 for helping to touch up the logo and for taking the screenshots

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About the Boeing 747 and -200 variant

The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet 2+1/2 times its size, to reduce its seat cost by 30% to democratize air travel. In 1965, Joe Sutter left the 737 development program to design the 747, the first twin-aisle airliner. In April 1966, Pan Am ordered 25 Boeing 747-100 aircraft and in late 1966, Pratt & Whitney agreed to develop its JT9D engine, a high-bypass turbofan. On September 30, 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the custom-built Everett Plant, the world's largest building by volume. The first flight took place on February 9, 1969, and the 747 was certified in December of that year. It entered service with Pan Am on January 22, 1970. The 747 was the first airplane dubbed "Jumbo Jet", the first wide-body airliner.

The 747 is a four-engined jet aircraft, initially powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofan engines, then General Electric CF6 and Rolls-Royce RB211 engines for the original variants. With a ten-abreast economy seating, it typically accommodates 366 passengers in three travel classes. It has a pronounced 37.5° wing sweep, allowing a Mach 0.85 (490 kn; 900 km/h) cruise speed, and its heavy weight is supported by four main landing gear legs, each with a four-wheel bogie. The partial double-deck aircraft was designed with a raised cockpit so it could be converted to a freighter airplane by installing a front cargo door, as it was initially thought that it would eventually be superseded by supersonic transports. Freighter variants of the 747 remain popular with cargo airlines.

While the 747-100 powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D-3A engines offered enough payload and range for medium-haul operations, it was marginal for long-haul route sectors. The demand for longer range aircraft with increased payload quickly led to the improved -200, which featured more powerful engines, increased MTOW, and greater range than the -100. A few early -200s retained the three-window configuration of the -100 on the upper deck, but most were built with a ten-window configuration on each side.

The 747-200 has more powerful engines, higher takeoff weights (MTOW), and range than the -100. A few early -200s retained the three-window configuration of the -100 on the upper deck, but most were built with a 10-window configuration on each side.

Several versions in addition to the -200 were produced. The 747-200B is an improved version of the 747-200, with increased fuel capacity and more powerful engines; it first entered service in February 1971. The -200B aircraft has a full load range of about 6,857 nmi (12,700 km). The 747-200F is the freighter version of the -200 model. It could be fitted with or without a side cargo door. It has a capacity of 105 tons (95.3 tonnes) and an MTOW of up to 833,000 lb (378,000 kg). It entered first service in 1972 with Lufthansa. The 747-200C Convertible is a version that can be converted between a passenger and a freighter or used in mixed configurations. The seats are removable, and the model has a nose cargo door. The -200C could be fitted with an optional side cargo door on the main deck.

The 747-200M is a combination version that has a side cargo door on the main deck and can carry freight in the rear section of the main deck. A removable partition on the main deck separates the cargo area at the rear from the passengers at the front. This model can carry up to 238 passengers in a 3-class configuration if cargo is carried on the main deck. The model is also known as the 747-200 Combi. As on the -100, a stretched upper deck (SUD) modification was later offered. A total of 10 converted 747-200s were operated by KLM. UTA French Airlines also had two of these aircraft converted.

A total of 393 of the -200 versions had been built when production ended in 1991. Of these, 225 were 747-200s, 73 were 747-200F, 13 were 747-200C, 78 were 747-200M, and 4 were military. Many 747-200s are still in operation, although most large carriers have retired them from their fleets and sold them to smaller operators. Large carriers have sped up fleet retirement following the September 11th attacks and the subsequent drop in demand for air travel, scrapping some or turning others into freighters. As of 2019, five 747-200s remain in service as freighters. Others have been developed or converted into military use variants such as as the Boeing E-4 and Boeing VC-25A.

Boeing 747-200 Specs & Info
-Length: 231ft 10in/70.66m
-Height (Tail): 63 Ft 5in/19.3m
-Wingspan: 195ft 8in/59.64 m
-Max Occupancy: 554 (539 passengers, 12 cabin crew, 3 pilots)

Aircraft Type Designator:
ICAO: B742
IATA: 742

The 747-200 prototype, N611US, at Boeing's Everett Production Center on September 29th, 1970. The first 747-200 to come off the production line, but not the first to be put into service.

N611US after being delivered to customer Northwest Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX/ICAO: KLAX) on October 27th, 1984

The first 747-200, PH-BUA, to enter passenger service with launch customer KLM at Zurich-Kloten International Airport (IATA: ZRH/ICAO: LSZH) on October 20th, 1973.

The instrument panel of a Transaero 747-219B, VP-BQE, at Tenerife South Airport (IATA: TFS/ICAO: GCTS) on May 11th, 2007

The flight engineer panel of a Kalitta Air 747-209B(SF), N714CK, at Adelaide International Airport (IATA: ADL/ICAO: YPAD) on January 22nd, 2005.

Full cockpit with visible overhead panel of an El Al 747-258B, 4X-AXA, at Ben Gurion Airport (IATA: TLV/ICAO: LLBG) on February 6th, 2005.

The upper deck cabin of an Iran Air 747-230B, EP-IAI, at Mehrabad International Airport (IATA: THR/ICAO: OIII) on October 6th, 2015.

The lower deck cabin of a Qantas 747-238B, VH-EBQ, at Longreach Airport (IATA: LRE/ICAO: YLRE) on July 1st, 2009.

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About British Airways

IATA Code: BA
ICAO Code: BAW
Callsign: SPEEDBIRD
Primary Hubs: London-Gatwick (IATA: LGW/ICAO: EGKK) and London-Heathrow (IATA: LHR/ICAO: EGLL)
Headquarters: London, England
Years Active: 1974-Present

The current British Airways logo since 1997.

A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident, G-AWZP, at Geneva Airport (IATA: GVA/ICAO: LSGG) in April 1981 wearing the 'Negus' livery.

A British Airways McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, G-MULL, at London-Gatwick in September 1996 wearing the 'Landor' livery.

A British Airways Concorde, G-BOAF, at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (IATA: CDG/ICAO: LFPG) on May 23rd, 1998 wearing the 'Chatham Dockyard' livery. This aircraft would not only be the last Concorde built, but it was also involved in the first serious incident of a Concorde on April 12th, 1989, and the aircraft which performed the final flight of the Concorde on November 26th, 2003.

British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport.

BA was created in 1974 after a British Airways Board was established by the British government to manage the two nationalized airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways, and two regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways. However, it marked 2019 as its centenary based on predecessor companies. After almost 13 years as a state company, BA was privatized in February 1987 as part of a wider privatization plan by the Conservative government. The carrier expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, Dan-Air in 1992, and British Midland International in 2012.

Proposals to establish a joint British airline, combining the assets of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA) were first raised in 1953 as a result of difficulties in attempts by BOAC and BEA to negotiate air rights through the British colony of Cyprus. Increasingly BOAC was protesting that BEA was using its subsidiary Cyprus Airways to circumvent an agreement that BEA would not fly routes further east than Cyprus, particularly to the increasingly important oil regions in the Middle East. The chairman of BOAC, Miles Thomas, was in favor of a merger as a potential solution to this disagreement and had backing for the idea from the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Rab Butler. However, opposition from the Treasury blocked the proposal.

Consequently, it was only following the recommendations of the 1969 Edwards Report that a new British Airways Board, managing both BEA and BOAC, and the two regional British airlines Cambrian Airways based at Cardiff, and Northeast Airlines based at Newcastle upon Tyne, was constituted on 1 April 1972. Although each airline's branding was maintained initially, two years later the British Airways Board unified its branding, effectively establishing British Airways as an airline on 31 March 1974.

A British Airways 747-136, G-AWNC, at London-Heathrow on September 4th, 1976 wearing the hybrid BOAC/British Airways post merger livery. Several months earlier, this same aircraft almost crashed while on approach to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (IATA: KUL/ICAO: WMKK) in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1981 the airline was instructed to prepare for privatization by the Conservative Thatcher government. Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed chairman, charged with bringing the airline back into profitability. While many other large airlines struggled, King was credited with transforming British Airways into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world. The flag carrier was privatized and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987. British Airways effected the takeover of the UK's "second" airline, British Caledonian, in July of that same year.

In 1992 British Airways expanded through the acquisition of the financially troubled Dan-Air, giving BA a much larger presence at Gatwick Airport. British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, was formed in March 1993 to operate between London and Taipei. In September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Canadian Airlines, formed the Oneworld airline alliance. Oneworld began operations on 1 February 1999, and is the third-largest airline alliance in the world, behind SkyTeam and Star Alliance.

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British Airways 009: The Galunggung Pheonix

The incident aircraft, G-BDXH, at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (IATA: SEA/ICAO: KSEA) on May 6th, 1982. one month before Flight 009.

Obligatory 'not a pilot' disclaimer

Thursday, June 24th, 1982. A Boeing 747-236B registered as G-BDXH and equipped with four Rolls-Royce RB211-524D4 engines is operating as British Airways Flight 009 flying from London-Heathrow to Auckland Airport (IATA: AKL/ICAO: NZAA), with a stopover at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (IATA: BOM/ICAO: VABB), a second stopover at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (IATA: SZB/ICAO: WMSA), a third stopover at Perth Airport (IATA: PER/ICAO: YPPH), and a fourth and final stopover at Melbourne Airport (IATA: MEL/ICAO: YMML). The aircraft is three years old and is named 'City of Edinburgh' after the capital of Scotland and is currently on route to its third stopover in Perth, Australia from Malaysia.

Onboard the aircraft are 263 occupants, 248 passengers, 13 cabin crew, and three pilots. In the cockpit is 41 year old Captain Eric Moody, 32 year old First Officer Roger Greaves, and 40 year old Flight Engineer Barry Townley-Freeman. The night is dark and moonless but clear, and the flying conditions were smooth. The en-route weather forecast was good and the crew expected an uneventful flight lasting 5 hours. The flight was completely uneventful, with the crew eating their meal after settling into the cruise at 37,000 ft at around local time of 20:15. Their route was set to take them south of Jakarta and across the Indian Ocean to Perth.

Once Captain Moody had finished his meal, he decided to use the restrooms. Before handing over the controls to F.O Greaves, he looked at the weather radar one last time, which showed nothing. Satisfied, Moody handed over the controls and then exited the cockpit and found that the crew toilet on the upper deck was occupied, forcing him to descend down the stairs to the lower deck restrooms. In the cabin, many of the passengers are asleep. When Captain Moody reached the first class lounge, he began a conversation with forward purser Sarah Delana-Lea. He had only just started talking with Lea when he was abruptly called back to the flight deck by Stewardess Fiona Wright. As Moody ascended the stairs he noticed puffs of 'smoke' billowing out from the vents at floor level and a smell which he described as "acrid, or ionized electrical". This was originally chalked up to just cigarette smoke as smoking was still common and allowed on flights at the time, yet the cabin crew still checked the aircraft to see if there was a smoldering cigarette somewhere. An on board fire at 37000ft is a horrifying prospect.

Moody re-entered the cockpit and was met with a brilliant and mesmerizing lightshow. The windscreens were ablaze with dancing blue and white lights that danced across the windscreen, a phenomenon that the crew originally identified as 'St. Elmo's Fire', a natural electrical event that occurs in highly charged thunderstorms, often at high altitudes. The event itself is harmless, but little does the crew know that this is not St. Elmo's Fire, or at least, not traditional St. Elmo’s Fire.

St. Elmo's Fire as seen from the cockpit of an Airbus A320

-Video of St. Elmo's Fire seen from the cockpit of an RAF C-17 over the North Sea

Seeing this lightshow, Captain Moody strapped himself back into his seat as the crew switches on the cabin seatbelt signs. Moody again looked at the weather radar, expecting to see radar returns of a thunderstorm, yet he is confused when he sees nothing. The crew begins looking outside of the cockpit and sees that the entire aircraft is engulfed in the same phenomena, along with what seem like clouds, and as they look back towards the wings and engines, they see that the inside of the engines appear to be glowing blue. The electrical discharges also had a stroboscopic effect which gave the illusion that the fans were moving slowly backwards. Passengers who were not asleep in the cabin also noticed the lightshow and the increasingly thick smoke. When the crew looked back towards the window, the 'St. Elmo's Fire' had been replaced by what appeared to be something similar to tracefire, or the effect used in science fiction movies when a spacecraft goes faster than the speed of light, causing the stars around it to stretch into pinpricks.

Captain Moody however was concerned about other things, in particular, the 'smoke' from earlier. In the cabin smoke is still pouring in, increasing the temperature of the cabin and causing discomfort to the passengers. Suddenly, passengers are awoken by a horrifying new sight, massive jets of orange flame spitting from the back of all four engines. Back in the cockpit as Moody is thinking through the next course of action, FE. Barry called out,
"Engine Failure! Engine number four."
In the cabin, the passengers see the jet of flame from engine 4 stop and watch as it falls silent. The cockpit instruments still do not indicate a fire onboard, even though jets of flame are streaking from the engines. It was now just past 13:40UTC/20:40 local time and the situation went from an unusual to a severe problem. The crew begins going through the engine failure checklist, and as part of the British Airways procedures, arming the fire handle. As soon as the engine failure checklist was completed, things quickly went from bad to worse. FE. Barry once again shouts out, in succession,
"Engine failure number two... three has gone... they've all gone!"

British Airways Flight 009 has now experienced simultaneous quadruple engine failure, and without thrust, will begin to fall towards the sea. The 747-200 has a glide ratio of 15:1, meaning for every kilometer it drops, it can glide 15 kilometers. From the time all four engines fail, the aircraft is capable of gliding for 23 minutes before it slams into the ocean.

CGI render of British 009 descending with quadruple engine failure and surrounded by the electrical phenomena.

An explanation is in order at this point. When Flight 009 had flown south of Java, it had indeed flown into a cloud, but not one of water. Rather, a cloud of rock. 37,000ft beneath, Mount Galunggung, an active volcano had been erupting continuously since April of that year with a VEI of 4, throwing ash high up into the atmosphere.

Mt. Galunggung erupting in 1982.

Volcanic ash has several unique properties. The first property is that it is very dry, which means two things. The first is that ash particles are able to easily gain a static charge simply by rubbing against each other. As Flight 009 entered into the ash cloud, the particles of ash began discharging, leading to the 'St. Elmo's Fire'. The second is that it is invisible on aircraft radar which are designed to detect the moisture in the clouds. Given this and the fact that it was a moonless night, Flight 009 had no idea they were flying into an ash cloud. You may be asking 'why wasn't the crew warned?' The simple answer is that nobody knew of the effect of ash on aircraft at the time and simply assumed it wasn't a problem. In addition, winds had blown the ash cloud to the west away from its predicted path.

The second unique property of ash is its shape and composition. Ash isn't like sand or silt, consisting of finely ground particles of sediment and organic detritus. Rather, volcanic ash is rock which has been blasted apart by volcanic forces, shattering it into billions of microscopic pieces of rock, minerals, and glass. Though it may appear soft, it is anything but. It is incredibly abrasive. As Flight 009 flies through the cloud, its four engines ingest massive amounts of ash. As this happens, the air conditioning system which uses air from the engines begins sucking in ash as well, leading to the smoke Captain Moody had seen and explaining the smell. The melting point of ash is also relatively low, and as ash was ingested into the core of the engines and exposed to high temperatures, it began to melt into a gooey viscous mess, effectively clogging the engines and depriving them of oxygen. This also caused violent compressor stalls, leading to the jets of flame seen by passengers.

Volcanic ash seen under an electron microscope.

Back in the cabin of Flight 009, passengers watch and listen as the rest of the engines begin making a terrible noise before flaming out. Back in the cockpit, Captain Moody stared at the instrumentation in front of him in disbelief and refused to accept the full impact of what had been said. He had practiced a four engine failure on a simulator some months earlier and then, the assumption had been made that all generators would fail, leaving the aircraft on standby electrical power, fed from the aircraft batteries. This would have caused a failure of the co-pilot's instrumentation and much of the cockpit lighting. Yet the instrumentation all appeared to work and the auto-pilot remained in control. The display on the engine instruments was also very confusing as the instruments were from a mix of different manufacturers. Some instruments froze under power loss and some in which the needles dropped off the scale. At the same time Captain Moody noticed that the airspeed was slowly decreasing. This, along with the fact that the auto-pilot was still working, painted a picture that suggested at least one of the engines was still producing electrical power. He put the auto-pilot into a gentle descent in order to maintain speed as well as putting the aircraft into a left turn back North towards Jakarta. At this point, Moody turned to his co-pilot and said,
"OK Roger, put out a Mayday".

At local time 20:44, four minutes after the crew had first seen the lights, the following call is made to Jakarta Control by FO. Greaves,
"Jakarta, Jakarta, Mayday, Mayday, Speedbird nine. We've lost all four engines we're leaving flight level three seven zero."
Jakarta ATC was unable to understand the transmissions from Flight 009 as the volcanic ash and subsequent static discharge interfered with the transmissions, causing them to come out garbled and distorted. Jakarta ATC instead interpreted the message as engine #4 had been lost rather than all four engines had been lost. It took a nearby Garuda Indonesia flight relaying the message to Jakarta that the full scale of the emergency became apparent. Things were additionally complicated as Jakarta Control couldn't locate Flight 009 on radar, despite the transponder having been set to squawk 7700, or the emergency code. As far as the crew is concerned, no 747 has ever lost all four engines before, and now time is ticking. The crew is also concerned that they've made a mistake to cause the incident.

With the situation deteriorating, the crew has no time to figure out why this is happening. The crew instead focuses on attempting to restart the engines, and first relights were attempted on engines 1, 2 and 3, but Captain Moody decided, with the agreement of the crew, to attempt relights on the number 4 engine along with the others as the number 4 engine fire handle had been pulled when the engine failure checklist was carried out. Each restart drill takes up to three minutes to complete. Even with the aircraft turning back towards Jakarta, its still too far an if the crew cannot restart the engines it will be certain disaster. In addition, for the engines to restart the plane must be moving between 250 and 270 knots. The airspeed indicators are not working though, with the indicators for both the captain and F.O show a 50 knot difference with one reading 270 knots and the other 320 knots. Captain Moody switches the autopilot on and off, gently pitching the plane up and down in hopes of somehow finding the right speed.

Without the sound of the engines, the cabin is quiet. The passengers are able to feel the plane descending, but given that there is no communication between them and the cockpit, the passengers can only guess. Some passengers described the experience as being fearful before moving to acceptance of impending death. The motion of the pitching also causes a great deal of discomfort to the passengers.

As the aircraft descended through 26,000 ft. the cabin pressure warning horn sounded. Without the engines running, the engines cannot provide cabin pressurization. The crew started to don their oxygen masks. When F.O Greaves removed his mask from the stowage it fell to pieces in his hand with the mask and tube separating. Captain Moody was presented with a difficult choice. Should he continue to descend as slowly as possible and have his co-pilot suffer the effects of anoxia, or should he increase the rate of descent till the aircraft was at a more survivable altitude. He chose the latter, and began an emergency descent to 20,000ft. In the cabin, the oxygen masks also drop, breaking the uneasy calm.

Passenger James Ferguson took this picture of his wife Sybil using an oxygen mask.

The cabin crew attempts to use the PA system but its not working, and instead resort to using a megaphone. Back in the cockpit, F.O Greaves had managed to fix his mask. Captain Moody decreases the descent rate and the crew begins repeating the relight procedure again and again. F.O Greaves and F.E Freeman have managed to shorten the engine restart checklist, allowing them more attempts.

With the plane descending lower and lower, another choice presents itself. A mountain range cuts across the island of Java, and Captain Moody knows he must be at an altitude of at least 11500ft/3500m to clear it. If the engines aren't restarted soon, continuing to fly north will bring them straight into the mountains. If the engines cannot restart, the crew will have to attempt to ditch a 747 in the pitch black ocean. It is at this point that Captain Moody in an attempt to control his anxiety stemming from the situation, decides to address the passengers in what has been called 'one of the greatest understatements of all time', and one of the most famous quotes in aviation history.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This is your Captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are all doing our damndest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress."

Most of the passengers expect the worst and resign themselves to their fate, writing letters to relatives on info cards, in books, and even on life vests. Back in the cabin, Captain Moody finally has to decide. Carry on and crash into the mountains or turn around and likely crash in the ocean. At 13:56 UTC/20:56 local time, roughly 15 minutes after the engines flamed out, at an altitude of 13,500 feet/4,100m and after a likely number of 20 restart attempts, as they performed the engine restart procedure yet again, engine number four finally restarts and roars back to life, much to the excitement of the crew and relief of the passengers. The 747 can still fly on one engine and the crew was prepared to wrestle the plane around Java if they had to.

Roughly 90 seconds later and at an altitude of 12,000ft/3600m, engine #3 comes back online, followed quickly by both engines 2 and 1. Another explanation is in order here. As the engines shut down and the aircraft began descending, the liquified ash within the engines began to cool and harden, becoming brittle in the process. As air continued to flow into the engines, chunks of ash began breaking off, allowing airflow to reach deeper and deeper into the engine. Eventually enough ash broke away to allow sufficient airflow for ignition, at which point the engines came back online.

The crew immediately requested a climb to an altitude which gave them more clearance over the high ground ahead of them and asked for clearance to Jakarta. They climbed to 15,000 ft. and at about this height there was a resumption of the lights. When the throttles were pulled back to level out the Number 2 engine began to surge again, causing violent vibrations throughout the whole aircraft. The vibrations became so bad that the #2 engine was shut down, but not without great reluctance. At this point Captain Moody suspected that the 'St. Elmo's Fire' was somehow connected with the engine problems and concluded that the engines themselves were severely damaged. He decided to descend to get away from the strange atmospheric effects but resolved to leave the throttles in their present position and to control the aircraft speed and descent by the use of speedbrakes, flaps and undercarriage. They were cleared to Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport (IATA: HLP/ICAO: WIHH) where the weather was fine, with calm wind and good visibility. The only added complication was that glide path information was not available for Runway 24.

As Flight 009 lined up for the runway, it seemed as if mist or condensation had collected on the windshield, making it difficult to pick up any lights on the ground and, in particular, in picking out the runway lights. The crew turned on the windshield wipers to remove the 'mist' but to no effect. Because volcanic ash is abrasive, the aircraft had effectively been sandblasted, scratching the windshield apart from the side windows.

Eventually the runway was spotted to the right of the aircraft out of the co-pilot's side-window. The final descent was made using the localizer. To stay on the centerline the crew peered through the outer edge of the left hand front window, which was still clear. Captain Moody was just able to make out the lights of the VASI on the left of the runway. The other two crew members called out the radio altitude and DME distance to help in judging the descent. Captain Moody later descripted this as Moody described it as "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse." When they were over the runway the whole of the front windows were filled with a diffuse glare of light. The landing itself was smooth, and the crew could hear downstairs in the cabin spontaneous cheers and clapping breaking out from the passengers. The crew taxied the aircraft off the runway towards the terminal building where it was parked. The crew waited for airstairs to be bought to the doors, and every occupant of Flight 009 disembarks the plane with no injuries.

The City of Edinburg seen that morning sat on a taxiway with the doors open and stairs pulled up to the aircraft.

From left to right, F.O Roger Greaves, Captain Eric Moody, F.E Barry Townley-Freeman

The entire crew of Flight 009 standing next to the nose landing gear

One of the engine inlets after the event

Ash residue seen within the engines

The flight path

It was two days before the crew got confirmation of the cause of the incident. F.E Barry was convinced that it was caused by an encounter with volcanic ash once he found his hands and clothes covered in a fine black dust as the crew waited for steps to be brought to the aircraft. When the crew got outside and observed their plane, they found all the leading edges, engine nacelles and nose cone stripped of paint from the 'sandblasting' effect.

The engines were the worst affected parts of the aircraft with the turbine blades having the most damage. The tips of the blades were ground away where they were blasted by the ash at high speed. Apart from wearing away the high speed parts of the engine the ash had fused itself to the hot, metal blades. These changes in blade shape and size had serious effects on the efficiency of the engines with the number 4 engine being the least damaged. Ash was also found in the pitot tubes which had caused the differing airspeed readings. In October 1984 ICAO issued a special report on the dangers of volcanic ash to aircraft. The report found that prevention was better than cure, but suggested that any pilot who encountered such a problem should, altitude permitting, reduce thrust to zero, descend and leave the area as soon as possible. Consideration should be given to turning off engines and restarting them when clear of the ash. Despite this, a similar incident happened again in 1989 to a KLM 747-400 off the coast of Alaska.

Engines one, two, and three were replaced at Jakarta, as was the windscreen, and the fuel tanks were cleared of the ash that had entered them through the pressurization ducts, contaminating the fuel and requiring that it be discarded. After the aircraft was ferried back to London, engine number four was replaced and major work was undertaken to return the 747 to service. The crew received various awards for their work, including the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, medals from the British Airways Pilot Association, and a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest unpowered glide of an airliner, which was broken only a year later by Air Canada 143 and later by Air Transat 236. No official report was ever written for the incident, and most of what is known comes from crew and passenger testimonials.

The aircraft itself, G-BDXH, was eventually repaired and returned to service with British Airways. She would continue passenger service with British Airways until 2002 when she was acquired by charter airline European Aviation Air Charter and continued to fly until 2004, and was then scrapped in 2009.

G-BDXH after being returned to service. Seen here at London-Heathrow wearing the 'Landor' livery on August 31st, 1998.

G-BDXH after being acquired by European Aviation Air Charter. Seen on August 1st, 2002 at Luxembourg Airport (IATA: LUX/ICAO: ELLX)

The aircraft being scrapped at Bournemouth Airport (IATA: BOH/ICAO: EGHH) on April 19th, 2007

Various engine components of Flight 009 on display at Auckland Museum

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Thank you all for your support and getting to me to gold. The story of Flight 009 is my favorite aviation story and I hope I did it justice. This was about a month in the making and was completed whilst watching the entirety of Breaking Bad. As always, craft instructions are included in game. Safe flying and enjoy.

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Supplementary Material:

-Wikipedia Article
-Mentour Pilot Youtube Video
-Green Dot Video
-Code 7700 Case Study
-Skybrary Entry
-FAA/Boeing Instructional Video on Ash Avoidance
-This Day in Aviation
-Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety:
Proceedings of the First International Symposium
on Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety