("Larry Dighera")
Here's food for thought. The pilot chose to press on on three
engines, and then had to land for refueling ~100 miles short of his
transatlantic destination.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,2497317.story


'They've got half the PhD's on the planet working on it.'

That was my thought when I read the first news blips on this flight. 747
flew for many hours (over land) before they decided to cross the Atlantic.
In that time I'm sure they were gathering and analyzing much data relating
to fuel burn.

Iceland, post-Iceland, pre-Ireland, Ireland, Manchester, London, etc. They
had safety options. Safety was never the main issue here. Could they make
London? THAT was the main issue and that answer is no, they could not make
London ...safely.

In the end the winds hurt them - no big deal.

Wonder if any Manchester passengers said, "Hey, I'll get off here."


Montblack