LOFT/LPC

It's been a while. My laptop is very badly broken and blogging from the computers at work isn't easy or pleasant; but now it's one in the morning, on one else is around and I have nothing better to do...

To the point: The LOFT - Line oriented flight training. It's a jolly in the simulator where we simulate the worst possible line flight to ensure we're able to cope with eventual mishaps in the real aeroplane. Today's scenario was the Taipei - KL service.

Taipei weather is terrible with very strong rain, poor visibility, soaking runways and thunderstorms reported nearby. We have a full load - 180 pax + as much cargo as the jet will carry.

Things start to go wrong before we start moving with a hung engine start. No big deal, aeriate the engine, try again........... and it starts. We taxi - slowly - to runway 06 for departure and line up. "WINDSHEAR AHEAD" says the man in the overhead, and sure enough there's a very pretty looking formation of horror on the weather radar. We decide to wait a bit and as if by magic the colours go away.

Take-off is normal, surprisingly but reaching the second turn on the SID the TCAS starts shouting and shortly afterwards overhead-man shouts again: "CLIMB CLIMB". We're in cloud so the Captain doesn't see the, but it passes 600ft below us.

Slightly shaken but still alive we're cleared to our cruise level FL340 and I start to relax. Right on cue there's a "BING" and the master caution comes on. "My controls, my communications, ECAM actions" it's only a fuel pump (there are 2 per tank) so the procedure is quickly taken care of ....... Until the other pump fails as well.

Now things are getting interesting. we haven't passed FL300 yet which means that our operational ceiling for gravity feeding is FL150, and we'll never make it home at that level where fuel consumption is nearly twice as high. We can't go back to Taipei either as that terrible cloud has reappeared and is now sitting right over the airport.

My bus home has just arrived so you'll have to read what finally happens to us later on...

S.