Likely VA bird strike on ZQN-MEL

Interesting they landed at Invercargill rather than, say, Dunedin, as IVC is somewhat further south of the intended flight path...
 
Invercargill is an okay little spot. I stayed there for a couple of nights earlier this year during a road trip Queenstown-Dunedin-Invercargill-Queenstown. Not that anyone on that flight will be too interested in anything other than getting back to Oz.
 
Why didn't it go back to ZQN?
I recall that flying in to ZQN can be a bit hairy due to terrain, especially in the dark. Considered a challenging approach. IVC is in a very flat and open area. Might have been a consideration in this case.
 
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Why didn't it go back to ZQN?
Looking at the flight path, it seems they may have considered it, the flight turned back towards ZQN but then circled twice before heading south to IVC.
 
Why didn't it go back to ZQN?
Terrain.
Looking at the flight path, it seems they may have considered it, the flight turned back towards ZQN but then circled twice before heading south to IVC.
No. The left hand orbit after take off is the standard procedure off that runway. In this case they would have been flying an escape procedure, designed to get them away from the terrain and allowing a climb and cleanup. That dictates the tracks they fly, what requirements they need before accelerating, and when they can clean up. Dealing with a complex departure, with an engine out, is a normally a sim exercise after which you can wring your shirt out. Looking at the FR24 trace, they seem to have done a good job of it. The holding patterns further south would giving themselves time to get organised for the approach. There is no need to hurry.
 
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If I remember rightly ZQN has complex terrain which led to it being mandatory Required Navigational Performance for exactly this kind of scenario.

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Ouch. The Trans Tasman carnage continues.
Imagine how bad it would be if VA flew the Tasman matrix - BNE/SYD/MEL-AKL/WLG/CHC
 
The whole thing was captured by a YouTube user.

That's an impressive video (as in, capturing the entire sequence). What impresses me is no sounds of alarm or screaming in the cabin.

@AviatorInsight , @jb747 , can you explain a bit what's happening in the engine to cause the repeated flames / no flames sequence? Timed with surging as well.

It continued for at least a minute after the strike. Would that reflect the length of time taken to shut the engine down? And if so, does that seem like a long time? (Obviously not criticising, just curious).
 
That's an impressive video (as in, capturing the entire sequence). What impresses me is no sounds of alarm or screaming in the cabin.

@AviatorInsight , @jb747 , can you explain a bit what's happening in the engine to cause the repeated flames / no flames sequence? Timed with surging as well.
Good explanation here: What Are Jet Engine Compressor Stalls & How Can They Be Prevented?

Stalling leads to surging, so the two tend to be interchangeable. The cycle is basically airflow breaking down, surging, recovering, repeat.
It continued for at least a minute after the strike. Would that reflect the length of time taken to shut the engine down? And if so, does that seem like a long time? (Obviously not criticising, just curious).
At the time it happened they were very low, with high terrain in front of them. They needed to mentally switch from their normal departure, to flying an engine out profile, leading straight into an escape procedure. The engine is about number 200 on the priority list of things to do. There is a nominated height in the various procedures, below which you literally do nothing other than fly the aircraft. No fault finding. No checklists. I think in Boeing that was about 1,000’. Non flying pilot might have called engine failure or similar, but that would have been the extent of it. When the aircraft is established on the procedure, stable, and probably autopilot engaged, then you’ll look at anything procedural. It’s probable that this would have set off NO warnings in the coughpit. Both pilots need to ensure that any actions carried out are on the correct engine. Hurrying can be fatal. Take your time, the engine won’t be more dead than it already is in a couple of minutes.
 
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