Hi all,

I was on a B737-200 on Tuesday and we were landing at London Stansted (UK) in rainy/windy weather... they didn't touch down until a good bit down the runway then hammered on full reverse thrust... on looking out the window I saw sparks/flames spurting out the back of the Pratt&Whitney engine 

Is this normal?  I've never seen another plane do that - needless to say, I think I left a small package on the seat after that! 

Also, I had a whistling emergency exit on the wing-seat on the return flight which was also a 737-200.  Is that normal?  Or is it an accident waiting to happen?  It stopped after about 5-10 mins into the flight and then started on landing again...

It's fascinating to ride in ancient planes!  8)

- Chris

Yeah, the whistling emergency exit was a bit worrying! At first it sounded like one of the air-con nozzles on full blast but my friend put his hand up to the corner of the exit and it stopped the noise Quite scary!  It was a 1980 737-200 so maybe that explains it!?

- Chris

Quote:

as long as you dont get your ticket from the back of a yellow 3 wheel van you should be ok

The airline was Ryanair... www.ryanair.com.

The prices are good but a bit scary if you look at the planes more closely.  I suppose to someone who knows nothing about planes it would be just the same as any other airline but to someone who likes planes it was quite scary!    I wonder if they are unsafe?  I suppose the emergency exit shouldn't really be making a whistling sound in the first place... 

Does anyone know how much aviation fuel costs roughly?  I want to know how they can make a profit.  I paid £1.99 for the flight and £7 air tax, one way.  The flight price was therefore approx US$3 with 60 passengers onboard.  With 60 pax they would make at most $180 to fly from Glasgow to London.  The flight was approximately 400 miles/650 Km (1 hour flying time).

Cheers.

Best Regards,

- Chris

The reg of the one with the whistling emergency exit was EI-CNS and its recognisable given that it looks a thousand years old and is almost all white without the usual Ryanair blue and yellow livery.

The one that spouts flames on landing was EI-CNV in the Ryanair blue/yellow livery.

Both are 737-200's.  None of the other flights I have been on have ever produced flames, I don't think anyone even noticed... only the whole of the cabin noticed when I spoke too loudly though! 

- Chris

Cool!  Yep that's what my friend thought when we were talking about the emergency exit.  But when you're sitting next to it and can't do anything, strange things go through your mind! Lol. 

Does anyone know the price of aviation fuel?  I can't see how Ryanair can make money.

- Chris

whistling exits are quite common but nothing to worry about the seal sometimes does not sit on the airframe correctly because of ingress of dirt but will normally stop whistling of its own accord when the dirt disappears or the seal is cleaned this also happens on the main doors because of course they are being opened and closed more frequently and are more susceptable

ryanair will tank where it's cheapest, land where it's cheapest and buy it's aircraft where it can get them the cheapest.

conclusion: ryanair is a cheap-ass airline

and airliners.net had loads of discussions of whacky ryanair aircraft too, so not that uncommon