Originally Posted by
Dave Fitzgerald
.......Then....there is "Christine." A UAL 767-300. No kidding the nose number is 6666, but that is another tale.....
I was an FO on ROPES as well as the -400. As I recall (been a long time), the "dump manifold" was also the official primary (or secondary?) transfer manifold. You just had to make sure the dumps were closed.
Heard a similar story, circa 2001. New Capt; engineer is a ROPE (Retired Old Pilot Engineer) who had been a Capt a few weeks before. Asia to LAX, they lose some pumps....trapped fuel. New Capt wants to ditch. FO and FE are threatening to tie him up unless he transfers through the jettison manifold. He thinks they'll lose gas. Finally convince him to do it, divert to SFO. Allegedly went back to being an FO for a while....
666: flew her last week...no surprises; pretty good jet. I call her "Lucifer's Chariot;" an homage to an OV-10 I used to fly with the same tail number (and nickname).
The N-number is (no kidding) N666UA.