[ossiblue]

While the humor regarding the CNN statement about maintaining altitude is welcome, we need to be fair to CNN.

They did not say a 777 has trouble maintaining altitude with no fuel. What was actually stated in the crawl under the video is, the 777 will struggle to maintain altitude once fuel tanks are empty, which was in the context of the discussion between the simulator pilot and the reporter, and related to the flight controls and aerial stability of the aircraft, once fuel had been expended. IIRC, the statement came in response to a question by the reporter as to how the plane will behave once the fuel runs out.

Taken together, the discussion in the simulator and the crawl make sense and don't really reflect the empty headed comment that "a 777 has trouble maintaining altitude with no fuel." A bit of levity is fine, IMO, and CNN makes some bone head comments. I just don't think this is one of them. Now, if another reporter or another crawl misquoted the original discussion, then...CNN, you deserve all the sarcasm that's dished out.

OBTW, the simulator pilot, shown above, was recently fired by the company. Apparently, his casual dress while appearing on national TV did not sit well with the company head. That, along with other "incidents", has led to his termination.