Qantas A380 Mishap

[statesman]

No crash, and the report didn't mention any injuries.

The entire Qantas A380 fleet is grounded now.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/04/indonesia.plane.emergency/index.html?hpt=T2

I know the A380 has taken a lot of heat recently for being way too expensive, behind production, etc. This doesn't bode well for AirBus.

 

[BigIron]

I think it would not have bode well had it crashed, but since they landed without incident I think the incident will quickly fade. Impressive actually that the engine compartment can contain the conflagration.

 

[A4sForever]

Ehhhh ... mebbe compressor stall, or blade failure, or previously FOD'ed and finally shit itself ... it happens.

'Cept none of mine ever made the evening news ... must have been a slow day.

 

[HAL Pilot]

 

[C420sailor]

Shit happens.

 

[Beans]

Maybe there was some... thing on the wing?

 

[ea6bflyr]

Maybe there was some... thing on the wing?

Exactly:

 

[CAMike]

Correct ea6b... This early photo of Gov. Jerry Brown proves he was on that A380.

 

[BigIron]

Pretty solid engines...

 

[East]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/engine-design-hits-turbulence/story-e6frg6z6-1225949641009

 

[A4sForever]

I didn't post this last month as I wasn't certain as to the 'authenticity' of all the details ... you know how that goes w/ internet 'TINS' stories that are passed around. It was, however, forwarded to me by a couple of reliable fellows in the industry whom I have known for years:

"Here are just SOME of the problems Richard had in Singapore last week aboard QF32.... I won't bother mentioning the engine explosion!.... oops... mentioned the engine explosion, sorry.....
* massive fuel leak in the left mid fuel tank (the beast has 11 tanks, including in the horizontal stabiliser on the tail)
* massive fuel leak in the left inner fuel tank
* a hole on the flap canoe/fairing that you could fit your upper body through
* the aft gallery in the fuel system failed, preventing many fuel transfer functions
* fuel jettison had problems due to the previous problem above
* bloody great hole in the upper wing surface
* partial failure of leading edge slats
* partial failure of speed brakes/ground spoilers
* shrapnel damage to the flaps
* TOTAL loss of all hydraulic fluid in the Green System (beast has 2 x 5,000 PSI systems, Green and Yellow)
* manual extension of landing gear
* loss of 1 generator and associated systems
* loss of brake anti-skid system
* unable to shutdown adjacent #1 engine using normal method after landing due to major damage to systems
* unable to shutdown adjacent #1 engine using using the fire switch!!!!!!!! Therefore, no fire protection was available for that engine after the explosion in #2
* ECAM warnings about major fuel imbalance because of fuel leaks on left side, that were UNABLE to be fixed with cross-feeding
* fuel trapped in Trim Tank (in the tail). Therefore, possible major CofG out-of-balance condition for landing. Yikes!
* and much more to come..........

Richard was in the left seat, FO in the right, SO in the 2nd obs seat (right rear, also with his own Radio Management Panel, so he probably did most of the coordination with the ground), Capt Dave Evans in the 1st obs seat (middle). He is a Check & Training Captain who was training Harry Wubbin to be one also. Harry was in the 3rd obs seat (left rear).

All 5 guys were FLAT OUT, especially the FO who would have been processing complicated 'ECAM' messages and procedures that were seemingly never-ending!
Farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkk!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The meat of this narrative is now basically being 'confirmed' through more or less 'semi-official sources'

My understanding is it took nearly an HOUR to prep the aircraft for landing. You CANNOT write procedures to address a scenario like this. You CANNOT 'teach' this stuff in the simulator or (obviously) the aircraft. These guys, simply put, had their shit in one bag and performed superbly. They 'earned' their paychecks 100 times over.

They represent the best of Aviation and Aviators.

"Bus drivers" my ass ....

 

[eas7888]

"Bus drivers" my ass ....

I'm a firm believer that aircraft can fly themselves. It's a proven fact, undeniable, no pilot is needed.

That being said. . . this is why pilots earn their money. A computer, at least right now, can't always do these tasks, or tell that the indications on the gauges might be false. This crew, like the crew of United 232, really exemplify what it means to work together as a crew.

Thanks for sharing A4s

 

[HAL Pilot]

Sounds like my FE license checkride......but no one would have died if I had f'ed it up. This was an outstanding job by all 5 pilots.

 

[East]

A380 mishap

For those interested, some Tech details... as aired numerous times; pictures speaks a thousand words.

Skippy got lucky.

 

[A4sForever]

This is the Aussie Gov't ATSB Prelim:

In-flight uncontained engine failure overhead Batam Island, Indonesia
4 November 2010

It almost gives one the impression of near 'computer overload' of the crew while trying to conduct a complex multiple emergency/abnormal procedure ... I'm certain that circumstance was magnified by the fact that this one "wasn't in the book ... "

Computers are great -- when they work FOR you ...and they're a bitch when they add to the workload.