Wednesday 30 March 2011

Airbus Updates No.146

Airbus A319 -112 1750   N750MX Aviation Capital Group ferried 29mar11 VCV-TLC prior delivery to ? ex D-AVYB


 Airbus A320 -212 187   F-GFKS Air France ferried 29mar11 TLS-CHR-CDG after paint into SkyTeam cs 
 Airbus A320 -231 247   VT-EVO Air India ferried 27-28mar11 DEL-SHJ-ESB-LDE on return to lessor, + 257 VT-EVP ex N247RX
 Airbus A320 -212 391   N391BV Aercap ferried 27-28mar11 SZB-AAN-LCA-WOE ex PK-RMC
 Airbus A320 -231 393   SX-SMT Viking Hellas ferried 30mar11 SEN-ARN after storage ex EI-EEX


Airbus A320 -211 1367   D-AIQW Lufthansa at HAM 27mar11 with numerous “100 years HAM a/p” decals applied  ex F-WWIH


Airbus A320 -232 2343   5B-DCM Cyprus Airways delivery 28-29mar11 CAN-MCT-LCA, M-reg in retro cs “Troodos”  ex M-ABDC
 Airbus A320 -214 2685   4K-AZ83 AZAL Azerbaijan Airlines  ferried 28mar11 DUB-BUD after paint, D-reg prior delivery ex D-ABDD
 Airbus A320 -214 3006   4K-AZ84 AZAL Azerbaijan Airlines  to be ferried 30mar11 SNN-BUD after paint, HB-reg "Kurdamir" prior delivery ex HB-IOU
 Airbus A320 -232 3990   SX-OAM Olympic Air ferried 29mar11 ATH-BOH for paint into Aegean cs  ex F-WWBY
 Airbus A320 -232 4094   SX-OAS Aegean Airlines in svc since 27mar11, SX-DGC ntu? ex D-AVVB
 Airbus A320 -232 4630   VT-IED IndiGo delivery 30mar11 TLS-FJR-DEL ex F-WWDJ


Airbus A320 -214 4646  G-EZUE easyJet delivery 30mar11 XFW-LGW ex D-AVVP
 Airbus A321 -211 666   N851LF ILFC regd 25mar11, parked at JED in Turkuaz Air cs, + 775 N831LF 24mar11 ex TC-TCF ex TC-TCE


Airbus A321 -231 4643   TC-JRM Turkish Airlines delivery 30mar11 XFW-IST "Afyonkarahisar"  ex D-AZAU
 Airbus A321 -211 4648   OE-LEZ flyNiki delivery 30mar11 XFW-VIE ex D-AZAV
 Airbus A321 -231 4654   TC-JRN Turkish Airlines delivery 30mar11 XFW-IST "Sariyer"  ex D-AZAC
 Airbus A330 -343 1086   HS-TET Thai International ferried 29mar11 BOD-HAM for cabin config ex F-WWYV

Airbus Updates No.145

Accident: Asiana A321 at Osaka on Oct 28th 2009, tail strike on landing

By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Mar 27th 2011 12:59Z, last updated Sunday, Mar 27th 2011 12:59Z
The Japanese Transportation Safety Board (JTSB) released their final report in Japanese concluding the probable cause was:

inadequate flare by the first officer causing the pitch angle to become excessive at ground contact and the tail to contact the runway. Due to the inadequate flare the airplane bounced, the first officer however continued his nose up control inputs until second ground contact.

The first officer (35, CPL, 1789 hours total, 1498 on type) was pilot flying, the captain (41, ATPL, 8022 hours total, 2079 hours on type) was pilot monitoring.

The airplane had been cleared to land on Osaka's runway 06L. At 1000 feet AGL the first officer disconnected the autopilot, autothrust remained in speed hold with a target speed of 137 KIAS. The airplane reached 100 feet AGL at a sink rate of 736 feet/minute and a pitch angle of 2.1 degrees, which reduced to 1.8 degrees 2 seconds later. The airplane went through 33 feet AGL when the first officer began to apply back pressure on the side stick, the pitch angle started to increase, however 3 seconds after descending through 33 feet AGL both main gear sensors registered ground contact at a pitch angle of 4.6 degrees, a vertical speed of 544 feet/minute and a vertical acceleration of 1.91G, the spoilers began to deploy, and the vertical acceleration reduced to 0.67G. The first officer now applied 15.9 degrees (maximum 16 degrees) nose up input, the thrust levers were placed to idle and the engines spooled down. 2 seconds after first touchdown the airplane reached 4 feet AGL at a pitch angle of 10.2 degrees, the thrust levers are placed into the TOGA detent, a second later both gear switches register ground contact again at a pitch angle of 9.8 degrees, a vertical acceleration of 1.2G and a speed of 124 KIAS. 2 seconds later a first officer's nose up input of 15.1 degrees is recorded, the pitch angle reached 10.5 degrees, the first officer reduced the stick input to 1.4 degrees and the pitch angle began to decrease afterwards, the airspeed increased to 140 KIAS and the radar altimeter showed a gradual increase. 9 seconds after the throttle levers were placed into the TOGA detent the airplane reached 15 feet AGL and climbed out in the go-around.

The airplane landed without further incident on runway 06L about 10 minutes later.

The captain reported later, that the approach had been stable until about 20 feet AGL, when the first officer got behind the aircraft. The aircraft bounced once, the first officer selected TOGA, however the pitch attitude was around 11 degrees when the aircraft settled on the runway a second time. He had observed the first officer during two landings where the first officer did not raise any concerns.

The first officer said, he started the flare at 30 feet AGL however in order to reduce the drift he then delayed the flare a bit. The first touchdown was hard, the airplane bounced. Fearing the second touch down might be even harder and alignment with the runway lost he decided to go-around and placed the throttle levers into TOGA. He did not realize they had suffered a tail strike on second touch down observing a pitch attitude of 9-10 degrees. He subsequently reduced the pitch to normal go-around attitudes. He considered this landing the worst of his about 400 landings during his career so far. He did not think fatigue was a factor.

The flight attendants reported they noticed a very hard touchdown and saw the nose of the aircraft rise subsequently. A few seconds after the first impact they heard sounds as if the airplane was rubbing over the runway before the airplane began to climb out.

The airplane received skin damage to the underside of its belly, frame damage and water drain mast damage. Apart from the paint and scratch marks on the runway no damage occurred at the airport.

Airport surveillance cameras showed the airplane touched down about 150 meters past the runway threshold but lifted off again flying almost parallel to the runway with the attitude increasing before settling again on the runway about 360 meters past the runway threshold, white smoke was visible from the tail, subsequently the airplane began to climb out.

The JTSB cited manuals stating that a tail strike occurs at pitch angles of 11 degrees with gear oleos decompressed or 9.5 degrees with gear oleos fully compressed. The manual warns of a pitch up tendency during ground spoiler extension.

The JTSB analysed that the captain was not monitoring the first officer properly and failed to assume control of the aircraft when the flare became inproper.

The skin damage (Photo: JTSB):
The skin damage (Photo: JTSB)

Runway marks (Photo: JTSB):
Runway marks (Photo: JTSB)

Graphical representation of FDR (Graphics: JTSB):

Graphical representation of FDR (Graphics: JTSB)

Airbus Updates No.144

Incident: Qatar A306 near Sofia on Mar 26th 2011, engine fire indication

By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Mar 27th 2011 14:28Z, last updated Sunday, Mar 27th 2011 14:28Z
A Qatar Airways Airbus A300-600, registration A7-ABX performing freight flight QR-6036 from Milano Malpensa (Italy) to Doha (Qatar) with inflammable cargo, was enroute at FL310 about 65nm northwest of Sofia (Bulgaria) when the crew reported a fire indication for the right hand engine (PW4158) and decided to divert to Sofia. The airplane landed safely in Sofia about 30 minutes later.

The airport reported that emergency services had taken all necessary precautions because of the inflammable cargo. On approach no fire was observed from the engine.

Incident: Saudia A320 near Cairo on Mar 26th 2011, medical emergency
By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Mar 27th 2011 17:51Z, last updated Sunday, Mar 27th 2011 17:51Z
A Saudi Arabian Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration HZ-ASC performing flight SV-236 (dep Mar 25th) from Geneva (Switzerland) to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), diverted to Cairo (Egypt) after a girl suffered seizures. The airplane landed safely, a doctor boarded the aircraft, diagnosed epilepsy and provided according medicaments and treatment.

The girl was able to continue the journey after the doctor was satisfied with her being stable again as result of the treatment. The airplane subsequently departed with the girl on board and reached Jeddah with a delay of 3.5 hours.
Incident: TAM A332 near San Juan on Mar 27th 2011, engine shut down in flight
By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Mar 28th 2011 06:49Z, last updated Monday, Mar 28th 2011 06:49Z
A TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200, registration PT-MVD performing flight JJ-8083 from New York,NY (USA) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil) with 221 passengers, was enroute at FL370 about 40nm south of San Juan (Puerto Rico) when the crew needed to shut an engine (PW4168) down. The crew decided to divert to San Juan where the aircraft landed safely on runway 08 about 40 minutes later.

TAM engineers have been flown from Miami to San Juan to assess the situation.


Incident: Easyjet A319 at Funchal on Mar 27th 2011, bird strike
By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Mar 28th 2011 13:51Z, last updated Monday, Mar 28th 2011 13:51Z
An Easyjet Airbus A319-100, registration G-EZDK performing flight U2-7961 from Lisbon to Funchal (Portugal), completed a seemingly uneventful flight.

In a post flight inspection it was discovered however, that a large bird had been ingested by one of the engines (CFM56) during the approach to Funchal causing damage to the engine. The airplane could not be released to perform the flight U2-7962 back to Lisbon.

A replacement Airbus A319-100 registration G-EZFO reached Lisbon with a delay of 9 hours.

Video of the arrival (Video: Samuel Passos):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZS_Daob6nU

Incident: Vueling A320 near Naples on Mar 27th 2011, passenger oxygen masks came down
By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Mar 29th 2011 10:29Z, last updated Tuesday, Mar 29th 2011 10:29Z
A Vueling Airbus A320-200, registration EC-JFH performing flight VY-6502 from Barcelona,SP (Spain) to Naples (Italy), had already left cruise level 340 and was on approach to Naples, when the passenger oxygen masks were released. The aircraft continued for a safe landing Naples.

A passenger reported that about 20 minutes prior to estimated landing an automatic taped announcement about an emergency descent occured followed by the captain reporting that the release of the passenger oxygen masks had been a computer malfunction, no loss of cabin pressure had occurred.

Radar data suggest the airplane performed a normal descent from cruise level until descending through 10,000 feet MSL.

The airport reported that the crew requested priority while on approach reporting a possible problem with the pressurization.

The return flight VY-6503 was cancelled, the airplane departed Naples about 4 hours after landing and positioned back to Barcelona as flight VY-901P at cruise level 120.

The former Iberia airplane had joined Vueling's fleet only by March 26th 2011.

Incident: Lufthansa A321 at Munich on Mar 28th 2011, rejected takeoff
By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Mar 29th 2011 22:04Z, last updated Tuesday, Mar 29th 2011 22:04Z
A Lufthansa Airbus A321-200, registration D-AIDC performing flight LH-2064 from Munich to Hamburg (Germany), rejected takeoff from Munich's runway 08L at high speed. The airplane slowed safely and returned to the apron.

After checks and the replacement of two tyres the airplane was able to depart again and reached Hamburg with a delay of 160 minutes.

According to a passenger the captain explained the tower ordered them to reject takeoff after another departure on the parallel runway 08R turned left after becoming airborne instead of turning right causing a potential conflict.

Incident: Juneyao A320 near Hong Kong on Mar 28th 2011, cap excitement
By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Mar 30th 2011 09:06Z, last updated Wednesday, Mar 30th 2011 09:07Z
A Juneyao Airlines Airbus A320-200, flight HO-1292 from Hong Kong to Shanghai (China) with 118 passengers, was climbing out of Hong Kong when strange sounds were heard on board, the origin of the sounds could not be identified. About one hour into the flight the crew therefore decided to divert to Xiamen (China) where the airplane landed safely.

Maintenance found the cap of a bottle had been wedged in the cabin door causing the strange noises.

The passengers were taken to a hotel, a replacement aircraft continued the flight the following day.




Airbus Updates No.143

Airbus orders so far in 2011......upto 25 March 2011


Date
Airline
A318
A319
A320
A321
A330
A350
A380
TOTAL
16/03/2011
Lufthansa
0
0
25
5
0
0
0
30
09/03/2011
Cathay Pacific
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
10
08/03/2011
ILFC
0
0
75
25
0
0
-10
90
08/03/2011
Hong Kong Airlines
0
0
0
0
10
15
0
25
07/03/2011
Iberia
0
0
0
0
8
0
0
8
03/03/2011
Afriqiyah Airways
0
0
-3
3
0
0
0
0
03/03/2011
Volaris
0
-14
14
0
0
0
0
0
03/03/2011
CASHC
0
1
-1
0
0
0
0
0
03/03/2011
Turkish Airlines
0
0
0
10
3
0
0
13
28/02/2011
Dubai Aerospace
0
0
-18
0
0
-12
0
-30
28/02/2011
Aer Lingus
0
0
0
0
-3
3
0
0
28/02/2011
TAM Airlines
0
0
32
0
0
0
0
32
28/02/2011
Air Asia
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
3
22/02/2011
Comlux Aviation
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
17/02/2011
Skymark
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
4
03/02/2011
Flyington Freighters
0
0
0
0
-12
0
0
-12
03/02/2011
Asiana Airlines
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
03/02/2011
Asiana Airlines
0
0
0
0
0
-2
0
-2
03/02/2011
US Airways
0
0
0
6
0
0
0
6
03/02/2011
US Airways
0
-1
-5
0
0
0
0
-6
27/01/2011
TUI Travel Group
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
25/01/2011
Thomas Cook Airlines
0
0
0
12
0
0
0
12
24/01/2011
GECAS
0
0
0
0
12
0
0
12
17/01/2011
Virgin America
0
0
60
0
0
0
0
60
11/01/2011
IndiGo Airlines
0
0
180
0
0
0
0
180
06/01/2011
Asiana Airlines
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
6
04/01/2011
Easyjet Airlines
0
0
15
0
0
0
0
15
Gross Orders
0
1
401
61
48
20
10
541
Cancellations
0
-15
-27
0
-15
-14
-10
-81
Net Orders
0
-14
374
61
33
6
0
460

The IndiGo order on 11/01/2011 includes the option to convert 120 of these to A320NEO's
The TUI Travel Group order on 27/01/2011 are to be operated by Corsair
US Airways order on 03/02/2011 converted from previous order for 1 x A319 ans 5 x A320
Asiana order on 03/02/2011 converted from A350-800 to A350-900
Flyington Freighters order cancelled by Airbus for non payment on 03/02/2011
TAM Airlines order on 28/02/2011 is for 10 x A320 and 22 x A320 NEO's
Aer Lingus Order on 28/02/2011 swapping 3 x A330 for 3 X A350's
Afriqiyah Airways Order on 03/03/2011 swapping 3 x A320 for 3 x A321
Volaris Order on 03/03/2011 swapping 14 x A319 for 14 x A320
CASHC order on 03/03/2011 swapping 1 x A320 for 1 x A319
ILFC order on 08/03/2011 is first order for A321NEO

Total Pageviews

Airbus Updates No.4245

  Airbus A321  -231  2553    N355FL  Spectre Air Capital  ferried 14-15mar24 LETL-TBS-ALA- prior P2F-conversion  ex LY-BLW  Airbus A321  -23...

Airbus Blogs

Blog Archive

Top 10 Award

Airbus Blogs

Labels