Airbus Updates No.201

Incident: China Eastern A320 at Wenzhou on Mar 20th 2011, clipped trees on approach

By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Apr 27th 2011 10:18Z, last updated Wednesday, Apr 27th 2011 10:47Z The crew of a China Eastern Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration B-2400 performing flight MU-5577 from Shanghai Hongqiao to Wenzhou (China), had prepared for an ILS/DME runway 03 approach to Wenzhou based on ATIS broadcast. Upon initial contact with Wenzhou approach the crew was told however that winds had changed and runway 21 was now in use, the aircraft was subsequently cleared for the VOR/DME approach to runway 21. On tower the crew was reminded by tower that their minimum descent altitude (MDA) was 120 meters/394 feet (116 meters/381 feet AGL). Upon reaching MDA the crew had visual contact with the runway established, continued the approach still on autopilot and descended below MDA, but then lost visual contact. At the 50 feet call by GPWS both crew were able to see the ground but did not see the runway, the first officer called go-around twice, the captain disengaged the autopilot and initiated a go-around at around 12:10L (04:10Z). The airplane climbed out, positioned for another approach and landed safely. A post flight inspection found scratch marks on the right main landing gear, slats and flaps of right main wing and the inlet of the right hand engine (CFM-56). An inspection of the right hand engine revaled damage (dents sized up to 0.2 mm) to all 36 fan blades, scratch marks (13cm in length) at and twigs embedded in the oil discharge. Following cleaning, thorough examination of the airframe, borescopic inspection and repairs of the right engine the aircraft was able to return to service 6 days later. China's Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) reported that a low level cloud bank with cloud ceiling at 90 meters/295 feet MSL was moving inland from the sea causing the visibility to drop below 2000 meters. The autopilot was disconnected at an altitude of 104 feet (radar height 38 feet) and a go-around initiated, the radar height reduced to 10 feet until the airplane began to climb again. The CAAC said, that the crew did not immediately discontinue the approach after losing visual reference but tried their luck by continuing on autopilot until the "50 feet" call, only then the go-around was initiated. Due to the late decision by the crew the right hand wing, right hand engine and right hand main gear impacted and clipped treetops outside the airport perimeter. An investigation of the serious incident is under way.   Incident: Aeroflot A319 at Moscow on Apr 28th 2011, bird strike By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, Apr 28th 2011 09:30Z, last updated Thursday, Apr 28th 2011 09:30Z An Aeroflot Airbus A319-100, registration VQ-BBA performing flight SU-791 from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Perm (Russia) with 47 passengers, was climbing through 900 meters/3000 feet out of Sheremetyevo's runway 25L when the right hand engine (CFM56) ingested a bird. The crew levelled at 1100 meters/3500 feet, shut the engine down and returned to Sheremetyevo's runway 25R about 15 minutes after departure. The flight is currently estimated to depart Moscow with a delay of 8 hours. Incident: Germanwings A319 near Nuremberg on Apr 28th 2011, burning smell in cockpit By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Apr 29th 2011 07:27Z, last updated Friday, Apr 29th 2011 07:27Z A Germanwings Airbus A319-100, registration D-AGWB performing flight 4U-3751 from Vienna (Austria) to Hanover (Germany) with 86 passengers, was enroute at FL340 about 20nm north of Linz (Austria) and 125nm southeast of Nuremberg (Germany) about 16 minutes into the flight when the crew reported a burning smell in the cocpit and decided to divert to Nuremberg. The aircraft rapidly descended to FL100 reaching FL100 5 minutes later (average sinkrate 4800 fpm) landed safely in Nuremberg about 25 minutes after leaving FL340. Responding emergency services found no trace of fire or heat. The remainder of the flight was cancelled, the passengers were bussed to Hanover (road distance 480km/260nm) and reached their destination with a delay of more than 8 hours. The airline reported that maintenance did not detect any fault in cockpit or cabin. Incident: Qatar A320 near Budapest on Apr 29th 2011, cargo fire indication By Simon Hradecky, created Saturday, Apr 30th 2011 07:10Z, last updated Saturday, Apr 30th 2011 07:20Z A Qatar Airways Airbus A320-200, registration A7-AHF performing flight QR-94 from Vienna (Austria) to Doha (Qatar) with 95 passengers and 8 crew, was enroute at FL350 about 150nm southeast of Budapest (Hungary) already over Romania when the crew received a cargo fire indication, descended the aircraft to FL110, turned around and diverted to Budapest for a safe landing on Budapest's runway 13R about 35 minutes later. Responding emergency services found no trace of fire, heat or smoke, the airplane subsequently taxied to the apron where passengers disembarked normally. The smoke detector was identified faulty. The airplane was able to continue the flight after about 5 hours on the ground and reached Doha with a delay of 6.5 hours.