Airbus Updates No.419

Incident: Jetstar A332 enroute on Aug 29th 2011, medical emergency

By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Sep 4th 2011 07:43Z, last updated Sunday, Sep 4th 2011 07:45Z A Jetstar Airbus A330-200, registration VH-EBD performing flight 3K-401 from Singapore (Singapore) to Auckland (New Zealand), was enroute about 90 minutes into the flight, when a male passenger (31) choked while eating his inflight meal (beef dish) and became unresponsive. A doctor on board assisted by two nurses provided first aid and attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the aisle, however were unable to save the man. The doctor pronounced the man dead. The body of the man was moved into a crew only area. The aircraft continued to Auckland where the aircraft landed safely about 8.5 hours later 30 minutes ahead of schedule despite a 20 minutes delay at departure. The airline confirmed the death on board of the aircraft and said, the cause of his death is still under investigation. The coroner's report is expected during September. The girl friend of the deceased reported, that he was tucking in his beef dish and watching a movie when he shook. She thought he was laughing, but when she looked at him he saw his eyes were rolling, his lips were turning blue and he did not respond. Upon her screams for help a doctor and two nurses provided first aid including resuscitation, however were not able to save her companion. The body was taken to a crew only area while she remained in her seat with cabin crew and even the captain looking frequently after her trying to provide consolation. Other passengers said, that the captain made an announcement to address possible concerns about how much time he spent back in the cabin stating, that they were a flight crew of three, so that even when he was back in the cabin trying to comfort the deceased's companion two pilots were at the controls of the aircraft. Incident: Etihad A320 near Doha on Aug 26th 2011, bomb hoax By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Sep 4th 2011 10:58Z, last updated Sunday, Sep 4th 2011 10:58Z An Etihad Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration A6-EIC performing flight EY-93 from Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) to Larnaca (Cyprus), was climbing through FL340 out of Abu Dhabi about 70nm northeast of Doha (Qatar) when the crew decided to divert to Doha due to a bomb threat from a passenger. The aircraft landed safely in Doha about 15 minutes later and taxied to a remote stand, where passengers disembarked normally. Following security checks, which revealed no trace of explosives, the aircraft was able to depart again about 3.5 hours after landing and returned to Abu Dhabi for a safe landing. A replacement Airbus A330-300 registration A6-AFC reached Larnaca with a delay of 6:20 hours. The airline reported the aircraft was diverted to Doha due to a bomb threat from a passenger. The passenger was taken into custody by Qatar police, his luggage was offloaded. Security personnel determined there was no bomb or other safety risk. The passengers were returned to Abu Dhabi and departed to Larnaca on an alternate aircraft. Accident: Mahan A306 at Mashad on Sep 4th 2011, burst tyres, runway excursion and nose gear collapse on landing By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Sep 4th 2011 11:46Z, last updated Sunday, Sep 4th 2011 15:40Z A Mahan Airbus A300-600, registration EP-MNT performing flight W5-613 (dep Sep 3rd) from Tehran Mehrabad to Mashad (Iran) with 230 passengers, landed hard on Mashad's runway 31R bursting the nose wheel tyres just after midnight (19:30Z Sep 3rd). The aircraft subsequently veered off the runway and came to a stop with the nose on soft ground, the nose gear collapsed. The passengers were evacuated via slides. 3 passengers received serious, 8 passengers minor injuries. The aircraft received substantial damage. Runway 13L/31R had to be closed due to the disabled aircraft. The aircraft is estimated to be moved off the runway during the afternoon. Emergency services reported three passengers received hip and lower limb injuries and are in hospital care. Eight passengers were released from hospital after treatment. Incident: Virgin America A319 at Dallas on Sep 4th 2011, rejected takeoff due to bird strike By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Sep 5th 2011 11:00Z, last updated Monday, Sep 5th 2011 11:00Z A Virgin America Airbus A319-100, registration N528VA performing flight VX-853 from Dallas Ft. Worth,TX to San Francisco,CA (USA), rejected takeoff from runway 36R at high speed after the aircraft accelerated through a flock of birds and suffered multiple bird strikes. The aircraft slowed safely and vacated the runway via taxiway G8 about mid runway (6500 feet/2000 meters down the runway), the crew requested no assistance. The aircraft was able to depart about 3 hours later and reached San Francisco with a delay of 3:15 hours. A passenger reported the aircraft suffered six bird impacts during the takeoff roll. The airplane came to a safe stop and taxied to the terminal on its own power a few minutes later. An inspection revealed no damage to the aircraft, however both left main gear tyres were replaced. The aircraft subsequently departed without further incident. Incident: Air One A320 at Palermo on Sep 4th 2011, flock of birds By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Sep 5th 2011 14:09Z, last updated Monday, Sep 5th 2011 14:09Z An Air One Airbus A320-200 on behalf of Alitalia, registration EI-DSS performing flight AP-135/AZ-135 from Palermo to Milan Malpensa (Italy) with 172 passengers and 5 crew, flew through a flock of sea gulls and ingested birds into the engines (CFM56) during the initial climb out of Palermo. The aircraft returned to Palermo for a safe landing. Maintenance found a total of 11 fan blades in both engines were damaged as result of the bird strikes. A replacement Airbus A320-200 registration EI-EIE reached Milan with a delay of 7:10 hours Incident: Amsterdam A320 near Belgrade on Sep 5th 2011, cracked windshield By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Sep 5th 2011 16:57Z, last updated Monday, Sep 5th 2011 16:57Z An Amsterdam Airlines Airbus A320-200 on behalf of Aegean Airlines, registration PH-AAX performing flight A3-4330 from Rhodes (Greece) to Poznan (Poland), was enroute at FL360 about 70nm southeast of Belgrade (Serbia) when the crew decided to divert to Belgrade due to a cracked windshield. The aircraft landed safely. A replacement Aegean Airlines Airbus A320-200 registration SX-DVX was flown to Belgrade, continued the flight and reached Poznan with a delay of 4:40 hours. Incident: Air France A343 near Guadeloupe on Jul 22nd 2011, rapid climb and approach to stall in upset By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Sep 6th 2011 14:53Z, last updated Tuesday, Sep 6th 2011 15:29Z An Air France Airbus A340-300, registration F-GLZU performing flight AF-471 (dep Jul 21st) from Caracas (Venezuela) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France), was enroute at FL350 about 145nm northeast of Point A Pitre (Guadeloupe) in night and instrument meteorological conditions at around 01:11Z (Jul 22nd) when the crew received an overspeed alert, the autopilot disconnected, the crew observed the indicated airspeeds had increased to 0.88 mach (MMO 0.86 mach) and 304 knots, the aircraft gradually increased its pitch attitude to 11 degrees and climbed with up to 5000 feet/minute up to FL380, reaching FL380 at 0.66 mach/ 205 KIAS - stall speed was computed at 202 KIAS - before the pitch attitude decreased again and the aircraft returned to normal flight parameters. The flight was continued to Paris, the aircraft reached Europe at FL380 and landed safely in Paris about 7.5 hours after the upset. No injuries occurred. The French BEA confirmed an investigation into the described incident was opened on July 26th after receiving notification from Air France. An internal write up released by Le Figaro on Sep 6th reports, that the upset lasted for about 2 minutes with the highest intensity during the first 30 seconds, during the upset the aircraft encountered vertical accelerations between +0.5G and +1.7G. The upset occurred in an area where weather forecasts/reports suggested no turbulence. The write up annotated, that a PA call by flight crew to cabin: "Cabin crew, be seated immediately, severe turbulence" helped to avoid injuries in the cabin. Incident: TAP A332 at Lajes on Sep 6th 2011, bird strike By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Sep 6th 2011 17:45Z, last updated Tuesday, Sep 6th 2011 17:47Z A TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330-200, registration CS-TOK performing flight TP-1822 from Terceira Azores Islands to Lisbon (Portugal), struck a bird on departure from Terceira's Lajes Airport and needed to return to Lajes for a safe landing. The airline reported seven technicians were dispatched to Lajes to repair the damage, the aircraft received as result of the bird strike. The flight currently has an undefined time of departure.