Airbus Updates No.361

Incident: Saudia A333 near Athens on Jul 14th 2011, instrument failures

A Saudi Arabian Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration HZ-AQD performing flight SV-129 from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) with 187 people on board, was enroute at FL360 about 125nm northwest of Athens (Greece) when the crew decided to divert to Athens due to multiple failures of instruments. On approach to Athens ATC repeatedly inquired whether the aircraft would be able to fly the localizer and glideslope and finally cleared the aircraft to intercept the localizer or perform a visual approach to Athen's runway 03L. The airplane performed a safe overweight landing on Athen's runway 03L. The airplane was able to depart again after about 4.5 hours on the ground and reached Paris with a delay of 5.5 hours. The crew reported 187 souls on board, the airline's website stated 168 passengers on board. Incident: Avianca A320 at Miami on Jul 16th 2011, bird strike   An Avianca Airbus A320-200, registration N451AV performing flight AV-39 from Miami,FL (USA) to Cali (Colombia), was accelerating for takeoff when the right hand engine (CFM56) ingested a bird just above V1. The crew continued takeoff, climbed to 5000 feet and reported the right hand engine showed high vibrations. The engine was now running at reduced thrust. The aircraft returned to Miami's runway 09 for a safe landing about 30 minutes after departure. The FAA reported the engine received minor damage. Incident: Air Transat A313 at Montreal on Jul 18th 2011, could not retract flaps   An Air Transat Airbus A310-300, registration C-GSAT performing flight TS-414 from Montreal,QC (Canada) to Marseille (France) with 244 people on board, could not retract the flaps. The crew levelled off at 11,000 feet, burned off fuel and landed safely back on Montreal's runway 24R about 36 minutes after departure. A replacement Airbus A310-300 registration C-FDAT reached Marseille with a delay of 4 hours. The Canadian TSB reported a bearing was found stuck and was replaced. Incident: Ural A320 near Ekaterinburg on Jul 19th 2011, hydraulic failure   A Ural Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration VQ-BFW performing flight U6-3736 from Bourgas (Bulgaria) to Ekaterinburg (Russia) with 119 people on board, was enroute at 10100 meters (FL331) shortly before reaching top of descent when the crew reported the failure of one of three hydraulic systems on board. The crew continued to Ekaterinburg's Koltsovo Airport for a safe landing about 30 minutes later Incident: Wizzair A320 at Budapest on Jul 19th 2011, hydraulic problem, could not fully retract gear   A Wizzair Airbus A320-200, registration HA-LPB performing flight W6-2209 from Budapest (Hungary) to London Luton,EN (UK) with 174 passengers, was climbing out of Budapest's runway 13R when the crew selected the gear up but did not receive a gear up and locked indication for all gear struts as result of hydraulic problems. The aircraft levelled off at FL150 and entered a holding to burn off fuel before the aircraft returned to land on runway 13L about 55 minutes after departure. A replacement aircraft is estimated to depart Budapest with a delay of 5 hours. Incident: TAM A332 near Miami on Jul 19th 2011, smell of smoke in cabin   A TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200, registration PT-MVB performing flight JJ-9399 from Orlando,FL (USA) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil), was enroute at FL370 about 80nm southeast of Miami,FL (USA) when the crew declared PAN PAN PAN, reported smell of smoke in the cabin and requested to divert to Miami. The airplane landed safely on Miami's runway 09 about 20 minutes later and vacated the runway. The airline reported some technical problem, the passengers were accomodated in Miami and rebooked onto other flights. The incident aircraft operated flight JJ-8091 from Miami to Sao Paulo departing Miami about 7 hours after landing