Airbus Updates No.555

Incident: Lufthansa A321 near Lisbon on Dec 3rd 2011, engine shut down in flight

By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Dec 4th 2011 14:27Z, last updated Sunday, Dec 4th 2011 14:27Z A Lufthansa Airbus A321-200, registration D-AISG performing flight LH-1172 from Frankfurt/Main (Germany) to Lisbon (Portugal) with 123 passengers and 6 crew, was on approach to Lisbon when the crew needed to shut an engine (V2533) down. The crew continued for a safe landing on Lisbon's runway 21. The airline reported the cause of the engine failure is under investigation Incident: Aer Lingus A320 near Dublin on Dec 5th 2011, cracked windshield By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Dec 5th 2011 14:21Z, last updated Monday, Dec 5th 2011 14:21Z An Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200, registration EI-DES performing flight EI-432 from Dublin (Ireland) to Milan Linate (Italy), was climbing through FL260 when the crew levelled off reporting a cracked windshield and returned to Dublin for a safe landing on runway 28 about 50 minutes after departure and about 10 minutes after the high speed landing of a Ryanair Boeing, see Incident: Ryanair B738 at Dublin on Dec 5th 2011, slat problem. A replacement A320-200 registration EI-DEB reached Milan with a delay of 2 hours. Incident: Malaysian A332 at Chennai on Dec 4th 2011, unsafe gear By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Dec 5th 2011 15:54Z, last updated Monday, Dec 5th 2011 15:54Z A Malaysian Airlines Airbus A330-200, registration 9M-MKW performing flight MH-180 from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Chennai (India) with 224 passengers and 12 crew, aborted final approach to Chennai due to an unsafe gear indication and entered a hold to work the relevant checklists. The crew was able to successfully lower the gear and landed safely in Chennai about 30 minutes after aborting the first approach. The aircraft was able to perform the return flight MH-181 with a delay of 2 hours. Incident: Delta A319 near Kansas City on Dec 5th 2011, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Dec 6th 2011 14:35Z, last updated Tuesday, Dec 6th 2011 14:35Z A Delta Airlines Airbus A319-100, registration N318NB performing flight DL-1214 from Kansas City,MO to Detroit,MI (USA) with 73 people on board, had just reached cruise level 310 when the crew needed to shut the right hand engine (CFM56) down following vibrations. The aircraft returned to Kansas City for a safe landing on runway 01R about 35 minutes later. Passengers reported a number of bumps followed by vibrations before the crew announced the right hand engine had been shut down. Incident: LAN A319 at Arequipa on Dec 5th 2011, unsafe gear By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Dec 6th 2011 15:15Z, last updated Tuesday, Dec 6th 2011 15:17Z A LAN Airlines Airbus A319-100, flight LA-2103/LP-2103 from Lima to Arequipa (Peru), aborted the approach to Arequipa due to an unsafe gear indication, entered a holding to troubleshoot and finally returned to Lima for a safe landing about 130 minutes later. Passengers reported the captain announced they had an unsafe gear indication. Although they believed it was a false indication they needed to return to the capital as a precaution. The passengers were rebooked onto flight LA-2127 the following day and reached Arequipa with a delay of 12 hours. Incident: SAA A343 near Perth on Dec 6th 2011, lightning strike By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Dec 7th 2011 17:58Z, last updated Wednesday, Dec 7th 2011 17:59Z A SAA South African Airways Airbus A340-300, registration ZS-SXA performing flight SA-280 from Johannesburg (South Africa) to Perth,WA (Australia), was on approach to Perth when the crew reported a lightning strike causing a number of abnormal indications including tyre pressure. The aircraft was pulled off the approach to accomodate other heavy arrivals prior to a possible shutdown of the runway and sent into a holding at 5000 feet. The crew advised they had some engineer on board look at the tyres, requested local emergency services on standby and updated that they had lost nearly all tyre pressure indications. The aircraft landed safely on runway 21 about 25 minutes later and vacated the runway via taxiway L. A runway inspection revealed no debris on the runway. An observer on the ground reported a massive lightning bolt from cloud to cloud passed just underneath the aircraft. The aircraft was able to conduct the return flight SA-281 to Johannesburg on schedule after about 10 hours ground time. Perth Airport operations were seriously hampered for several hours when a thunderstorm front remained almost stationary over the aerodrome. Incident: LAN A319 at Lima on Dec 5th 2011, loss of nose wheel steering By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Dec 5th 2011 23:14Z, last updated Wednesday, Dec 7th 2011 18:29Z A LAN Airlines Airbus A319-100, flight LA-2375/LP-2375 from Iquitos to Lima (Peru), aborted the approach to Lima due to the loss of nosewheel steering. The aircraft landed safely on Lima's runway 15 about 40 minutes later but got disabled on the runway and needed to be towed off the runway. The runway was closed for 23 minutes causing two arriving flights to divert to Pisco (Peru). The airline confirmed a minor nose wheel steering problem. The aircraft just after standstill on the runway near taxiway F: Incident: US Airways A320 near Philadelphia on Dec 7th 2011, fumes aboard By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, Dec 8th 2011 15:05Z, last updated Thursday, Dec 8th 2011 15:06Z A US Airways Airbus A320-200, registration N648AW performing flight US-439 from Philadelphia,PA to Las Vegas,NV (USA), was climbing through FL230 out of Philadelphia when the crew reported the smell of dirty socks in the back of the aircraft which could even be smelled in the cockpit. The aircraft returned to Philadelphia's runway 27L for a safe landing, after landing the crew reported the fumes were no longer as bad, they had been very strong in the back, and taxied to the apron with emergency services following. A replacement Airbus A320-200 registration N602AW reached Las Vegas with a delay of 5.5 hours.

Airbus Updates No.517

Incident: Saudia A333 near Cairo on Nov 10th 2011, unruly passengers

By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Nov 14th 2011 17:47Z, last updated Monday, Nov 14th 2011 17:47Z A Saudi Arabian Airlines Airbus A330-300, flight SV-312 from Cairo (Egypt) to Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), was climbing out of Cairo when a passenger attempted to take a cigarette away from another passenger causing an altercation between the two passengers. The flight crew decided to return to Cairo for a safe landing, both passengers were unloaded and taken into custody by Egyptian police. The aircraft reached Riyadh with a delay of 40 minutes as a result Incident: SAA A319 at Dar Es Salaam on Nov 14th 2011, bird strike By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Nov 15th 2011 14:53Z, last updated Tuesday, Nov 15th 2011 14:53Z A South African Airways Airbus A319-100, registration ZS-SFD performing flight SA-189 from Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) to Johannesburg (South Africa), struck a large bird, presumably a Hadada Ibis, while climbing out of Dar Es Salaam prompting the crew to burn off fuel and return to Dar Es Salaam for a safe landing. A replacement Airbus A319-100 registration ZS-SFM, having arrived as Nov 14th's flight SA-188 and estimated to conduct Nov 15th's return flight SA-189, reached Johannesburg with a delay of 14 hours. The incident aircraft reached Johannesburg the following day performing Nov 15th's regular flight SA-189. The damage to the incident aircraft has not been reported, passengers however reported a changing engine sound suggesting an engine may have been shut down. Passengers indicated the flight crew did not make an announcement. Incident: Lufthansa A346 near Gander on Nov 15th 2011, electrical trouble By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Nov 15th 2011 17:49Z, last updated Tuesday, Nov 15th 2011 17:49Z A Lufthansa Airbus A340-600, registration D-AIHX performing flight LH-459 from San Francisco,CA (USA) to Munich (Germany), was enroute at FL350 about 120nm west of Gander,NL (Canada) when the crew decided to divert to Boston,MA (USA) due to electrical problems. The aircraft descended to FL280 enroute to Boston. On approach to Boston the crew indicated they had normal operations and required no assistance. The aircraft landed safely on Boston's runway 22L about 2 hours after turning around. Incident: Austrian A319 at Frankfurt on Nov 12th 2011, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Tuesday, Nov 15th 2011 21:41Z, last updated Wednesday, Nov 16th 2011 15:37Z An Austrian Airlines Airbus A319-100, registration OE-LDB performing flight OS-127 from Vienna (Austria) to Frankfurt/Main (Germany) with 44 passengers and 5 crew, was on approach to Frankfurt descending through 6000 feet when the crew declared PAN reporting the right hand engine (CFM56) had failed and needed to be shut down. The aircraft levelled off at 4000 feet to enable the crew work some checklists before the aircraft landed safely on runway 07R about 20 minutes later. The return flight OS-128 the next morning was cancelled. The airline reported the engine control malfunctioned prompting the crew to shut the engine down. The crew declared PAN advising air traffic control that assistance was possibly needed and the approach was continued normally to a safe landing. Incident: Aer Lingus A320 near Santiago de Compostela on Nov 15th 2011, technical problem By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Nov 16th 2011 18:29Z, last updated Wednesday, Nov 16th 2011 18:29Z An Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200, registration EI-DES performing flight EI-772 from Dublin (Ireland) to Fuerteventura,CI (Spain) with 147 passengers, was enroute at FL370 about 35nm north of Santiago de Compostela,SP (Spain) when the crew decided to divert to Santiago de Compostela's Lavacolla Airport due to some technical problem. The aircraft landed safely in Santiago de Compostela about 30 minutes later. A replacement Airbus A320-200 registration EI-DEO reached Santiago de Compostela about 5 hours later, however could not depart due to the night curfew. The passengers were taken to hotels, EI-DEO continued the flight as flight EI-1772 the following day and reached Fuerteventura with a delay of 17 hours. The airline reported the aircraft diverted to Lavacolla Airport due to a technical issue. The passengers of this flight as well as the 152 passengers in Fuerteventura waiting for the return flight EI-773 were taken to hotels. Incident: TAP A343 at Luanda on Nov 16th 2011, hydraulic failure By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Nov 16th 2011 18:48Z, last updated Wednesday, Nov 16th 2011 18:48Z A TAP Air Portugal Airbus A340-300, registration CS-TOD performing flight TP-288 from Luanda (Angola) to Lisbon (Portugal), was in the initial climb out of Luanda's runway 23 when the crew reported a hydraulic failure and returned to Luanda for a safe landing on runway 23 about 30 minutes after departure Incident: Aeroflot A320 at London on Nov 15th 2011, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Nov 16th 2011 19:42Z, last updated Wednesday, Nov 16th 2011 23:20Z An Aeroflot Airbus A320-200, registration VQ-BHL performing flight SU-242 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Moscow Sheremetyevo (Russia) with 108 people on board, was climbing out of Heathrow's runway 09R when the crew shut the right hand engine (CFM56) down, levelled off at 5000 feet and returned to Heathrow for a safe landing on runway 09L about 20 minutes after departure. The flight was cancelled, the passengers were rebooked onto later flights and flights the following day. Incident: Delta A333 near Igloolik on Nov 16th 2011, navigation system failure By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Nov 18th 2011 22:08Z, last updated Friday, Nov 18th 2011 22:08Z A Delta Airlines Airbus A330-300, registration N821NW performing flight DL-232 from Seattle,WA (USA) to Amsterdam (Netherlands) with 236 people on board, was enroute at FL370 near Igloolik,NU (Canada) when the crew observed the #1 INS failed. About 40 minutes after the #1 INS failed the crew declared emergency after all navigation equipment had failed and requested and received radar vectors to Goose Bay. About another 20 minutes later the crew was able to restore navigation and requested a priority diversion to Detroit,MI (USA) where the aircraft landed safely about 4.5 hours after the #1 INS failed. The Canadian TSB reported the aircraft had been dispatched with the #2 INS inoperative according to minimum equipment list requirements Incident: Cathay A343 at Hong Kong on Nov 17th 2011, engine shut down in flight By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Nov 20th 2011 18:02Z, last updated Sunday, Nov 20th 2011 18:02Z A Cathay Pacific Airbus A340-300, flight CX-903 from Hong Kong (China) to Manila (Philippines) with 234 passengers and 13 crew, was climbing out of Hong Kong when the crew shut an engine down due to a suspected failure. The aircraft returned to Hong Kong for a safe landing about 2 hours after departure. A replacement Airbus A330-300 registration B-LAI reached Manila with a delay of 4 hours