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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2129.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT SAFETY DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON A330 'glider' drama facts revealed Praise and blame from accident investigators for crew forced to make emergency landing at Lajes air base in 2001 The Air Transat Airbus A330-200 crew who glided their aircraft to a safe landing at Lajes air base in the Azores islands in 2001 with empty fuel tanks have been praised for their flying skill by Portuguese air accident investigators, but have also been criticised for sloppy pro cedures that hindered their discov ery of a severe fuel leak. The accident report observes, however, that the aircraft's elec tronic centralised aircraft monitor (ECAM) did not provide "a clear, unambiguous indication or warn ing that a fuel leak existed", and calls for it to provide a warning when any discrepancy between the engine fuel use and fuel on board (FOB) begins to develop. The fuel leak did not start until nearly 4h into the 24 August 2001 scheduled flight from Toronto, Canada bound for Lisbon, Portugal. The leak was caused by chafing between fuel and hydraulic lines in the No 2 (right) engine that had been "mismatched" when a hydraulic pump was changed on the Rolls-Royce Trent 772B. There is no system in the A330 for revealing fuel leaks, which have to be deduced from fuel readings. It is normal for the crew to check whether the FOB is reducing at a faster rate than engine fuel usage. Also, the report notes, the flight management control unit would show a continually reducing figure for fuel remaining at destination. The first ECAM advisory that could have suggested a fuel leak showed there was significantly less fuel in the right wing tanks than the left. Within 2min of discovering this, the crew had opened the fuel crossfeed valve and begun transfer ring fuel from the left wing to the right. They did not use the quick reference handbook (QRH) check list, the report notes, explaining that, had they used it, they would have seen fuel leakage listed as a possible cause. However, the report SEQUENCE OF EVENTS Time (GMT) 00:52 04:38 05:04 05:33 05:34 05:36 05:45 06:02 06:13 06:26 06:45 Events Take-off Toronto international airport, Canada, bound for Lisbon, Portugal Fuel leak starts but "no noteworthy indications of fuel loss" for about 20min Unusual No 2 eng oil readings. Extensive HF com munications with base about engine oil occupied crew's attention Fuel advisory on "ECAM TRIM TANK XFRD" (all fuel from stabiliser trim tank had been transferred automatically to the wing tanks). Unusually early in the flight for this to occur ECAM fuel page selected, ECAM shows fuel imbal ance between left and right wing tanks Crew select fuel crossfeed Decision to divert Cabin crew told to prepare for ditching No 2 engine flames out at 39,000ft No 1 engine flames out at 34,500ft A330 lands on runway 33 at Lajes, Azores The A330-200 landed safely at Lajes after a 19min glide comments: "All of the fuel-related information and messages were provided in the form of text-type status messages and digital counter displays, none of which conveyed a sense of urgency...The fact that this could occur highlights the lim itations of the warning and alert system in this kind of situation." For some time before the fuel imbalance notification, the crew had been preoccupied with an "unusual", but non-critical No 2 engine oil reading that was a sec ondary effect of the fuel leak. When the crew realised how lit tle fuel remained, they diverted to Lajes air force base, Azores. When the right engine flamed out, the aircraft was at 39,000ft (11,890m) with 278km (150nm) to go. The crew declared a full emergency just before the left engine Stopped at 34,500ft, 120km from Lajes. Lajes air traffic control provided radar vectors for approach to run way 33, and at 13,000ft on a head ing of 270° with 15km to go, the captain elected to carry out a left- hand 360° turn to lose height. It was dark and there were 13 crew and 293 passengers on board. With leading-edge slats extended, but no flaps or spoilers, the aircraft crossed the threshold at 200kt (370km/h), touched down hard 315m into the 3,315m run way and bounced once, then slid to a halt with the wheels locked by maximum braking. EXPANSION NICHOLAS I0NIDES / SINGAPORE AirAsia seeks to set up associate low-cost carrier in Indonesia Malaysian low-fare carrier AirAsia is looking to establish an associate carrier in Indonesia using its branding, as it prepares for its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO). AirAsia executives decline to comment on the Indonesia plans, citing disclosure rules in place ahead of its IPO. But South-East Asia's largest low-cost airline has reportedly acquired defunct Indonesian carrier AWAIR for a token $2 and is in talks with poten tial local partners. Provided Indonesian govern ment approval is granted, AirAsia is expected to relaunch the airline under its own branding, similar to its Thai associate carrier Thai AirAsia. Thai AirAsia is 49% owned by AirAsia and 51% owned by a company controlled by Thailand's prime minister. AWAIR launched services in mid-2000, when it became the first new scheduled carrier in Indonesia in more than a decade. Cut-throat competition followed, however, and AWAIR suspended services early in 2002. Meanwhile, bids have begun to flow in for fast-expanding AirAsia's planned IPO, which analysts say will probably raise between 800 million and 900 million ringgit ($210 million and $235 million). Funds will be used in part to help pay for new narrowbody aircraft from Airbus or Boeing. The airline is close to an order for Airbus A320-family or Boeing 737-700/800S to replace its 737- 300s. A deal is expected to cover at least 40 firm orders and rumours are flying that the A320 has been selected. The airline declines to comment further. 12 26 OCTOBER - 1 NOVEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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