Czech investigators have disclosed that the crew of an Airbus A220-300 twice ignored incidents of damage to separate doors on the same day before operating services to Prague.
The Smartwings twinjet had conducted flights to Cagliari and Valencia on 18 May this year.
Czech investigation authority UZPLN states that, prior to the Cagliari-Prague return flight, the ground crew discovered damage to the aft left-hand boarding door 2L.
Although this was reported to the captain, it says, “no visible damage” was found when the captain inspected the door. The airline’s maintenance centre was not informed and the damage was not recorded in the technical logbook.
Having returned to Prague, the A220 sustained further damage after its subsequent outbound service to Valencia when a conveyor “hit the frame of the forward cargo door during loading”, says UZPLN, in a second-quarter bulletin.
This damage was similarly reported to the captain, it adds, but again the captain neither recorded it in the logbook nor passed the information to the maintenance centre.
Only after the aircraft had returned to Prague was the logbook updated, and UZPLN says the jet was grounded owing to sustaining damage “in areas where no damage is allowed” – including relatively minor harm.
It also points out that the damage to the boarding door discovered at Cagliari was reported only after the grounding took place.
Failing to report the damage was a “bad decision” in both cases, it adds. UZPLN says the carrier undertook corrective measures, issuing a safety bulletin and informing the pilots of the need to comply with procedures in the event of aircraft damage.
