The report from Lebanon on the January 2010 crash of ET409 has been rejected by Ethiopia Airlines. It is not surprising that they would reject it as the report blames Ethiopian airlines; specifically they cite the probable cause of the crash as being “the flight crew’s mismanagement” and “a failure in basic piloting skills,” and that the pilot flew 188 hours in 51 days with minimum rest.
The crew ate during their Beirut stop, and complained they could not sleep afterwards.
Ethiopian Airlines claims the government withheld information, and claim the plane exploded.
No sign of fire or explosion were detected in the wreckage
What: Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from San Juan Puerto Rico to Miami,FL Where: San Juan When: Mar 1st 2011 Why: After takeoff, the side panels in the cabin began to quiver, and passenger windows were cracking. The crew returned to San Juan and the plane made a safe landing.
You know, when I’m on plane with a twenty-one year old frame and the interior walls start moving, and the windows are cracking (separate issues, by the way), I can’t help but worry about things like frame fatigue. 21 years worth of stress is plenty of years for a plane. I’m glad the flight made it down safely. Maybe it is time for American to let this bird roost.
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What: Qantas Boeing 747-400 en route from Johannesburg South Africa to Sydney Where: Johannesburg When: Jul 15th 2011 Why: While en route, the plane developed engine problems with engine 3. Passengers reported hearing a bang before the captain announced returning to Johannesburg.
The pilot dumped fuel and returned to Johannesburg, where he made a safe landing. A replacement flight was provided, delaying the flight by a day.
On board was the SA Springbok Rugby team.
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Work with Boeing to (1) assess the effectiveness of flare cueing systems to assist MD-11 pilots in making timely and appropriate inputs during the landing flare
(2) provide a formal report on the findings of the assessment, and
(3) if the assessment shows that flare cueing systems could be useful to MD-11 pilots, provide copies of the report to all US operators of MD-11 airplanes and encourage them to install such a system on these airplanes.
Work with Boeing to (4) assess methods for providing weight-on-wheels cueing to MD-11 pilots to enhance pilot awareness of bounced landings and facilitate proper pilot reaction and effective control inputs when bounced landings occur,
(5) provide a formal report on the findings of the assessment, and
(6) if the assessment shows that the weight-on-wheels cueing methods could be useful to MD-11 pilots, provide copies of the report to all US operators of MD-11 airplanes and encourage them to provide a means for weight-on-wheels cueing for these airplanes. (A-14-005)
Work with Boeing to (7) evaluate the effect of brief power increases on simulated MD-11 landing distances, adjust the values in published MD-11 landing distance tables accordingly, andprovide the adjusted values to MD-11 operators. (A-14-006)
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What: Qantas Airbus A380-800 en route from Singapore to Sydney Where: Sydney When: Mar 31st 2010 Who: 244 passengers Why: On landing, the plane blew its left tires; and there were sparks and and a brief fire from the brakes. The plane left a rubber trail. Damage assessment was made on the tarmac by engineers, with the plane sitting on its rims.
Qantas denies classifying this as an “emergency” landing.
George’s Point of View
I’m thinking how smart Boeing is to have held up release of their big jumbo, especially when I see A 380 incidents.
I am reminded of all the flaws that popped in the Airbus A310 (reputedly a rush copy of the Boeing 737); and I also remember reading about Airbus struggling to get the A-380 shipshape before Airbus rushed it to market. In development, Airbus wrestled with a plane that was severely overweight, withstructural, and production problems. Remember the trouble the A-380 had getting launched:
On Dec 4 2009, QANTAS Airbus A380-842 (VH-OQA) Singapore to London- On the runway, the plane’s nose gear became unsteereable. The plane was towed to the gate and spare parts had to be flown in to deal with the problem.
On July 4 2009, Qantas Airbus A380-842 (VH-OQA) Singapore to London- the approach was aborted due to nosegear problems. On landing, steering failed.
In March of 2008, Qantas removed all 3 of its A-380s due to fuel system problems (two unserviceable with a ‘”fuel tank indication system problem”.)
The A380 is a part of the Air France, Emirates, Qantas and Singapore airlines fleets , and in which fuel gauge problems, nosegear problems and braking problems are becoming known issues. Problems also arise because the prohibitive size of the plane limits where it can land.
Some Worrisome Airbus History
In 2004, Joseph Mangan, an Airbus whistleblower told European aviation authorities of flaws on a computer chip on the Airbus A380. (These were microprocessor flaws that could cause the valves that maintain cabin pressure on the A380 to accidentally open during flight, allowing air to leak out so rapidly that everyone aboard could lose consciousness within seconds.)
Mangan was chief engineer for the Viennese company TTTech Computertechnik, which supplied the chips and software controlling the A380 cabin-pressurization system assembled at the French Airbus plant. TTTech fired Mangan, filed civil and criminal charges against him for revealing proprietary company documents. Austrian law has no whistleblower protection, and there is currently a gag order imposed on Mangan. They claim his allegations have been disproved.
What did he know? Have the problems behind his concerns been addressed? What elsedo we not know? Without transparency, how can we ever know?
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What: Brussels Airlines Airbus A330-300 en route from Kinshasa N’Djili to Brussels Where: Kinshasa When: Nov 19th 2009 Who: 125 passengers Why: While en route, one of the planes engines exceeded vibration limits and had to be shut down. The plane returned to Kinshasa and made a safe landing.
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What: Joseph M. Gauthier’s Yakovlev circa 1985 YAK-52 en route from/to from Redlands Airport performing aerobatics Where: Santa Ana River bed at Opal Avenue, 10 miles from Redlands, CA When: Monday, Feb 08 2010 between 12:50 and 1 p.m. Who: 2 fatalities (a man and a woman) both off-duty California Air National Guard ( March Air Reserve Base) members Why: Witnesses say that while they were watching the plane doing aerobatics, the plane went down. The area is a place where planes often perform aerobatics, and the soviet-built Yakovlev was designed as a trainer and acrobatic aircraft.
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