Los Angeles – International approaching Sepulveda
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Sandro Mederle
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:
- “Airbus A-380 faces problems.” Statesman [India] 1 Nov. 2006. General OneFile. Web. 1 Apr. 2010.
- “Airbus flies into more problems over A380.” Daily Mail (United Kingdom), Oct 04, 2006
- “Turbulence over Airbus A380 delay prompts Singapore rethink.” Steiner, Rupert, Sunday Business (United Kingdom), Dec 14, 2006
- “Airbus Delays Delivery of Giant A380.” Washington Post, The, 01908286, Jun 02, 2005
- “Two-year delay’ for jinxed superjumbo.” Lea, Robert, Evening Standard (United Kingdom), Sep 21, 2006
I can think of 3 other A380 incidents. Feb of this year, Air France A380-861 (F-HPJA) had fuel system issues that turned back a New York-Paris flight. A380 muss wegen Problemen mit Treibstoffsystem umkehren
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 else do we not know? Without transparency, how can we ever know?
Qantas flight QF-64 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Perth, Australia, on October 6th.
