Airbus 320 Reboot Confounds United Airlines Pilots

United Airlines pilots guilty as charged again, in that Airbus 320 that had to make an emergency return to New Orleans on April 4. A pilot in command should know he can’t skip procedures on the checklist (especially an Airbus checklist) or else there are consequences. In this case, the emergency restore didn’t work.

Ok, lest anyone accuse me of being incorrectly legal instead of correctly tongue-in-cheek, no one was “charged” with anything.

On April 4, 2011, the United Airlines Airbus 320-232 (N409UA), serial number 462, left Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and returned 20 minutes after take-off due to electrical difficulties and an indication of smoke in the cockpit.

But the NTSB investigation points to pilot error. And as far as I am concerned any error that does not result in damage, but does result in amended procedures is a good thing. What has happened as a result of this pilot error is a revision to the pilot checklist that pilots have to follow when they are handling electrical malfunctions. The malfunction was not really the pilots however. There was a faulty fire-warning sensor, but the reboot procedures just made it worse since in the reboot procedure, a generator didn’t get turned back on.

Consequences the pilots had to deal with as a result of the absent generator included a blank screen for the copilot, steering issues with the jet’s nose gear and antiskid protection for the brakes, and the intercom.

It must have been a pretty exciting 20 minute ride for the passengers, as it ended on emergency slided.