Brand New A380 Crash

[Head in the clouds]

I received this by email. I was very skeptical because it had the usual melodramatic flavour to it and also contained a rant which I have removed before re-printing it here.

 

Last night it was referred to Capt. Richard De Crespigny (Capt of the QANTAS A380 flight 32 engine burst incident) for his comment and he has confirmed that this incident did take place and that the details are essentially correct. So -

 

OOPS!

 

This brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, one of the largest passenger aircraft ever built, sits just outside its hangar in Toulouse , France without a single hour of airtime.

 

 

The flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) entered to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine run-ups, prior to delivery to Etihad Airways.

 

 

The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area, then they took all four engines to take-off power. Perhaps they didn't realise just how light an empty A340-600 really is.

 

 

 

The aircraft computers thought they were trying to take-off because they had all four engines at full power, but the plane wasn't configured properly (flaps/slats, etc..) so a warning horn was blaring away ...

 

 

 

 

One of the ADAT crew pulled the circuit breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm. This fooled the aircraft into thinking it was in the air. The computers automatically released all the brakes which set the aircraft rocketing forward.

 

 

 

 

The ADAT crew didn't know that this is a safety feature so that pilots can't land with the brakes on. The crew quickly throttled the engines back from their max power setting but the fans had so much stored energy that they continued to produce thrust for a few moments, so the $200 million brand-new aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totalling it.

 

 

 

The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown due to a media news blackout in France.

 

 

 

Coverage of the story was kept tightly under wraps ...

 

 

 

 

but the photos are starting to leak out.

 

 

Airbus accepted responsibility and they paid ...

 

 

 

 

 

[rankamateur]

four low-time engines look OK.

 

 

[facthunter]

Think it is an A-34o that happened years ago. Can't imagine they would repeat that effort. Nev

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

This occurred several years ago when an Ethiad ferry crew went to pick the aircraft up at the Airbus factory. Whilst performing ground engine runs an annoying alarm keep coming up, so they pulled the offending circut-breaker to silence the alarm.

 

What the alarm was trying to tell them is that you can't go to full power on the ground, in a non- loaded Airbus. Basically they hadn't read or headed the aircraft's operation manual.

 

After pulling the breaker they again went to full power, whereas the computer said "oh we must be flying now" and promptly released the brakes !.............resulting in the aircraft impacting the barrier. Airbus placed a blanket media ban on the incident as did the airline, for as stated..."possible negative kickback onto the Arab crew"..........................Maj....

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

Don't let the facts ruin a good story

 

The incident did occur but not exactly as described in the numerous email stories which have continued circulating ever since

 

It was an Airbus technician who was in charge of the test, no circuit breakers were pulled & there was no media blackout

 

There is a translation of the BEA accident report here - http://www.pprune.org/4705627-post484.html

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[fly_tornado]

I love how when its an ayrab crew because its Etihad livery. Trying to make the racist views of Ayrabs to fit the facts...

 

 

[rankamateur]

four low-time engines look OK.

Read the report, I take back the OK bit, but they are still low-hour engines.

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

Read the report, I take back the OK bit, but they are still low-hour engines.

#3 has a few more hours than the rest - it ran for 7 hours after the accident (until it ran out of fuel).

 

 

[farri]

Unbelievable!This is news to me! Rgardles of the facts, it would be funny if it wasn`t so serious. Wonder who picked up the bill?

 

Frank.

 

 

[rankamateur]

Engine four is cleaner than the rest, it ran on firefighting foam until it snuffed.

 

 

[dutchroll]

What the alarm was trying to tell them is that you can't go to full power on the ground, in a non- loaded Airbus.

I can tell you that ain't true! You can always apply TOGA thrust (full thrust) on an Airbus on the ground at any weight. The alarm would be telling them they have thrust on with the park brake still set (takeoff config warning), but it certainly won't release the brakes for you.

Not quite sure what possessed Richard DC to say the details in the article are "essentially correct" unless he'd consumed a bit much red wine. They don't make much sense on a number of counts. The BEA report makes sense though, and certainly the photos are genuine.

 

 

[facthunter]

I know an Electra can jump the chocks on a run up, but props have more thrust. No I was not on it.

 

The A-340 -600 would have about 240,000 Lbs of thrust plus a bit. and an empty weight plus a bit of fuel around 420,000 Lbs I would not like to try it, as the plane was unchocked . You would want to make sure no-one was behind as well nev