Comments on Aircrew Buzz: New A340-600 in ground accident at Toulouse

http://www.airbus.com/presscentre/pressreleases/pr...

2011-05-08T07:50:19.231-10:00

http://www.airbus.com/presscentre/pressreleases/press-release-detail/detail/industrial-accident-at-airbus-facility-saint-martin-site/press-releases/news-browse/8/

With all due respect to all comments , simply put ...

2010-04-19T20:52:45.135-10:00

With all due respect to all comments , simply put : people made the ground running test were not qualified and not licensed , and should not been allowed .

David M.- I can't find where the aircraft was ...

2010-03-23T09:27:31.935-10:00

David M.- I can't find where the aircraft was "exiting the test area" as you state. According to the BEA's report (translated to English @ http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/300539-brand-new-etihad-a340-600-damaged-toulouse-several-wounded-26.html#post4705627 ):
" 1.1 Summary of the event

On 15 November 2007, the Airbus A-340-600 F-WWCJ was undergoing static engine ground runs on the Toulouse-Blagnac airfield. The purpose was to test various systems with technicians of the airline that had ordered the aircraft. No wheel chocks were used. On completion of these tests, after having stopped and inspected the engines, the technicians started the engines again for another engine run at high power to find the origin of oil leaks.

Approximately three minutes after power up, the aircraft began to move forward. The technician in the left seat perceived the motion and informed the Airbus technician in the right seat. The latter acted on the brake pedals and then released the parking brake. The DFDR (digital flight data recorder) then indicates a partial release of the brake pedal command. Since the aircraft continued to move forward, he tried to modify its trajectory by using the nose wheel steering. The nose wheel gear quickly skidded sideways as the aircraft accelerated.
The aircraft struck the slope of the anti-blast wall. The forward fuselage broke and fell down on the other side of the wall.

There were thirteen seconds between the start of aircraft movement and the collision with the wall."

---This is from the French, who aren't American, and DO NOT want to sell Boeing

Anonymous, why would you use chocks if you were ex...

2009-10-12T09:27:39.363-10:00

Anonymous, why would you use chocks if you were exiting the test area after full power tests as the article says?

Do you know something about chocks the rest of us who aren't American and want to sell Boeing don't?

David M.

Always check Snopes...

http://www.snopes.co...

2009-03-24T08:27:00.000-10:00

Always check Snopes...

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/etihad.asp

Origins: The photographs displayed above do repr...

2009-02-26T23:50:00.000-10:00

Origins: The photographs displayed above do represent the aftermath an Airbus 340 engine test that ended in a ground collision, but unconfirmed, pejorative information has been added to the accompanying text
which describes the circumstances of the accident.

On 15 November 2007, a four-engine Airbus A340-600 (which is not actually "the largest passenger airplane ever built") in the process of being delivered to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways was undergoing ground engine testing at the Airbus Technical Center in Toulouse, France. During those tests, the aircraft somehow broke loose and crashed into the test-pen wall as pictured above. According to press reports, nine people — two Airbus employees and seven employees of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT), a service provider contracted by Etihad — were aboard the airliner at the time, and four of them were injured. (It is not true, as claimed, that there was "a news blackout in the major media in France and elsewhere" because "coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Moslem Arabs.")

Although the accident did occur while ground engine tests were being conducted with the plane's parking brake applied, a report released by French investigators in December 2008 did not confirm that claim made above that the crash was caused by ADAT technicians who were unfamiliar with the aircraft and overrode a vital safety feature:
French investigators have found that an Airbus to be delivered to Etihad Airways crashed during ground engine tests because the wheels were unchocked and attempts to steer away from a wall had decreased brake pressure.

A 30-page report released by the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses (BEA) said the four Trent 500 engines, carrying 56,000 pounds of thrust each, were being tested at high power and the wheels were left unchocked.

"Surprise led the ground-test technician to focus on the braking system, so he did not think about reducing the engines' thrust," said the report.

"It was all over in 13 seconds," said David Kaminski-Morrow, an editor at Air Transport Intelligence. "The aeroplane shouldn't haven been running with engines at higher power and the aeroplane should have had chocks on the wheels to stop [it] moving, and these things didn't happen. It was basically a schoolboy error."

"The report does not say who made the decision to put the aeroplane in the position which led to the accident in the first place. What part ADAT played and what part Airbus made is not publicly clear," Mr Kaminski-Morrow said.

"This will probably be the subject of Airbus internal inquiries. But I find it hard to believe suddenly all the rules got broken because ADAT came along. It was at the Airbus headquarters, it was an Airbus test pen, it was an Airbus engineer at the right-hand seat, which the report said is where control inputs were coming from. An ADAT engineer was in the left seat."

In the run-up to the accident, the full-power engine test with wheels unchocked was testing the limits of the parking brake. As the aircraft began to move, an ADAT engineer reported the aircraft was moving. According to the flight recorder, at that point the pedal brake was applied and the parking brake deactivated, said Mr Kaminski-Morrow. Finally, the steering wheel was turned to avoid crashing into the test-pen wall, but that had the opposite effect as it instead reduced the braking pressure.
Last updated: 9 January 2009

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/etihad.asp

airbus, great plane and a sad loss, I only fly on ...

2008-08-13T22:27:00.000-10:00

airbus, great plane and a sad loss, I only fly on Airbus aircraft, so much nicer and safer than Boeings, this was not a failure of the plane, but someones silly mistake

Hello TomP:

I made a New Year's Resolution ...

2008-01-05T09:48:00.000-10:00

Hello TomP:

I made a New Year's Resolution never to set foot in a Scarebus again, so I can not help you next time. Otherwised, I'd have given you my email address.

I have made my share of mistakes, but still, tie the sumbitch down, make sure the brakes are gonna hold, I mean ... c'mon now.

Ah, anonymous, such cynicism and such after-the-fa...

2008-01-02T07:07:00.000-10:00

Ah, anonymous, such cynicism and such after-the-fact brilliance! Unfortunately, not all of us are perfect like you, as most of us make mistakes (and it probably was a human error and not mechanical failure). If we're lucky, nothing gets damaged and nobody gets hurt. Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen that way. Guess we should just call you and let you do it.

It's a scarebus, not a great loss really. Make su...

2007-12-31T13:57:00.000-10:00

It's a scarebus, not a great loss really. Make sure the damn hydraulics are all on and use bigger chock blocks next time ;-)

Here is wishing a speedy recovery to those injured...

2007-11-21T06:22:00.000-10:00

Here is wishing a speedy recovery to those injured. What a fiscal waste, a lovely new aircraft!!!