Anyone know about this?

[Keith]

Toulouse France recently. A brand new (never flown) $200 million Airbus 340-600 totalled in the space of 10 minutes. Apparently it was empty with just a "test" crew on board. Will someone get a bollocking? :evil:

I've heard there's a news blackout but you can't stop the odd "roving reporter" with his cell phone camera!

 

[Brett James-McCall]

November 2007: Etihad Airbus Crash Pictures Airline worldhttp://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,517772,00.html

 

[Keith]

Cheers Brett. Wow! this Interhairnet thingy is danged fast ain't it?:freak:

 

[Mike]

This is an email I just got. Don't know about it's validity.

The Tale of the Arab Flight Crew

Read the story below firstWritten by To The Point News Friday, 16 May 2008The
brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, the largest passenger airplane ever built, sat in
its hangar in Toulouse, France without a single hour of airtime. Enter the Arab
flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) on November 15, 2007 to
conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine run-ups, prior to delivery
to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up
area. Then they took all four engines to takeoff power with a virtually empty
aircraft. Not having read the run-up manuals, they had no clue just how light an
empty A340-600 really is.The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit
because they had all 4 engines at full power. The aircraft computers thought they
were trying to takeoff but it had not been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc.)
Then one of the ADAT crew decide d to pull the circuit breaker on the Ground
Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm.This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in
the air.The computers automatically released all the brakes and set the aircraft
rocketing forward. The ADAT crew had no idea that this is a safety feature so that
pilots can't land with the brakes on.Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was
smart enough to throttle back the engines from their max power setting, so the $200
million brand-new aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it.The extent of
injuries to the crew is unknown, for there has been a news blackout in the major
media in France and elsewhere. Coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Moslem
Arabs. Finally, the photos are starting to leak out.

 

[David Morton]

It's a reasonably accurate account and it happened last year. Their were photos of it shortly after the short 'non' flight.

 

[Mark Worthington]

Apparently there is no analog to the National Transportation Safety Board in France, or if there is, they are seriously lacking in transparency, as this event seems to be shrouded in mystery. Seems to me it must be operator error, a design flaw, or both. We all know how wonderful that Airbus flight control software is, as well as Airbus' history of bringing all the facts to the forefront after an accident.

 

[Mike]

Apparently there is no analog to the National Transportation Safety Board in France, or if there is, they are seriously lacking in transparency, as this event seems to be shrouded in mystery. Seems to me it must be operator error, a design flaw, or both. We all know how wonderful that Airbus flight control software is, as well as Airbus' history of bringing all the facts to the forefront after an accident.

That would be the infamous "lawnmower" crash, as I understand it has come to be known in the industry. Somebody, maybe everybody, seems to need some more simulator time.(?)

 

[John W]

Mark, that is a bit of a tenuous link.
You will note from your attached post that the missing data from the flight recorder occured whilst in the possession of the CAA, and NOT Airbus. Airbus have not withheld information, and the pilot was prosecuted as a result. Details can be found if you can be bothered to search for them.
Tarring a company in this manner can be very destructive.
Sure the aircraft has minor issues, but so do all others too.

By the way, there is a European alternative to the NTSB, its called the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

As for the 'crash' mentioned above, yes it was operator error. I don't believe it was an ADAT crew member who caused it (might be wrong on this though, can't remember).
There was no news blackout. This only adds to speculation, and the company realise this. They did however want to get facts reported, not speculation.

Cheers,
John. (one of my clients is part of EADS, another part of which make Airbus).

p.s. Anybody read the fiction book Airframe ?

 

[SouthernGT40]

Somebody, maybe everybody, seems to need some more simulator time.(?)

From personal experience I have flown Airbus A320, A321 and A330 for ten years plus and have never had a software issue during a flight. I think a ride in a simulator for two days every six months is enough. Not many other professions are as rigourously tested as being a pilot, although I do think they should be.

 

[TimB]

p.s. Anybody read the fiction book Airframe ?

Many years ago. entertaining but not his best work

 

[Mike]

John. (one of my clients is part of EADS, another part of which make Airbus).

Really? I would never have guessed that.


As far as my simulator comment goes, I have an uncle that is a commercial pilot and he has some pretty good stories about examiners "crashing" a plane on unprepared simulator pilots. He said that most of the time, from what he saw, it came from people not thinking things through and thinking they were greater pilots than they were. Anyway, my point was that if they had tried this manuveur in a simulator they would have known what would happen......and saved someone $200m.....and possible their own head.

 

[David Morton]

And Pigs might fly. What a load of crap.

 

[Mike]

And Pigs might fly. What a load of crap.

:huh:

 

[John W]

Crash, I said a client, not me. I have nothing to gain as my involvement with them is satellite based imaging and communications.

My point reardless of your opinion is valid, all the facts are out there. Its old news, so lets move on. I declared that my company provides services for them, as this shows if I as an external supplier know about it, it was hardly being kept secret was it.

Sprouting rubbish about something when the facts can be easily gained is irresponsible imo. I've just learned today that 4 people who were working on the same project as myself (ground and air support crew for the plane some of our kit is mounted on) have been killed in a mid air collision in their cessna near Coventry airport on August 17th. Maybe I should say the Cessna is a death trap, regardless of what the facts might really be...
Grieving relatives visit Coventry plane crash debris - Telegraph

How about this one just reported on the news:
Ryanair passengers on plunge jet say crew did not know what to do - Times Online
Maybe we should slate the 737 too...

 

[Mike]

Sprouting rubbish about something when the facts can be easily gained is irresponsible imo...... Maybe I should say the Cessna is a death trap, regardless of what the facts might really be...
Grieving relatives visit Coventry plane crash debris - Telegraph

How about this one just reported on the news:
Ryanair passengers on plunge jet say crew did not know what to do - Times Online
Maybe we should slate the 737 too...

HUH?? Where exactly did ANYBODY "sprout rubbish" and say that the plane was a POS and shouldn't be able to fly. Thou protest too much, me thinks. All I said was that, obviously, the flight crew needed more training. I'm sure these are, afterall, new and somewhat different systems than the older planes. I find your conclusions, based on what is posted in this thread to be illogical.

 

[David Morton]

Crash or what ever you are called.
You obviously know a little about aviation. The operative word is 'little'
so give it a rest. Please. This event was done and dusted last year.
David Morton.

 

[Mike]

Crash or what ever you are called.
You obviously know a little about aviation. The operative word is 'little'
so give it a rest. Please. This event was done and dusted last year.
David Morton.

Imteresting POV. Obviously we've touched a nerve with some of you.

I never claimed to be anything but less than a novice in the aircraft field.

If it was "done and dusted" last year, why is someone from the UK posing the question in the original post of this thread and I am just getting the info from a couple of my engineer friends here in the US??

All I can observe is that as much as our apparently infintile discussions are irritating to some, so too are the others rude and overblown reactions to me. This BBS, I thought anyways, is supposed to be a place where we exchange information. Not bag on each other with condicending remarks.

Have a nice day, David Morton, or whoever you are!

 

[John W]

Hi Crash, just catching up on posts after a few days away.
Keith clearly did not hear about this last year, hence the title of this thread.

My comment regarding sprouting rubbish relates to your first post, which clearly states you do not know its validity. I have tried to indicate it is close but not quite right.
I've said above, i was attempting to indicate there was no cover up or news black out.
Both you and I have apparently sourced information from within the industry, so it is not surprising that not all people have heard of either the event itself or the true facts.
Do the searches for yourself, the information is in the public domain.

I have not been rude to you, but have tried to correct facts.
I apologise for my last post. You are correct, this post touched a nerve in the light of discovering some close colleagues had been killed in an air crash.
Regards,
John.

 

[Jack]

Most avaition accidents are caused by inattention/poor crew communications/and or
(very rare) bad decisions based upon the aforementioned communications. Rarely has inexperience played a part. So David, you are "Right On".

Jack

 

[Keith]

Ever wished you had never opened your mouth...? :lipsrsealed:

Thanks for all the informed info - not sure why it turned into an anti Airbus/Arab rant but you know what they say - Boeing Boeing Gone!:drunk: