Model Boat Mayhem

Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: riggers24 on October 12, 2008, 05:08:25 pm

Title: Expensive oops
Post by: riggers24 on October 12, 2008, 05:08:25 pm
The 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) to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine runups, prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi.  The date was November 15, 2007.

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 decided 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 $80 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.
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: andygh on October 12, 2008, 06:26:18 pm
A slightly less sensationalist report, Airbus employees were in fact in control

Quote
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: The Emirates' national air carrier denied Friday that any of its employees were among 10 people injured when an Airbus jet slammed into a wall during ground tests a day earlier.

An Airbus spokesman also corrected the company's statement late Thursday that seven employees of Etihad Airways were injured, saying they in fact worked for a firm contracted to test the plane.

Ten people were injured Thursday during engine tests of an Airbus 340-600 near the southwestern French city of Toulouse shortly before the jet was scheduled to be delivered to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad.

Airbus said nine people on board were injured in the accident, along with one person on the ground.

Airbus Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier said late Thursday that seven Etihad employees were among the wounded. "It was normal for the client to be present on board the plane," Bregier said.

However, Etihad denied on Friday that any of its employees were injured. "At the time of the incident, there were no members of Etihad staff on board of the Airbus plane, which was expected to be delivered to us next week," said Greg Moore, a spokesman for the Dubai-based public relations firm Four Communications, which represents Etihad.

Jacques Rocca, an Airbus spokesman, said Friday that the seven non-Airbus staff on board the plane during the accident were employees of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, a contractor working for Etihad. Calls to the company for comment went unanswered Friday, the weekend in the Gulf.

Airbus said in a statement that most of the wounded had been released from hospital by Friday. "Of the three persons remaining in hospital, one is an employee of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT), a service provider for Etihad Airways, and two are Airbus employees," the statement said.

The incident took place during a final round of tests before anticipated delivery, in which the plane's engines are powered up full-throttle as the brakes are applied.

French authorities ordered a technical investigation into the causes of the accident.
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: das boot on October 12, 2008, 07:09:48 pm
"before operating, make sure you have read and understood the instruction manual......."




Rich
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: catengineman on October 12, 2008, 07:13:06 pm
"before operating, make sure you have read and understood the instruction manual......."




Rich

Oh your on about   RTFM   {-) :-))
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: dougal99 on October 12, 2008, 08:03:34 pm
"before operating, make sure you have read and understood the instruction manual......."




Rich

Surely, only if all else fails.  :o  :kiss:
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: sheerline on October 13, 2008, 10:04:39 am
What a sad picture, a beautiful brand new aircraft smashed to pieces.... breaks my heart to see it!
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: malcolmfrary on October 20, 2008, 01:51:10 pm
At a guess, several lawyers will have nice new holiday homes.
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: Martin (Admin) on October 20, 2008, 01:56:51 pm

This is one of my favourite 'Oops!'

What was the pilot doing?!?!?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ruHzR4u-Kvc (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ruHzR4u-Kvc)
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: nhp651 on October 20, 2008, 07:48:41 pm
one thing for sure.......he won't be invited onto the next farnborough display team?lol :} {-) :D
Title: Re: Expensive oops
Post by: polaris on October 22, 2008, 11:43:54 am

Dear Martin,

I have seen this one before last year, but there was more 'explanation' with it. From memory it was in Russia, and the machine had been given as a birthday present by a somewhat wealthy father to one of his sons who had not long learned to fly. It's a pity he hadn't listened to what he had been taught about the power to lift ratio! Maybe he was thinking of using it for a new business - tree surgery %)

Regards, Bernard