A380: just another day in the office...

[chevol]

The following are messages received from someone who knows quite a lot about what really happened when the no.1 engine exploded. Interesting stuff:

Qute:

Hi Chaps,
I received these from some friends re the engine failure in
VH-OQA ex Singapore . . .
Here are just SOME of the problems Richard had in
Singapore last week aboard QF32
* massive fuel leak in the left mid fuel tank (the beast has 11 tanks,
including in the horizontal stabilizer on the tail)
* massive fuel leak in the left inner fuel tank
* a hole on the flap canoe/fairing that you could fit your upper body
through
* the aft gallery in the fuel system failed, preventing many fuel transfer
functions
* fuel jettison had problems due to the previous problem above
* bloody great hole in the upper wing surface
* partial failure of leading edge slats
* partial failure of speed brakes/ground spoilers
* shrapnel damage to the flaps
* TOTAL loss of all hydraulic fluid in the Green System (beast has 2 x
5,000 PSI systems, Green and Yellow)
* manual extension of landing gear
* loss of 1 generator and associated systems
* loss of brake anti-skid system
* unable to shutdown adjacent #1 engine using normal method after landing
due to major damage to systems
* unable to shutdown adjacent #1 engine using the fire switch!!!!!!!!
Therefore, no fire protection was available for that engine after the
explosion in #2
* ECAM warnings about major fuel imbalance because of fuel leaks on left
side, that were UNABLE to be fixed with cross-feeding
* fuel trapped in Trim Tank (in the tail). Therefore, possible major
C of G out-of-balance condition for landing. Yikes!
* and much more to come..........
Richard was in the left seat, F/O in the right, S/O in the 2nd obs seat
right rear, also with his own Radio Management Panel, so he probably did
most of the coordination with the ground, Capt Dave XXX in the 1st obs
seat (middle). He is a Check & Training Captain who was
training Harry XXXX to be one also. Harry was in the 3rd obs seat
(left rear).

All 5 guys were FLAT OUT, especially the F/O who would have been
processing complicated 'ECAM' messages and procedures that were seemingly
never-ending!

-------------

I had some drinks yesterday with the F/O (Matt XXXX), S/O (Mark
XXXXX) and Training Captain under training (Harry XXXXX).

Harry was actually in the middle seat I think with Dave in the
third observers spot. Mind you within a few seconds it sounds like all
the guys in the back were up and looking closely at what was going on
(the view from the corners is not very good).

That list looks about right from what I've heard but they also had no
auto thrust, engines 1 and 4 in degraded mode and for some reason the
ECAM called for some of the yellow system hydraulic pumps associated
with the number 4 engine to be turned off. It took 50 minutes to work
through the ECAMs before they could get to the Status stage where the
checklists are done and you can think about the state of play.
Apparently at one point in the process the ECAM called for a Fuel
Quantity Management System reset which, after being completed, threw up
all the fuel problem checklists again even though they'd been dealt with
already. They went through them much more quickly the second time but it
sounded like it was getting depressing that it felt like it would never end.

Approach speed was around 165 knots and they got a "SPEED SPEED" auto
call at one point. At the end of the landing roll there was a big sigh
of relief until they were told that fuel was gushing out of the wing and
heading towards the brakes which were indicating 900 degrees. Then it
was adrenalin back on again. Once given the go ahead, the firies laid
down foam and got that under control. Engine 1 was still going when the
crew left. Apparently it took two fire trucks flooding the engine with
foam to stop it.

This will be a good investigation.
end quote

Sometimes it is nice to be just sitting behind a computer screen!
cheers

[mav214]

Good Lord......that could've had an awful ending. Period.

[John Khan]

And part way through all these checks the FO gave a remarkable PA for the passengers sounding very calm and collected.

It was a totally professional job of work done by all on that flight deckand I'm sure in the cabin.

This is what they practice all the time in the simulators although I'm sure no instructor, howeve nasty, has ever thought of all this many problems at once.

The Captain was Richard de Crespigny, FO Matt Hicks, 2nd Officer Mark Johnson. There was also a check Captain in the flightdeck.

I'm trying to find a recording of the PA given by Matt hicks, they played it on the radio here a few days ago but I can't fin it. I'll keep trying

John

PS. This crew hav been interviewed by the investigators and now returned to duty. None of them I'm sure will have to buy a beer anywhere for a very long time!!

[raa57]

try this guys very calm sounding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Pv9u_y ... re=related

think its the same plane is it?

[nwadc10]

This is what they practice all the time in the simulators although I'm sure no instructor, howeve nasty, has ever thought of all this many problems at once.

You can be sure that this scenario will be replayed many times the world over in the simulators now!

I heard today that there was something like 54 EICAS warning and caution messages on this. That's insane and has got to be exhausting for the guy doing the QRH. Excellent work by the crew and I'm happy to see the ending they had and to see Qantas keep their unblemished safety record.

[John Khan]

Thanks Terry that is the one.

Justin, leave the videoof the PA on and you get a video of the landing taken from the window seat just behind the wing.

I have been told there were 52 ECAM or EICAS messages comming up and they had to go through all of them, as they activated some of them and corected them they came up again continuously, these were regarding the fuel situations including imbalance and transfer (which they could not do because of the damage).

My wife is panicing now because she is going back to Switzerland next June. She will travel Brisbane to Frankfurt vya Singapore with Qantas.

John

[John Khan]

Have a look at this one too....more detail on that hole in the wing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZLq5II9AGk

[jacques]

Check out the blog below for a slideshow prepared by Airbus concerning some of the damage occured by the explosion of the turbine.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking ... -disaster/

Then check out this video of the actual test for integrity of a "blade off" event ( not the same event that occurred to the Qantas flight, but informative regardless).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j973645y5AA

Jay P

[raa57]

Check out the blog below for a slideshow prepared by Airbus concerning some of the damage occured by the explosion of the turbine.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking ... -disaster/

Jay P

Nice find jay!

a lot more damage than i first imagined too judging by some of the diagrams a lot of wiring and hydraulic and fuel lines are all in the immediate firing line of this uncontained engine failure
Also doesnt look good for RR that they knew about the oil leak problems already but withheld from Quantas as to when they would fix it.how can that give any airline faith in there engine provider i dont know


SCARY THOUGHTS


regards terry

[jacques]

Yeah, I kept thinking about the crash of Concorde. I mean, when you look at the video from inside the aircraft, that does look like fuel escaping off the wing through the puncture hole... I think they are all lucky they didn't auger in...so many failures... chapeau to the crew. Amazing job of CRM. And, Yeah, I would guess both RR and Airbus are back to the drawing board as a result of this one.

[raa57]

Yeah, I kept thinking about the crash of Concorde. I mean, when you look at the video from inside the aircraft, that does look like fuel escaping off the wing through the puncture hole... I think they are all lucky they didn't auger in...so many failures... chapeau to the crew. Amazing job of CRM. And, Yeah, I would guess both RR and Airbus are back to the drawing board as a result of this one.

Amazing job by everyone involved thats for sure,

think i will stick to my 747-200 for now

regards terry

[Mike Bridge]

It flew for another two hours after explosion dumping fuel and landed perfectly if u have seen the footage.
The engine next to the one that exploded also had dramas due to ingestion of explosion parts

It was a engine fault with oil being found in parts of the engine where it shouldnt be.
RR are going to be in a bit of trouble with this!

Our fleet will be back flying on the 27th.
Only on the Singapore / London Routes tho.
They have choosen not to run them on the LAX - Australia routes due to the Max weight, Max Thrust take offs required.
Interesting to note tho - we still run the engines 4000 pounds under what they are certified for.
No other A380 Operator with RR engines ( SQ and LH) run them as high as we do tho