Captain Evans was the Senior Check Captain on the Qantas A380 during the incident in Singapore. He was interviewed by the RAeS on the 6th December. In the interview he describes how the crew reacted to the uncontained engine failure and discusses the decisions the crew had to make. In particular, he considers that the most serious… Continue reading Royal Aeronautical Society interview with Captain David Evans of Qantas
Tag: Airbus
ATSB Preliminary Report on Qantas Flight 32
On the 3rd December the ATSB issued its preliminary report on the uncontained engine failure suffered by the Qantas A380 on the 4th November. The initial cause appears to have been a fatigue crack within a stub pipe that feeds oil to the HP/IP bearing structure. And this cracking was associated with a misaligned region of… Continue reading ATSB Preliminary Report on Qantas Flight 32
Would I fly on an Airbus A380?
YES, you bet I would! If there is one thing that the Qantas incident in Singapore has shown it is that this aircraft has a huge amount of redundancy built into its systems. And when the full accident investigation has been completed it will be even safer. The whole nature of civil aviation is one… Continue reading Would I fly on an Airbus A380?
QANTAS flight QF 32 – Media versus Reality
When something spectacular occurs the media tends to bring out all the hype – aircraft crashes, disaster narrowly averted, Airbus unsafe, or hero pilots save the day. Reality is not like that. Instead we should be praising the design standards that are current in civil aviation. So, what are some of the safety precautions that… Continue reading QANTAS flight QF 32 – Media versus Reality
New engines for old favorites?
There used to be a time when the big aircraft makers were churning out new types with astounding regularity. In the wide-body arena, there was a choice between the Tri-Star from Lockheed, the DC-10 from McDonnell Douglas and of course the 747 from Boeing. Narrow-bodies also came in a nice variety from the DC-9 through… Continue reading New engines for old favorites?
Near midair at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport (MSP)
On the morning of September 16, at around 06.49 a US Airways Airbus A320 (N122US) operating as flight AWE 1848 was cleared for take-off from Runway 30R bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with five crew and 90 passengers on board. At the same time, Bemidji Aviation Services flight BMJ46, a Beech 99 cargo flight with only… Continue reading Near midair at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport (MSP)
The rise and fall of an alien industrial spy
As soon as teleporting was perfected for the military in a far corner of the galaxy, the first assignment for the new system was to send an agent to Earth to check out the source of incessant radio noise and strange video images alternately showing humans killing each other or pairing in strange ways often involving acrobatics… Continue reading The rise and fall of an alien industrial spy
NTSB publishes final report on 2009 Hudson river ditching
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary. The NTSB has published the final report into the Jan 2009 ditching of an A320 onto the Hudson River, NY, following loss of thrust in both engines caused by multiple bird strikes. The report makes numerous safety recommendations. You can read the full report here.
Smooth cruise – The WizzAir experience
Editor’s note: This article dates from 2007. We are now an economic crisis later but the essence of the story is still the same. What is more, WizzAir, operating 30 aircraft, is still with us and hopefully will remain for a long time to come. WizzAir, the largest low fare – low cost airline in Central… Continue reading Smooth cruise – The WizzAir experience
Your project delayed? Come join the club!
It must be horrible to be the project manager of major aircraft programs these days. Look at the Airbus A380, the A400M, the Boeing 787 or the 747-8. They were all delayed by several years and the reasons were often quite pedestrian (like incompatible software or strength calculation errors). It will fall on the Airbus… Continue reading Your project delayed? Come join the club!