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breaking news: Cathay aircraft tyres on fire when landing

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he tyres of an Airbus aircraft of Cathay Pacific Airways caught fire at 1:50 p.m. today when it arrived the Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong. The passengers were evacuated using the emergency ladder.It is said that four persons were injured and the fire has been put off.

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Also learned that it was a single-engine approach...

 

Maybe Sneeze can enlighten us on this mishap ?

 

So, we had 3 incidents/accidents today:

 

Merpati

Cathay

American (767-300) enroute from CDG to DFW diverted to REK due 'fumes in the cabin'...

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Title is misleading...the "news" is not the burst tires, but engine shutdown midflight...

 

One engine had to be shut down midflight, and as it was approaching HKG airport, the remaining engine encountered problems with irregular on/of.

 

cathay_a333_b-hll_hongkong_100413_1.jpg

 

Pilots safely land Airbus after engine failure

Two pilots saved the lives of more than 300 passengers by safely landing an Airbus after experiencing engine failure upon its descent to Hong Kong.

 

by Simon Parry in Hong Kong

Published: 10:19PM BST 13 Apr 2010

Eight people were injured after Cathay Pacific flight CX780 from Surabaya in Indonesia made its emergency landing at Hong Kong International Airport.

The two pilots, both Australian, lost the use of the left hand engine shortly after the Cathay Pacific flight CX780 from Indonesia reached cruising altitude after taking off for the four hour 40 minute flight.

 

As an Airbus is able to fly and land safely on one engine provided if in range of an alternative airport, it continued towards Hong Kong with 322 passengers and crew.

 

However upon descent, the second engine repeatedly cut out, meaning the plane effectively glided at high speed towards the airport as the pilots struggled to keep it on course. As the plane was making its final approach over the sea, they managed to get enough thrust in the right hand engine to carry it safely to the runway.

 

Landing at a high speed, the pilots then managed to employ reverse thrust as well as other braking devices to bring the plane to a stop, setting the tyres on fire as they did so but bringing the aircraft to a safe standstill. Eight people were injured during the incident, but the majority were caused by people hurting themselves as they jumped down the emergency slides to the ground.

 

"It was an amazing piece of piloting in extremely testing circumstances," a pilot colleague said. "One engine was shut down completely and the other was going on and off. They effectively landed the plane on half an engine.

 

"The passengers who were on that plane should be praying to whatever God they have that they got down safely after what happened."

Another pilot said: "Their stories will come out in due course when the investigation is complete but what they did was nothing short of heroic. It's a miracle they managed to get the plane down safely.

 

"If this had happened on another airline or to less skilled and resourceful pilots, there is no way those passengers would have all walked away from that plane."

 

A Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department investigation has now been launched into the incident.

A Cathay Pacific spokesman said it was cooperating with the investigation, adding: "Our flight crew are all trained on a regular basis to handle such situations."

Edited by Denny Yen

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Found a video reporting the incident on YouTube. Narration and subtitles in Mandarin, but nevermind, wait for the animation of what they reckon happened inflight and during landing.

 

And apparently Aussie pilots at the controls. There's also an embedded video at link location - this one is in English.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1039647/aussie-pilots-heroes-for-averting-disaster

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These dramatic photos show the post-landing event as it unfold...passengers are first to be off, followed by crew, rallying point next to rwy.

 

p.jpg

 

p.jpg

 

p.jpg

 

p.jpg

 

Time-line...

p.jpg

 

zoom in of engine...

23505_418004336130_591921130_5658914_3474769_n.jpg

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Found a video reporting the incident on YouTube. Narration and subtitles in Mandarin, but nevermind, wait for the animation of what they reckon happened inflight and during landing.

 

 

 

quite a dramatic animation there by the local news. LOL. nonetheless, kudos to the pilots for getting the plane down in one piece. I'm sure they were well prepared for such an event to occur.

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It's near obvious evacuation procedures not strictly followed through :p

How on earth did that chap manage down the evacuation slide with that suitcase sized hand luggage :D

 

Pilots now being hailed as heroes

Likely a very different reception if something more sinister had happened during that 4+ hours flown on single engine and many passed up opportunities to divert and get everyone down safely first

Again, it's the kneejerk response - I'm sure those Aussie chaps must have their reasons

 

Interesting to find out if inflight service was any different on this flight

Were pax even made aware of the non functioning engine ?

I reckon there could well be many on board who would not have been able to enjoy their inflight meals or IFE then !

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When an engine fails at TOC, you would definitely need to descend to a lower level, so your next consideration is fuel. I highly doubt they would have made it to HKG with the fuel they carried onboard, unless it was an ETOPS flight. And that too we were trained to divert to the nearest suitable alternate if we have an engine failure, unless they were very close by to HKG when the incident happened. Waiting for more news tho.

Edited by Mohd. Afiq A.

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I can see someone have time to shade him/herself with an umbrella...

And passengers carrying their bags, seems like not very much in emergency huh?

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The incident seems similar to BA 038 incident at LHR two years ago. Both aircrafts use RR Trents as powerplants, but I don't want to speculate any further...

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This has been discussed in A.net forum too.

 

It is not clear cut as this is a 4 hour flight over tropical regions rather than a 12+ hour flight over the polar route. The Trent engines on the BA plane are a different model (higher thrust). However, I believe that RR has ordered similar modifications for the Trent 700's too. I wonder if the Cathay engines have been modified.

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Really want to see CX girls sliding down the raft :p

 

Aussie version of the story. They always "masuk bangkul angkat sendiri"

 

Australian pilots make 'miracle' landing in Hong Kong

 

750888-cathay-pacific-plane.jpg

The Cathay Pacific plane sits on a runway at Hong Kong's international airport after an emergency landing / AP AP Source: AP

 

 

* Left engine died during approach

* Six tyres failed to work

* "Amazing piece of piloting"

 

TWO Australian pilots are being hailed as heroes after safely landing a crippled Cathay Pacific passenger jet in Hong Kong.

 

The airline said the jet, an Airbus A330, was forced to perform the emergency landing at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday after the aircraft's left engine died during its approach.

 

The right engine suffered power surges, it has been reported, although Cathay Pacific described the engine as "functioning". Six tyres also failed to work as the plane touched down.

 

The jet, with 309 passengers and 13 crew on board, was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia.

 

The airline said the tyres were designed to deflate during emergency braking to prevent them bursting.

 

Eight passengers were hurt during the landing and taken to hospital. The rest were evacuated via emergency slides.

 

"It was an amazing piece of piloting in extremely testing circumstances," the South China Morning Post quoted a colleague of the two Australian pilots as saying.

 

"One engine was shut down completely and the other was going on and off. They effectively landed the plane on half an engine."

 

The newspaper quoted another Cathay Pacific worker as saying: "Their stories will come out in due course when the investigation is complete but what they did was nothing short of heroic.

 

"It's a miracle they managed to get the plane down safely."

 

Seven Network reported that fuel put into the plane before takeoff from Indonesia may have been contaminated, potentially disabling the engine.

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Hero pilots tend to lose their jobs! Look what happened to the BA pilots who landed without any engines running...

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Must say they managed to get pretty positive publicity out of this, so kudos to Cathay's PR department. But boy, 230kts landing speed. :blink:

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A job well done by the crew !!! :good:

 

309 passengers on a 330: full load :blink:

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Hong Kong authorities release preliminary report on Cathay incident

By Ghim-Lay Yeo

 

The Cathay Pacific Airways Airbus A330-300 involved in a high-speed landing at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on 13 April had issued a Mayday signal while preparing for landing.

 

The aircraft's centralised monitoring system had reported problems with the A330's twin Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines at least five times throughout the flight, says a preliminary report issued today by Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department.

 

Despite this, authorities say there was no engine or fuel system-related problem reported in the maintenance log of the aircraft, registration B-HLL, before it left Surabaya for Hong Kong at 01:24 GMT in an uneventful departure.

 

While the aircraft was climbing, the flight crew noticed minor engine pressure ratio fluctuations on engine no. 2. The other engine also had similar fluctuations "but within a narrower range", says the report.

 

At 01:58 GMT, the aircraft's monitoring system displayed the message "Engine 2 Central System Fault".

 

"As parameters on both engines were normal except the slight fluctuation of the engine pressure ratio indications, both the flight crew and the maintenance control [of Cathay's engineering department] were satisfied that it was safe for the flight to continue," says the report.

 

A similar message concerning engine no. 2 appeared on the monitoring system again at 03:16 GMT. At 05:19 GMT, the system displayed "Engine 1 Central System Fault" and "Engine 2 Stall" within "a short period of time", says the report.

 

The aircraft then sent an urgency signal to Hong Kong Air Traffic Control, advising that engine no. 2 was at idle thrust. The aircraft requested for priority landing, which was allowed.

 

While the aircraft was 45 nautical miles from HKIA and was about to level off at 8,000ft above mean sea level, the monitoring system displayed "Engine 1 Stall" at 05:30 GMT. A Mayday signal was declared at 05:32 GMT.

 

"During the final approach with both thrust levers at the idle position, No 1 engine was stuck at about 74% N1, and decreased to about 70% N1 during touchdown, and No. 2 engine was stuck at about 17% N1 throughout the approach and landing," says the report.

 

The aircraft landed at 05:43 GMT at a ground speed of 230kt with a landing weight of 173,600kg, with the pilot applying maximum manual braking before the aircraft came to a complete stop on the runway.

 

While landing, the lower cowling of engine no. 1 contacted the runway surface briefly, resulting in the automatic deployment of spoilers. Only engine no. 1's thrust reverser deployed.

 

Five main tyres of the aircraft were deflated, and there was fire and smoke on the main wheels, says the report.

 

The pilot then ordered an emergency evacuation of the 309 passengers and 13 crew members. During the evacuation, 57 passengers were injured. One of the 57 suffered serious injuries, adds the report.

 

An investigation team comprising officials from Hong Kong, France, UK, Indonesia and the USA is looking into the incident, with assistance from Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Cathay experts.

 

"The engines, their control systems and the fuel system are under detailed examinations to determine the possible causes of the abnormal engine behaviour," says the report, adding that engine fuel components and samples have been sent to the UK and USA for analysis.

 

Investigations are expected to take more than a year to complete, says the report.

 

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/05/06/341636/hong-kong-authorities-release-preliminary-report-on-cathay.html

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Contaminated fuel prime suspect in Cathay A330 throttle-jam

 

Fuel contamination, causing the seizure of engine valves, has been identified as the prime suspect after a Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 suffered a double powerplant malfunction on approach to Hong Kong four months ago.

 

The aircraft, operating flight CX780, landed at high speed on 13 April after its left-hand Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engine jammed at a high thrust setting while the right-hand engine remained at low thrust. No evidence has emerged of spurious command signals from the engine controls.

 

But investigators discovered fine spherical particles - the nature of which is still being determined - inside the fuel tanks, fuel system and several engine components, including the fuel metering units and stator vane controls.

 

Examination of the engine fuel components showed that both engines' main metering valves had jammed in positions consistent with the thrust levels experienced on the approach.

 

"The abnormal engines performance during the flight was believed to have been caused by stiction, and eventual seizure, of the [valves]," says the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department.

 

It states that the spherical particles could not have been generated by the aircraft or its engine systems.

 

While the inquiry has yet to reach any conclusions, suspicion has fallen on the uplifting of 24.4t of fuel to the A330 while it was parked at Surabaya's Juanda International Airport.

 

The hydrant refuelling circuit serving 10 stands at the airport had undergone extension work as part of an apron extension project.

 

"Subsequent investigation at [Juanda Airport] noted that some of the re-commissioning procedures of that hydrant extension work were not in line with the guidelines and practices commonly used by the aviation fuel industry," says the Civil Aviation Department.

 

It adds that the refuelling system for several stands, including that used by the A330, was used before these re-commissioning procedures were completed. After the CX780 landing incident the refuelling circuit was isolated.

 

Although the inquiry is continuing, the Civil Aviation Department is recommending that Juanda Airport's authorities review the procedures and ensure they are completed before the refuelling system is brought back into operation.

 

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/08/11/346045/contaminated-fuel-prime-suspect-in-cathay-a330-throttle-jam.html

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