Asiana 767 crew grounded after flying on one engine

[alberttky 0]

South Korean regulators are investigating Asiana Airlines following a 19 April incident in which the crew of a Boeing 767-300 aircraft did not divert after they observed a warning with the aircraft’s port-side engine.

One hour into a Seoul Incheon-Saipan flight, the crew observed a warning light relating to one of the aircraft’s two General Electric CF6 engines, says a statement from South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.

The crew reduced the engine’s power, but the warning light remained on. Rather than divert to an airport in Japan, the crew elected to fly on, eventually landing in Saipan four hours later on a single engine.

Maintenance personnel in Saipan later discovered “metal particles” – apparently caused by abrasion – blocking an engine oil filter. According to South Korean official news agency Yonhap, a replacement engine had to be flown to Saipan.

The flight number was OZ603, and there were 253 passengers aboard. The carrier was unable to provide Flightglobal with the aircraft’s registration number.

Flightglobal’s Ascend Online Fleets database shows that the operator has seven 767-300s and one 767-300ERF. The average age of its 767s is 18 years.

A 47-member committee comprising government officials and experts will be assembled to look into the incident.

The Yonhap report adds that the two pilots involved in the incident have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

The incident will raise further questions about the competence of Asiana’s flight crews following the crash of an Asiana Boeing 777-200ER while attempting to land in San Francisco on 6 July 2013. Investigators later attributed this crash to pilot error.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/asiana-767-crew-grounded-after-flying-on-one-engine-398636/

[Cire 0]

I thiink competency is not in question here, but more on discipline. Why the tech.crew did not follow protocol to make an air-turn back when the aircraft's warning indicators lit?

[Radzi 2]

And what is the protocol? Was it stated in their SOP? Does it say "Land at the nearest suitable alternate? If yes then what is the nearest suitable alternate at the moment?

 

Being suspended during investigation after an incident is a normal procedure if I got it correctly.

[alberttky 0]

I think it's rather unwise of the crew to continue the flight knowing that there's nothing but clear blue ocean after Japan with one engine INOP.

[flee 5]

I think it's rather unwise of the crew to continue the flight knowing that there's nothing but clear blue ocean after Japan with one engine INOP.

Not only that - the airline is still reeling from the shock of the SFO crash. They should have taken a more conservative decision.

[Cire 0]

I think it's rather unwise of the crew to continue the flight knowing that there's nothing but clear blue ocean after Japan with one engine INOP.

 

Yup. It could have been a clogged fuel filter that could also happen to the other engine. The risk is just too much. The pilots have put the passengers and crew in danger. I wondered whether they are told of the situation and somehow a consensus was made to continue the flight? Still, again whether there is such protocol or not that requires the pilots to turn back. But then, isn't such protocols are common SOPs for commercial airlines pilots? Or each airlines have their own set of rules that differs from one to another? Then, who sanctioned them (the rules)?

[alberttky 0]

 

Yup. It could have been a clogged fuel filter that could also happen to the other engine. The risk is just too much. The pilots have put the passengers and crew in danger. I wondered whether they are told of the situation and somehow a consensus was made to continue the flight? Still, again whether there is such protocol or not that requires the pilots to turn back. But then, isn't such protocols are common SOPs for commercial airlines pilots? Or each airlines have their own set of rules that differs from one to another? Then, who sanctioned them (the rules)?

I believe it's more of a Korean culture. Captain decides, and the FO just merely comply with no questions asked.

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

I believe it's more of a Korean culture. Captain decides, and the FO just merely comply with no questions asked.

I thought that the Koreans had made progress in eradicating this gulf after the spate of KE accidents in the 90s?

[alberttky 0]

I thought that the Koreans had made progress in eradicating this gulf after the spate of KE accidents in the 90s?

Looking at the recent accidents, not enough progress has been made.