Ooops there goes 210 Million U$!

[Hawkwind]

Aircraft (A340-600) in the pictures below was on the FAL (Final Acceptance Line) at Airbus Toulouse. It is believed they were conducting a Full Engine Run Test where you park the aircraft, put breaks on with chucks under the wheels and then apply full thrust to each engine. Then full power on all four engines. The BITE (Built in Test Equipment)/HUMs (Health Usage Monitoring) data is then collected and checked to make sure all the Engines are 100% good. No vibration etc.

This one managed to somehow jump over the chucks and brakes did not hold it. It then picked up speed and crashed into the safety barriers. It was only 2-3 days away from customer acceptance and handover.

Reports between 5-9 people injured, mostly Etihad personnel. Guess the French Engineers were the first to run clear

This is the second A340 accident this week at Airbus, not good for the share price.

 

[leviathane]

good stuff, gj on the barriers tbh though.

 

[Nate]

Is it lucky the plane was positioned towards the barriers or is that a standard procedure? I'd like to see a production video of this plane, showing the first one made to the latest..Airbus said the time would be dramatically reduced each time it was made from a few months to a day or smth similar.

Airbus A340 Production list - Airfleets Shows all current A340 status

 

[Fafnir]

Be happy it happens now and not when you are sitting in the plane..

 

[Hawkwind]

Is it lucky the plane was positioned towards the barriers or is that a standard procedure? I'd like to see a production video of this plane, showing the first one made to the latest..Airbus said the time would be dramatically reduced each time it was made from a few months to a day or smth similar.

Airbus A340 Production list - Airfleets Shows all current A340 status

The area it happened (Engine Run Up Area) in is like a large rectangle of barriers with taxiway through the middle. The aircraft actually went from one corner to the opposite side. Bit difficult trying to stop a heavy object with plenty of inertia. Still guessing the breaks failed as engine spool down is quite quick < 10 secs.

 

[DocWolfe]

You seem to know alot about this Hawkwind - were you there?

 

[Hawkwind]

You seem to know alot about this Hawkwind - were you there?

One of the guys working for me was. I have been on enough deliveries though.

 

[Lamp]

Woman pilot probably on the phone to her sister whilst checking make-up in mirror

 

[Hawkwind]

Just heard back from my man on-site in Toulouse that the engines were still running 2 hours after the crash. The damage to the cockpit and avionics/engine controls were so severe that there was no way to stop them. So they had to wait for the fuel to run out. About 6 tons worth!

 

[Eeben]

wtf is up with all those plain problems? think we had like 5 plains in dk almost crashing in 2 months all the same type.. Dash something

 

[old.Tohtori]

I've always wondered about the engien tests.

So they take this engine, frehs off the line, test it against ALL possible scenarios that could happen(birds, rubble, metal junk flying in, whatnot, cold, ehat, extreme situations) and THEN put it on the plane.

Sounds nice and safe right?

Well...what i wonder about it is, if you put an engine through all that, isn't the chance of something braking "a bit" inside is quite expected?

Shouldn't they test the engine again, after the first tests, so that the tests didn't break it? How about the test after test after test test?

 

[Bahumat]

I think Hawkwind caused this, he seems to know all about it!

Plane Murderer!

 

[Hawkwind]

I've always wondered about the engien tests.

So they take this engine, frehs off the line, test it against ALL possible scenarios that could happen(birds, rubble, metal junk flying in, whatnot, cold, ehat, extreme situations) and THEN put it on the plane.

Sounds nice and safe right?

Well...what i wonder about it is, if you put an engine through all that, isn't the chance of something braking "a bit" inside is quite expected?

Shouldn't they test the engine again, after the first tests, so that the tests didn't break it? How about the test after test after test test?

They only do those sorts of tests on the first ones made. Test Engines that are tested to destruction. My Favourite test is where they set charges off on the Fan blades at the front of the Engine Low Pressure side. The fan blades then get sucked in and choke the engine up and usually then ruptues on the High Pressure side. The subsequent explosion has to be completely contained withing the engine to pass. If any parts come flying out they could obviously damage the fuselage or wings in a real situation. They also do other checks like firing dead birds into engines at full power.

NDT (non destructive testing) of engines is carried out as part of regular scheduled maintenance, they check for blade cracks using boroscopes and dyes & x-ray machines. But the engines electronic sensors provide the best health data on an engine. They constantly messure pressure, temperature and vibration. Data is downloaded regularly to keep a check on them.

YouTube - Pratt & Whitney 4084 Engine Test
[youtubevid]Wi8qVTFCTVI[/youtubevid]

Link to video of bird tests on a P&W Engine

One from RR.
YouTube - Rolls-Royce Trent 900 Bird Ingestion Test
[youtubevid]rSafRuLB0c0[/youtubevid]

the stuff following the birds in is ice. They basically fire frozen birds in from a cannon. They have to freeze them otherwise they break up when fired.

 

[Bahumat]

Hawkwind. Those Pratt & Whitney tests are good, but could the engine survive 1 earth pet?

 

[Hawkwind]

Hawkwind. Those Pratt & Whitney tests are good, but could the engine survive 1 earth pet?

Can Earth Pets fly at 10000 m? if so they might be a huge problem.

 

[Nate]

Is the company going to fire anyone because of this?

 

[Amildin]

surely the wedge guy!

 

[Fafnir]

surely the wedge guy!

Perhaps they made the misstake to fire him before the test?

 

[Overdriven]

Ouch. Poor plane