J* A330 Tow incident YMML.
Thread Starter
J* A330 Tow incident YMML.
It sounds as though a tow-bar-less tug is no guarantee against damaging a nose gear assembly. Rental at the new owners hangar also rumoured to be very expensive though. Has anyone seen the damage?
Nunc est bibendum
Yep. There is a piccie floating around of the tug Jack knifed under the aeroplane.
Word from QF engineering is that the nose gear assembly will definitely need replacing and the mains may need replacing due to the torsional stresses put on the main gear during the Jack knife. That may be QF engineering scuttlebutt though so not sure if the reality.
Just last week I watched a J* tug quite literally hoon around taxiway Tango at the end of the Charlie pier and was very surprised at the speed they were going with an A320 attached. I thought it was the capability of the tug but it appears it may have been more a cultural issue. (There's that word again).
I'll see if I can link the picture somehow. Just need to tidy up a few things.
Word from QF engineering is that the nose gear assembly will definitely need replacing and the mains may need replacing due to the torsional stresses put on the main gear during the Jack knife. That may be QF engineering scuttlebutt though so not sure if the reality.
Just last week I watched a J* tug quite literally hoon around taxiway Tango at the end of the Charlie pier and was very surprised at the speed they were going with an A320 attached. I thought it was the capability of the tug but it appears it may have been more a cultural issue. (There's that word again).
I'll see if I can link the picture somehow. Just need to tidy up a few things.
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C'mon Boney - of course the cost is allocated to Q, that's a no-brainer.
Keg, I agree RE the mains - pretty sure they'll be fine, a 25-30kt crosswind landing at 140kt is some real load. As per Bus AMM, NLG is toast.
It is what it is - stuff up of large proportion.
Keg, I agree RE the mains - pretty sure they'll be fine, a 25-30kt crosswind landing at 140kt is some real load. As per Bus AMM, NLG is toast.
It is what it is - stuff up of large proportion.
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Ask Tony
Just ask Mike Lowery's brother, he will tell you its world best practice....it is always typical, Jetstar trash something and QF Engineering has to fix it and give it back to them....
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Looks like one of those nasty sports injury clips you see where a weightlifter or long jumper break something that makes you shiver and grimace - just like the tug driver prolly did in this case.
Ouch.....
Ouch.....
Will you guys give it a rest!
**** happens in aviation. Singapore stuck a dugong into a bridge the other week, QF had a flood. That's life. The Jetstar guys didn't get on here crapping on about their pay freeze and the affect the capital intensive loss making international division has on the rest of the group.
It'll be fixed and returned to service and the QF boys can show how it's done when/if they get in back (if they've still got any destinations left to fly it to).
For now I feel sorry for the tug driver.
**** happens in aviation. Singapore stuck a dugong into a bridge the other week, QF had a flood. That's life. The Jetstar guys didn't get on here crapping on about their pay freeze and the affect the capital intensive loss making international division has on the rest of the group.
It'll be fixed and returned to service and the QF boys can show how it's done when/if they get in back (if they've still got any destinations left to fly it to).
For now I feel sorry for the tug driver.
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Interesting to know how can a 330 jackknife ? Has the tug skidded under ? What sort of speed is required to do this or has the driver just lost concentration and awareness of the angle he was at ?
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Wonder what would happen if they tried to tow without a bypass pin in this instance (towbarless). I know the gear is obviously off centre in this pic, but it may have settled this way after the hydraulics were turned off.
I see no streamer, but there is not enough clarity to tell.
I see no streamer, but there is not enough clarity to tell.
Last edited by Ngineer; 6th Jul 2014 at 11:54.
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As explained by engineer, - tug and plane going to fast for the corner. Plane continued in original direction, tug and nose gear spun around underneath jet and dragged. Nose gear plus various other bits and pieces stuffed.
The relatively new lift tug is pretty badly buggered too. - and they aren't cheap either.
The relatively new lift tug is pretty badly buggered too. - and they aren't cheap either.
Bottums Up
I thought it was the capability of the tug but it appears it may have been more a cultural issue.
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My understanding is that these towbarless tugs are approved at speeds up to about 30 kts.
Sure, this incident appears to be proof that it was towed around a corner too fast for the conditions at the time, but I too (as has Keg) have seen towed JQ A320's charging up and down Twy S at speeds that seem quite quick.
Then again, I've taxyied A320s at 30 kts in the past (within A320/A330 FCOM limits) and heard silly comments over the radio - clearly directed at me - that suggested it looked fast too (one pearler was "V1, Rotate" from an anonymous genius). Never had it in A330s, so it must be a 'relativity' thing; a small aircraft looks faster at same speed than a big 'un.
It'd be interesting to see if the engineering provider's SOPs include speed limits when towing around corners.
One other thing that just occurred to me was this; what if they were half way through a corner, and ATC gave them a late direction to stop or hold short of a nearby taxyway - the sudden shift to brakes might cause the whole shooting-match to go pear shaped (try it in a car one day...).
Sure, this incident appears to be proof that it was towed around a corner too fast for the conditions at the time, but I too (as has Keg) have seen towed JQ A320's charging up and down Twy S at speeds that seem quite quick.
Then again, I've taxyied A320s at 30 kts in the past (within A320/A330 FCOM limits) and heard silly comments over the radio - clearly directed at me - that suggested it looked fast too (one pearler was "V1, Rotate" from an anonymous genius). Never had it in A330s, so it must be a 'relativity' thing; a small aircraft looks faster at same speed than a big 'un.
It'd be interesting to see if the engineering provider's SOPs include speed limits when towing around corners.
One other thing that just occurred to me was this; what if they were half way through a corner, and ATC gave them a late direction to stop or hold short of a nearby taxyway - the sudden shift to brakes might cause the whole shooting-match to go pear shaped (try it in a car one day...).
