A320 Double Hydraulic Failure.
I was the captain of the A320 when this incident occurred. A very early morning (0630ish) departure from LGW in late December, the weather was wet and very windy. During the climb the Cabin Manager reported slight vibration in the area of mid cabin on a couple of occasions There were no adverse indications in the flight deck but we put the vibration down to POSSIBLE icing in the A/C units as it was raining on departure and close to zero degrees,
About 30 minutes into the cruise we had a Green system hydraulic warning, loss of pressure due to fluid loss .
R/T call to ATC for a return to STN decision made as strong X wind at LGW. As we turned and descended to a new flight level, the Blue system loss of pressure warning came on due to loss of fluid.
Mayday, and immediate turn and descent to Brest, ATC very good total priority.
For those of you familiar with the Sim Ex let me advise you, the failure is done electronically, however in the A/C it’s different, the next thing indicated was the Yellow system pressure dropping… it then stabilised!! (Who thought about a coastal ditching for a few seconds)?
Added problem the A/C was very heavy… tanking, no slats on sel flap one, stall speed then above flap two limit.
Cabin crew were excellent breakfasts under seat, full demo for Brace, as LGW told Brest after our dep R/W inspection hole found in R/W and could have damaged tyre. Which then burst, no tyre pressure indicators in those days
On landing at Brest, pax on buses from runway A/C moved to maintenance pan, security came on board and on instructions from Airbus, we were asked to leave the A/C.
In the early hours of that morning the A/C was on maintenance, hydraulic rigs used on Blue system, the engineers concluded that the air pressure relief valve on the Blue pump failed.. air in system… vibration.. I think the original Blue pump was replaced, and that was “lost in transit” I was told. The Green pipe sheared first, located on a small panel on the forward left bulkhead in the undercarriage bay… where just several cm away on the same panel was a blue system pipe! (Vibration!) The Blue system pipe sheared at the Blue Pump outlet.
To my knowledge there has been no information regarding this incident, which was reported correctly AND the ECAM info was photographed by my excellent F/O.
Why is it not Archived… there has been no information from Airbus.
At one point for a few seconds I would have loved a Hudson River!