To: High Wing Drifter
I look forward to the report.
The report is complete but it is not being released until Air Transat can get it changed to reflect the true assessment of blame which will be shared between Airbus, Rolls Royce, Air Transat and possibly the certification authorities.
According to my source the pilots performed exactly in accordance with the operating manual. They were presented with various visual inputs from the instruments and Capt. Pische believing that the design of the A-330 was such that there could not be a mechanical problem (leak) that the presentation of the instruments (computer) was faulty. Although the FO ran several paper calculations the Captain did not believe the findings of the FO. Also the indications of high oil pressure and low temperature were never covered in the training syllabus nor was it covered in the operating manual. This just added to the confusion factor. When the Captain eventually suspected a leak he had the cabin attendant look out the window. Since it was at night she could not tell if there was a leak. Another point to consider was the software used to detect a fuel imbalance was set such that an excessive amount be lost prior to the indication being presented to the pilot. Much of the fuel was lost prior to the pilot being made aware of the imbalance.
As a result Airbus changed the imbalance detection software and they issued an AD covering the actions to be taken by the pilot in the event of a leak or an imbalance. This AD was broken down into various sections, which related to a specific leak and the location of the leak. It also indicated if the pilot should open the cross feed. This is a good approach but there is a problem. In order to determine if there is a leak and the location of the leak the crew must be able to see it. This might work during daylight hours but if it happened during the night it will lead to the pilot making the wrong move to counter the leak which could exacerbate the problem. To my knowledge this AD which was written over a year ago has not been officially released.
One additional note: In the Airbus AD they blamed the pilots of the stricken A-330. This might be done in an NTSB assessment but never in an AD.
