To: helmet fire
“And you still didn't address my original question: if it was such a life threatening fault with the Airbus, why on earth would you have gotten on board”?
There were two problems that could have caused the loss of the A-310 on which I was riding. One was if a partially extended slat had been struck by lightening and the other was if an internal crack in the flap power control unit developed and migrated inward instead of outward. If it migrated outward we would have lost one hydraulic system and if it migrated inward we would have an uncommanded extension of the flap system. Granted either of these occurrences (lightning strike and internal leak) could have caused the loss of the aircraft but the probability of either occurring was very low. Besides I had the opportunity to go up front and talk to the pilots and telling them how to counter the uncommanded extension of the flaps. So if Mr. Murphy decided that on that flight the flaps would extend without being directed to extend the pilots would save the day. The rest of the flight was mainly my hoping that there was no thunderstorm over London. I have flown on many Airbus Aircraft since that flight and even if it is not on an A-310 I still go up front and talk to the pilots. I do this mainly because of similar system architecture on all Airbus aircraft and the fact that the same companies that supplied the flap and slat system drive on the A-310 are involved in all Airbus Aircraft.