Yeah, i guess they are DEFINITIVELY in bitter need for a few more &qualified (!) A 330/ 340 Skippers, if you read below, how they wrecked their own, brand-new A 340 at the delivery @ Toulose -
extremely embarrasing
> TALE OF THE MISHAP OF AN ARAB FLIGHT CREW
>
> Photos show total destruction of a $200 million aircraft,
> brand new off the assembly line.
>
> The brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, the largest passenger
> airplane of the whole 340-series, sat in its hangar inToulouse, France
> without a single hour of airtime.
> Along came the skilled whole Arab flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft
> Technologies (ADAT) to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as
> engine runups, prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi.
>
> The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area. Then
> they took all four engines to takeoff power with a virtually
> empty aircraft. Not having read the run-up manuals, they
> had no clue just how light an empty A340-600 really is.
>
> The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit
> because they had all 4 engines at full power. The aircraft
> computers thought they were trying to takeoff but it had not
> been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc.)
>
> Then one of the ADAT crew decided to pull the circuit
> breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the
> alarm. This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the
> air. The computers automatically released all the brakes
> and set the aircraft rocketing forward. The ADAT crew had no
> idea that this is a safety feature so that pilots can't land
> with the brakes on.
> Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was smart enough
> to throttle back the engines from their max power setting,
> so the $200 million brand-new aircraft crashed into a blast
> barrier, totaling it. The extent of injuries to the crew is
> unknown, for there has been a news blackout in the major
> media in France and elsewhere. Coverage of the story was
> deemed insulting to Moslem Arabs. Finally, the photos are
> starting to leak out. Airbus $200 million aircraft meets
> retaining wall and the wall wins....
Resumee: RTFM guys - or "read the Fu**ing Manual" first - for god's sake !!
