View Full Version : United A320 flies seven sectors after tail strike
United A320 after a serious tail strike continued to fly seven flights without maintenance. Now grounded.
https://simpleflying.com/united-airlines-airbus-a320-tail-strike-houston-intercontinental/
How do we know that no maintenance occurred?
We don't know the full nature of the damage, it could have been inspected, found within limits but scheduled in for a repair within x number of landings.
DaveReidUK
5th Aug 2023, 12:16
We don't know the full nature of the damage, it could have been inspected, found within limits but scheduled in for a repair within x number of landings.
On the contrary, we do know the full nature of the damage, courtesy of the NTSB:
"The tailstrike resulted in abrasion damage over an area of about 19 feet long by 1 foot wide along the aft lower fuselage. An inspection revealed substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead and frames."
The aircraft hasn't flown since the incident in March.
FlexibleResponse
5th Aug 2023, 12:42
Wow...don't airliner pilots still do walk-around inspection before flight checks?
On the contrary, we do know the full nature of the damage, courtesy of the NTSB:
"The tailstrike resulted in abrasion damage over an area of about 19 feet long by 1 foot wide along the aft lower fuselage. An inspection revealed substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead and frames."
The aircraft hasn't flown since the incident in March.
In 1985 JAL123 B747 crashed due similar damaged rear bulkhead killing 520 on board.
Liffy 1M
5th Aug 2023, 13:24
In 1985 JAL123 B747 crashed due similar damaged rear bulkhead killing 520 on board.
The JAL aircraft had, of course, been repaired but not to the required standard, as was discovered after the event.
On the contrary, we do know the full nature of the damage, courtesy of the NTSB:
"The tailstrike resulted in abrasion damage over an area of about 19 feet long by 1 foot wide along the aft lower fuselage. An inspection revealed substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead and frames."
The aircraft hasn't flown since the incident in March.
Apologies, I didn't see that in the linked web page.
How on earth did they miss that on a walk round? 🤔
FlexibleResponse
5th Aug 2023, 14:05
Tailstrikes that damage the skin of the pressure hull can be deadly if an aircraft is pressurized after such an event.
China Airlines 611
On 25 May 2002 tailstrike damage improperly repaired, finally unzipped the pressure hull of CI 611 sprinkling 225 crew and passengers over the Taiwan straits.
The cracked section was leaking nicotine stained air through the original tailstrike crack which had grown enormously for at least 7 years before the crash (smoking banned 7 years before the catastrophic event).
But nobody amongst the aircrew or maintenance staff ever realised what they were looking at and what was really happening below the doubler plate during daily walkaround inspections.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_H0M2jVU3NISgpXvhlUv4I4ZJtjAc2PkIgfLTK2w UBg&s
China Airlines Flight 611 (CI611/CAL611) was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taoyuan International Airport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoyuan_International_Airport)) in Taiwan to Hong Kong International Airport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_International_Airport) in Hong Kong.
On 25 May 2002, the Boeing 747-209B (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/747-200) operating the route disintegrated in midair and crashed into the Taiwan Strait (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Strait), 23 nautical miles (26 mi; 43 km) northeast of the Penghu Islands (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penghu_Islands), 20 minutes after takeoff, killing all 225 people on board.
The in-flight break-up was caused by metal fatigue cracks resulting from improper repairs to the aircraft 22 years earlier.
The final investigation report found that the accident was the result of fatigue cracking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatigue_(material)) caused by inadequate maintenance after a much earlier tailstrike (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailstrike) incident.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Nicotine_Trace_on_China_Airline_Flight_611.png/220px-Nicotine_Trace_on_China_Airline_Flight_611.png (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nicotine_Trace_on_China_Airline_Flight_611.png)
Around 1995, China Airlines started to ban smoking on board. Cabin pressurization forced the smoke out through the cracks.
Over time, the smoke left the nicotine stains outside of the plane.
These stains were an indication of a possible hidden cracks beneath the doubler plate, which means that the cracks had been there long before 1995.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_611
morton
5th Aug 2023, 16:05
Not the first time a tail scrape has been missed during a walkround by whoever was responsible for it.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/jet-flew-despite-damage/28318523.html
DaveReidUK
5th Aug 2023, 18:16
Not the first time a tail scrape has been missed during a walkround by whoever was responsible for it.
Though probably the first time one has been missed on 7 successive walkrounds ...
JanetFlight
5th Aug 2023, 20:56
OMFG...Indonesia once again...:bored:
1southernman
5th Aug 2023, 22:51
United A320 after a serious tail strike continued to fly seven flights without maintenance. Now grounded.
https://simpleflying.com/united-airlines-airbus-a320-tail-strike-houston-intercontinental/
The NTSB report doesn't mention the 7 legs but maybe it wouldn't ..Obviously from the damage one would think the accident crew would have least taken a peek and do a report/wu...With both sides in-putting stick and one not mashing the red button did that cause summing in that phase ?...Been away 14 yrs from the Bus and flying...
Amazing how circumstances that can intervene in proceedings, following the tail scrape the FO was going to do a walk around but was prevented by customs quarantining the aircraft for the next flight, had the FO been allowed the scrape would have been picked up immediately I'm sure.
Amazing how circumstances that can intervene in proceedings .... :)
It wasn't just seven more sectors, but three days later as well it was picked up, on an intermediate turnround at Dallas. Is there no engineering inspection overnight ?
One wonders how the damage was traced back to three days previously, and how that wasn't idenfified more promptly.
DaveReidUK
6th Aug 2023, 09:11
I would imagine that the tailstrike event, if not noted at the time, would have been identified in retrospect from the QAR or FDM.
Ken Borough
6th Aug 2023, 10:46
A few years ago a Virgin Australia 737 flew a number of sectors after a pod strike while landing at Apia. The aircraft was eventually grounded for some time for repair.
And there was an ATR72 operated by Virgin Australia that was flown after incurring significant damage.
The ATSB reports are on its website for all to read.
Separately to the preflight walk-round, do United not have a daily inspection and signoff by a licenced engineer before the first flight of each day ? One notices that the two intermediate nights had the aircraft not nightstopping at a major United base, but at an outstation (Tucson AZ on the first night and Cedar Rapids IA on the second night). What were the inspection arrangements at those ?
BFSGrad
6th Aug 2023, 15:11
The NTSB report doesn't mention the 7 legs but maybe it wouldn't ..There are many pertinent things the NTSB doesn’t have the inclination to mention in its reports these days; e.g., if the FO was not maintaining the correct airspeed and pitch attitude during landing, was the approach then unstabilized requiring a go-around? Was it a bounced landing (“…the airplane rebounded from a firm landing…”) requiring a go-around?
From ADS-B data, the accident aircraft flew 4 legs on 3/23, 2 legs on 3/24, and 1 leg on 3/25 (all dates UTC). It flew one more leg on 4/21 from DFW to IAH (assume ferry flight).