Airtran A/c into La Guardia 17 Mar with multiple Electrical Failures?

[TheShadow]

Have heard from two sources about an Airtran A/c landing La Guardia 17 Mar with cascading/multiple Electrical Failures.

Does anybody have any details?

[email protected] (pls put Guardia in Subject line to avoid spam-bin)

[PaperTiger]

From the FAA:IDENTIFICATION Regis#: 957AT Make/Model: B712 Description: 717-200
Date: 03/27/2003 Time: 0347
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: Minor Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION City: LAGUARDIA State: NY Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIR TRAN AIRWAYS INC, TRS-356, B717-200 ACFT LANDED RUNWAY 4 AFTER DECLARING AN EMERGENCY, ON TAXIWAY F PASSENGERS EVACUATED VIA CHUTES, 7 OCCUPANTS REPORTED INJURIES, AND UNKNOWN DAMAGE TO THE ACFT, OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, LAGUARDIA, NY
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: Y
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 7 Unk: YAnd from www.ny1.com:Nine people suffered minor injuries while evacuating a plane at LaGuardia Airport Wednesday.

The AirTran flight from Atlanta landed at LaGuardia Airport safely despite an electrical problem that disabled some computer screens and other equipment and turned off the lights in the cabin.

The 78 passengers and five crew members on board exited the plane with emergency chutes. Nine people were injured on the slides, five of whom were taken to a hospital.

The airport's two runways were closed for 45 minutes.I caught the end of a 'film at 11' segment on TV, but of course there was nothing intelligent about possible cause(s).

[TheShadow]

Thanks
It's tending to confirm what I'd been hearing about a wiring-related arc-tracking fire (akin to the Swissair Event).

Looks like the drastically revamped McDD electrical system for the 717 may not have managed to make wiring problems go away, even for a relatively young airframe. However the more data that is usually required to come to any conclusions is never available from the NTSB or FAA - unless the event reaches a newsworthiness quotient much greater than this one has.

It's all submerged in the fog of war.

[Few Cloudy]

Boeing and McD had quite different philosophies about electrical systems but the common denominator is wiring.

Having seen some wiring related problems on quite new 737s caused by fastening/chafing, I would say that this should now be the focus of all manufacturers' quality control and development.

Anyone can make fancy boxes these days but the connections and workmanship still need to be above any doubt safe.

[Belgique]

Few Cloudy

Wouldst agree.

But not all wiring and electrical problems are Boeing or McDD

LINK ONE(AirBus fire Sparks Safety Measures) (http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=00f29ee7-57a9-40cd-ad4f-7c16c1297a14)
"Bill Yearwood of the Transportation Safety Board.Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun
A video-entertainment system caught fire aboard an Air Canada Airbus passenger jet parked at Vancouver International Airport last year, drawing a frightening parallel to the Swissair disaster off Nova Scotia that killed all 229 people on board in 1998."

LINK TWO(Airbus Fires Linked to Video Systems) (http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=e89437ce-3432-43ee-a73b-dc9f13e87347)

"A video-entertainment system caught fire aboard an Air Canada Airbus passenger jet parked at Vancouver International Airport last year, drawing a frightening parallel to a Swissair disaster off Nova Scotia that killed all 229 people on board in 1998.

[Bubbette]

Does it bother anyone else that Air-Tran used to be ValuJet?

[Iron City]

No, I won't fly on either one

[tsgas]

Air Tran has lost far fewer A/C and pax than AA.

[OldAg84]

I would agree with tsgas, based on the causes of various accidents.

Haven't flown Airtran yet, but I will sometime soon. Why, because I won't fly Delta anymore than I have to.

[Bubbette]

They've lost more even on a per passenger basis?

[john_olle]

Any info about which systems malfunctioned?

[PaperTiger]

Was expecting a modbod to step in here, but since one hasn't....
Here (http://aviation-safety.net/database/airline.php?var=2290) is Valujet's record. One UEF, one hairy landing and the Everglades crash which if you read the report was no fault of the airline or crew. No (that's no) incidents for AirTran before last Thurs.

VJ was cited for maintenance deficiencies, but name me an airline that hasn't been - look up large FAA fines to see against whom they have been imposed.

[OldAg84]

Bubbette

No, the reason I compared the 2 was the fact that with both airlines having hubs in ATL, there is a relative route "overlay" for cities served, offering a direct comparision.

If I wasn't clear in my previous post- I apologize to any Delta flight or cabin crew- no reflection on the safety of your airline.

Reasons for not flying them lie are varied, service oriented, and not related to safety. I'll guess they're off-topic and don't belong here.