Wirraway
15th May 2003, 13:35
AAP
Water leak made plane 'bounce'
May 15, 2003
A WATER leak caused a Garuda Indonesia plane to bounce several times and become airborne as it attempted to land at Melbourne Airport, an investigation has found.
The Airbus A330, en route from Adelaide, was also forced to make a second approach after landing mechanics failed to operate during the incident on August 27, 2001.
The pilot of the aircraft eventually landed the plane manually and no one was injured.
A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) today found a leak into the radio altimeter antenna coaxial cables caused the loss of normal aircraft handling characteristics, disengaging the plane's two autopilots.
The pilot continued the landing approach on manual but during the first attempt, the aircraft bounced on touch-down and was airborne for four-and-a-half seconds.
It bounced three more times, the ground spoilers failed to deploy and the thrust reversers did not activate.
The report said a second landing was attempted and the plane bounced again, but this time the ground spoilers deployed, although not the thrust reversers.
"The landing rollout was completed without further incident, and the aircraft was taxied to the terminal," the report said.
The report said "water ingress" into the radio altimeter antennas caused its signals to be interpreted as out of range, rather than failure, causing the loss of normal handling characteristics.
AAP
Water leak made plane 'bounce'
May 15, 2003
A WATER leak caused a Garuda Indonesia plane to bounce several times and become airborne as it attempted to land at Melbourne Airport, an investigation has found.
The Airbus A330, en route from Adelaide, was also forced to make a second approach after landing mechanics failed to operate during the incident on August 27, 2001.
The pilot of the aircraft eventually landed the plane manually and no one was injured.
A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) today found a leak into the radio altimeter antenna coaxial cables caused the loss of normal aircraft handling characteristics, disengaging the plane's two autopilots.
The pilot continued the landing approach on manual but during the first attempt, the aircraft bounced on touch-down and was airborne for four-and-a-half seconds.
It bounced three more times, the ground spoilers failed to deploy and the thrust reversers did not activate.
The report said a second landing was attempted and the plane bounced again, but this time the ground spoilers deployed, although not the thrust reversers.
"The landing rollout was completed without further incident, and the aircraft was taxied to the terminal," the report said.
The report said "water ingress" into the radio altimeter antennas caused its signals to be interpreted as out of range, rather than failure, causing the loss of normal handling characteristics.
AAP