Qantas review after door opens in flight
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Qantas review after door opens in flight
"The Australian"
Qantas review after door opens in flight
By Steve Creedy
October 22, 2002
QANTAS has reviewed its maintenance procedures after a flight attendant and passenger were forced to grab a door that was opening on a jumbo jet during landing.
Paper was sucked under the door as the passenger and crew member wrestled a handle back into the locked position on a flight from Cairns to Nagoya, Japan, in April.
The flight attendant kept weight on the handle until the aircraft landed and taxied to the terminal, according to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau report released yesterday.
The same door subsequently experienced a second problem - with the handle again moving into the unlocked position - three flights after being adjusted by maintenance engineers.
An inspection found the force needed to move the handle was less than required and further adjustments were needed.
The aircraft flew twice more without incident before returning to its main base, where the door was stripped down.
The inspection found no defects and the door was refitted to the aircraft.
A Qantas spokeswoman said last night that the airline had upgraded its door rigging procedures. "Basically what happened before, where situations like this happened, the door was rerigged in situ, on the aircraft," she said.
"Under the enhanced procedures, the door will be removed from the aircraft, rerigged in the workshop and then fitted to the aircraft."
The Australian
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Qantas review after door opens in flight
By Steve Creedy
October 22, 2002
QANTAS has reviewed its maintenance procedures after a flight attendant and passenger were forced to grab a door that was opening on a jumbo jet during landing.
Paper was sucked under the door as the passenger and crew member wrestled a handle back into the locked position on a flight from Cairns to Nagoya, Japan, in April.
The flight attendant kept weight on the handle until the aircraft landed and taxied to the terminal, according to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau report released yesterday.
The same door subsequently experienced a second problem - with the handle again moving into the unlocked position - three flights after being adjusted by maintenance engineers.
An inspection found the force needed to move the handle was less than required and further adjustments were needed.
The aircraft flew twice more without incident before returning to its main base, where the door was stripped down.
The inspection found no defects and the door was refitted to the aircraft.
A Qantas spokeswoman said last night that the airline had upgraded its door rigging procedures. "Basically what happened before, where situations like this happened, the door was rerigged in situ, on the aircraft," she said.
"Under the enhanced procedures, the door will be removed from the aircraft, rerigged in the workshop and then fitted to the aircraft."
The Australian
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Now if memory serves me right another "airline" had a bit of paper trouble about 18 months ago and our beauracratic masters grounded the whole fleet!!
Now the "other airline" trundles down a Japanese runway with some crew and pax hanging onto the door with grim death and we don't even hear about it until 6 months later!!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....................
Now the "other airline" trundles down a Japanese runway with some crew and pax hanging onto the door with grim death and we don't even hear about it until 6 months later!!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....................
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A point well made, oldhasbeen, but then we're talking now about the national carrier, aren't we, not a "foreign-owned" airline. QF will be bullet-proof as long as the "Minister for Qantas" is in power, fear not.
Kind regards,
TheNightOwl.
Kind regards,
TheNightOwl.
Primitive Aviator
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While not familiar with the intricacies of the B747 doors certainly the "plug" effect would be protective against the door opening when pressurised it brings to mind a situation that occurred many years back on another type of pressurised airliner.
Briefly, a particular door was written up many times for making air loss noises in flight but because it was a plug did not cause drastic pressure loss. No amount of re-rigging or adjustment resulted in rectification. UNTIL an apprentice airframe fitter noted that the door seal had been installed back to front so that when pressure came on instead of self sealing the seal was unseated and allowed escape of air. Murphy's Law again!!!................but it couldn't happen now could it?
Briefly, a particular door was written up many times for making air loss noises in flight but because it was a plug did not cause drastic pressure loss. No amount of re-rigging or adjustment resulted in rectification. UNTIL an apprentice airframe fitter noted that the door seal had been installed back to front so that when pressure came on instead of self sealing the seal was unseated and allowed escape of air. Murphy's Law again!!!................but it couldn't happen now could it?
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Nightowl and oldhasbeen,
If Ansett's maintenance was soooo good then why has most of the logbooks for the aircraft parked at Mel mysteriously disappeared.
As for the Nagoya incident, QF has brought in a new ( after this event and one on the 76) procedure for doors that are not to be armed (as in this case, as the arming mechanism was u/s) then the door is to be cycled to the armed position, then disramed before flight so that the airflow will no get under the external handle and crack open the door at low airspeed. As for hanging on for grim death, well...that's the media.
As for Minister for QF- what a looad of shi@e, the Government were VERY quick to knock back increased foreign ownership in QF a couple of months ago- maybe so that a foreign interest couldn't screw anational icon...sound familiar??
If Ansett's maintenance was soooo good then why has most of the logbooks for the aircraft parked at Mel mysteriously disappeared.
As for the Nagoya incident, QF has brought in a new ( after this event and one on the 76) procedure for doors that are not to be armed (as in this case, as the arming mechanism was u/s) then the door is to be cycled to the armed position, then disramed before flight so that the airflow will no get under the external handle and crack open the door at low airspeed. As for hanging on for grim death, well...that's the media.
As for Minister for QF- what a looad of shi@e, the Government were VERY quick to knock back increased foreign ownership in QF a couple of months ago- maybe so that a foreign interest couldn't screw anational icon...sound familiar??
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If Ansett's maintenance was soooo good then why has most of the logbooks for the aircraft parked at Mel mysteriously disappeared.
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crocodile redundee,
Yes you're correct, the upper deck doors aren't plug type. However, they're power assisted, and I believe would open all the way if they opened at all. You wouldn't see paper go underneath it either as the slide takes up half the frame.
Lancer
Yes you're correct, the upper deck doors aren't plug type. However, they're power assisted, and I believe would open all the way if they opened at all. You wouldn't see paper go underneath it either as the slide takes up half the frame.
Lancer
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invertedlandings or anyone who has seen the procedure and the matching OMEL item,
Would you mind either posting it here or emailing it to me, please - I am interested in exactly how it is done and more importantly what restrictions there are on passenger numbers.
Would you mind either posting it here or emailing it to me, please - I am interested in exactly how it is done and more importantly what restrictions there are on passenger numbers.
