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A380 cables found cut (Sabotage?)

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A380 cables found cut (Sabotage?)

Old 12th Jun 2006, 04:24
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A380 cables found cut (Sabotage?)

Any views or more info on this ?

Received Saturday, 10 June 2006 09:53:00 GMT

TOULOUSE, June 10, 2006 (AFP) - The aircraft manufacturer Airbus said Saturday that three cables were found cut on an Airbus A380 that was being assembled at its Toulouse factory in southwestern France.
An internal investigation is underway to determine what happened and why, said an Airbus spokeswoman, adding that any indication of sabotage has not been established.
The aircraft maker did not indicate in what part of the plane or on which particular aircraft the cables were severed.
The incident was reported in Saturday's edition of the local newspaper Depeche de Midi as "sabotage" which "took place at night, at a time when there are fewer staff around," the newspaper said.
Local police were called in to witness the damage, it added.
The double-decker A380, which can transport between 555 and 840 people or 40 percent more than the US rival Boeing 747, is the largest commercial airliner ever built -- 240 feet (73 metres) in length and 80 feet (24 metres) high, with a wingspan of 88 feet (80 metres).
Airbus is scheduled to deliver the first two A380 models to Singapore Airlines at the end of the year. The four prototypes, the first of which made its maiden flight in April 2005 in Toulouse, the home of Airbus Industrie, have now totaled more than 1,000 flying hours.
Thus far, 16 airlines have lodged a total of 159 firm orders for the Airbus plane.
Airbus is a fully consolidated subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). EADS owns 80 percent of the aircraft manufacturer and BAE Systems of Britain holds 20 percent.
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Old 12th Jun 2006, 04:58
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Oddly enough, the same thing happened at Boeing when the first 747 were under assembly.
Union problems perhaps?
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Old 12th Jun 2006, 06:28
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Cool

any indication of sabotage has not been established


In other words the report is journo licence to exagerate the facts. Which at this time are unknown!
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Old 12th Jun 2006, 19:28
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I wouldn't read to much into this, cables are often laid in and left to be cut later, or cut and left to be terminated later.

The Mid and upper decks are festooned with cables during assembly.
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Old 12th Jun 2006, 19:34
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Angel

The same thing happened at McDonnell Douglas on several MD80s.
Was it deliberate or a mistake? Who knows. The important thing is that there was/is sufficient procedures in place to find and correct these things.
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Old 12th Jun 2006, 22:27
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spannersatcx
In all fairness your comment - "the report is journo licence to exagerate the facts. Which at this time are unknown!" - would seem to be entirely inappropriate. There is absolutely no way that Airbus themselves would have issued any statement about this matter if there was any real possibility that it was a routine misunderstanding or the result of accidental damage.
The report reproduced at the beginning of this thread was not a particularly good one, but others - such as Flight International - make it clear that this is probably not a normal case of journalistic hype;
Flight International today;
"Airbus has begun an investigation into a suspected security breach after three cables of a final assembly line Airbus A380 were found severed.
The damage was discovered during the day-to-night shift changeover last Thursday (8 June). Although police attended the scene, Airbus has not lodged an official complaint.
Airbus says: “Three cables were cut or severed in one section. It is being investigated and our surveillance is being checked out [for weak coverage]. This shows that we have very good checks and that things get picked up straight away.
“We don’t know the reason why it was done. At the moment it seems that it wasn’t an accident.”
Airbus is unable to identify which section of the A380 was affected and declines to give the exact identity of the aircraft, but adds that the damage “is not too great”.
The police were summoned and an internal investigation is underway but, despite suspicions of “vandalism”, Airbus has not filed charges.
“It is an internal investigation, not external. Airbus has not made an official complaint. It is just doing it internally at the moment. It is early days. We are looking at the surveillance [material] that we have.”
Although closed-circuit television cameras are fitted within the building, Airbus says it is not aware of any surveillance within the vicinity of the incident. He adds that the building is “fairly secure” as it is pass-protected and specific permissions are required to access the area.
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles...+assembly.html
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Old 13th Jun 2006, 09:46
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The title of the thread was sabotage, this has yet to be proven.
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Old 13th Jun 2006, 11:43
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May or may not have happened, but this is a standard remedy for unhappy electricians. Was a big issue on the Jubilee line extension in London - the specifications did not allow joints in cable runs (other than at the ends, if you see what I mean), so they would run a cable from one station to the next and then cut it a foot short.......
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Old 13th Jun 2006, 12:19
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Interesting views you all got. Here's the url of the website I got the news from: http://www.ttc.org/200606100953.k5a9r0q06599.htm

And please don't all get too mad about the feet/meters issue in this article. Was obviously a mistake by the website who publised the article.

Originally Posted by spannersatcx
The title of the thread was sabotage, this has yet to be proven.
Guess that's why I posted it on the net's #1 rumour network
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Old 13th Jun 2006, 20:00
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Originally Posted by SLF3
May or may not have happened, but this is a standard remedy for unhappy electricians. Was a big issue on the Jubilee line extension in London - the specifications did not allow joints in cable runs (other than at the ends, if you see what I mean), so they would run a cable from one station to the next and then cut it a foot short.......
Not unlike the -- ahem -- mysterious happenings my colleague unearthed at a now-defunct Florida shop 20 years ago...
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Old 14th Jun 2006, 02:56
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i had no idea the A380 was cable driven-thought it was all boxs
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Old 15th Jun 2006, 00:36
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There's a very real story here waiting to get out.....but you won't find it by reading this thread.

There is a need for a new Forum - or maybe a new website - to be created in which it is explicitly unacceptable to be politically correct. Pprune is becoming part of the Aviation Establishment for the worst of reasons......it is rapidly being reduced to a state of inertia by the weight of reactive posts which say things like

- "where is your evidence?", or
- "this is becoming just an other Boeing vs Airbus debate", or
- "stop knocking them and give them a chance", or
- "just another example of irresponsible journo hype".

Great sentiments, guys. Totally understand where you're coming from. You're rightly, and responsibly, concerned about your jobs, your mates jobs, the jobs of people that you don't even know but have common cause with, and you're also concerned about safety. Very laudable and honourable, and this is not said cynically. Long may it continue as your personal credo.

But in your anxiety to assert your politically correct credentials, you are stiffling the very function that Pprune was created to perform. You're making it very difficult to post anything that sounds as if it may have ominous implications for jobs, security, stability, safety.... This is rather unfortunate for a Rumour Network, and ultimately against the best interests of the Industry. Because meanwhile, in the Real World, major problems with major programmes and major airlines go unreported. If that's what you want, fine.
Pprune is read, and enjoyed, by many people in this industry - including me - who regularly speak to some of the most senior players in companies like Airbus, Boeing, GE, Rolls and IAE. Would we feel able or inclined to post what we hear? Not a chance. Why do we read it then? Because it provides huge value, interest and entertainment in specific, limited areas, but in relation to subjects like A380 delays, it doesn't scratch the surface.
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Old 15th Jun 2006, 09:14
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PC and so on

Thunderball,

There is a general tendency to cover news in fluff and hype in the English speaking world. Unfortunately we tend to be educated by what we read. Even my 93year old Daily Mail reading Mum used the word Gobsmacked last week - and I have to say I was!

An example from last week - a German daily announced "Hammer Wetter", to inform its readers that finally some real super summer weather was on its way. The English daily I looked at warned of "Problems in sight for old people, young people and people with athsma" and advised them to stay in doors as temperatures of 29° could be on the way.

Same news - different sell.

As for the 380, it seems to be the wiring looms which are causing the delays - rather a coincidence that right here possible sabotage has been found. As you say, there is a story waiting to get out.

FC.
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