Air France high speed RTO due to missing baggage
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Air France high speed RTO due to missing baggage
Incident: France A343 at Fort de France on Apr 16th 2017, rejected takeoff due to ATC instruction
Quite a strange story. 130 kt RTO, 25 hours delay, a two days long AOG and an extra B-777 run because the company called ATC to instruct them to wait for some baggage. Why not cancelling their flight plan and/or sending them an ACARS message instead?
Quite a strange story. 130 kt RTO, 25 hours delay, a two days long AOG and an extra B-777 run because the company called ATC to instruct them to wait for some baggage. Why not cancelling their flight plan and/or sending them an ACARS message instead?
It is indeed a strange story - what would ATC request a takeoff abort for missing luggages ?
Also from the quoted article
Does AirFrance fly direct from Martinique to Moscow ?! Maybe a some charter operation ?
Also from the quoted article
The flight status of the airline confirmed the destination was Moscow Sheremetyevo
I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out not to have been bound for Moscow at all.
Last edited by DaveReidUK; 19th Apr 2017 at 11:45. Reason: tupo
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Could an engineer or knowledgeable person please inform us: Was there any damage to wheels or brakes? What would render the a/c non-flyable for >20hrs? I would expect an engineering inspection is required, and that one was available.
The flight was a charter Orly-Martinique-Cayenne and v.v. according to this article:
Un avion d'Air France freine brutalement juste avant le décollage
which seems much more likely than the suggested destination of Moscow.
The article reports a landing gear issue detected during the takeoff run, with the resulting RTO necessitating multiple wheel changes (hence presumably the delay at FDF).
Un avion d'Air France freine brutalement juste avant le décollage
which seems much more likely than the suggested destination of Moscow.
The article reports a landing gear issue detected during the takeoff run, with the resulting RTO necessitating multiple wheel changes (hence presumably the delay at FDF).
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Stop on the runway at (M?)TOW or continue the flight and land at destination at a much lower weight? Most airlines and FCTM's recommend the crew to continue the take-off with a landing gear issue (chimmy, tire failure) rather than reject, because of a) possible reduced braking effectiveness because of that very landing gear issue, and b) virtually no time to trouble shoot during the take-off run.
Better to continue the take-off and then have 9-10 hours to trouble shoot, ask the tower for example if they found debris on the runway, and burn off the trip fuel in order to arrive at the destination at 1) a significantly lower weight and 2) have possible the emergency services standing by.
The whole "landing gear issue" (very hot brakes, possibly warped brakes due to the fire brigade spraying cold water on them, and perhaps some melted fuse plugs) was probably as a result of the RTO and not the reason why they rejected, and that story sounds like either a cover-up, bad journalism or both.
Better to continue the take-off and then have 9-10 hours to trouble shoot, ask the tower for example if they found debris on the runway, and burn off the trip fuel in order to arrive at the destination at 1) a significantly lower weight and 2) have possible the emergency services standing by.
The whole "landing gear issue" (very hot brakes, possibly warped brakes due to the fire brigade spraying cold water on them, and perhaps some melted fuse plugs) was probably as a result of the RTO and not the reason why they rejected, and that story sounds like either a cover-up, bad journalism or both.
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20/20 hindsight. One can come up with 100's of "what-if" scenarios where it would be better to reject, and one could come up with 100's of "what-if" scenarios where it would be better to continue.
However, during the split second one generally has available during a take-off run >100 kts and close to V1, as far as I remember most airplane manufacturers recommend to; continue the take-off run, get airborne, assess the gear problem, burn off (i.e. continue to DEST) or dump fuel, and then land.
However, during the split second one generally has available during a take-off run >100 kts and close to V1, as far as I remember most airplane manufacturers recommend to; continue the take-off run, get airborne, assess the gear problem, burn off (i.e. continue to DEST) or dump fuel, and then land.
Last edited by FrontRunner; 19th Apr 2017 at 16:14.
But that fact doesn't have any bearing on whether or not there was a landing gear issue that necessitated the RTO in the first place.
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That's not a high speed rejected takeoff compared to Air France's RTO in Lagos in 2010. In the Lagos one the V1 was 138 knots and the speed on the runway during the rejection reached 155 knots indicated due to being unable to rotate. This was because they had inadvertently engaged the autopilot instead of the autothrottle on the takeoff roll and thought the flight controls had jammed (Same size square button for autothrottle and autopilot.I do miss the old Boeing autopilot paddles!)
Incident: Air France B773 at Lagos on Jan 12th 2010, rejected takeoff
Incident: Air France B773 at Lagos on Jan 12th 2010, rejected takeoff
Whilst I accepted the odd guy being go minded with a eng failure before V1 when the take off calculation included a clearway ( meaning we were going cross country) tyre failure was a bigger worry as the three hydraulic lines were routed in both gear bays on the DC10 ..as they were around eng2..hence Souix city.
I don't think the most important question has been answered here.
How many of you would perform a high speed reject if requested by ATC
without a really good reason ?
And why on earth did the controller make that request at that moment
even if requested by company operations ?
I doubt i'd be stopping even if before V1.
How many of you would perform a high speed reject if requested by ATC
without a really good reason ?
And why on earth did the controller make that request at that moment
even if requested by company operations ?
I doubt i'd be stopping even if before V1.
Another article, this time from the local Martinique press:
Cayenne-Paris : les passagers sont repartis hier soir - Toute l'actualité de la Martinique sur Internet - FranceAntilles.fr
Again, no mention of an instruction from ATC, but a reference to a problem with the gear "a few seconds before takeoff".
Cayenne-Paris : les passagers sont repartis hier soir - Toute l'actualité de la Martinique sur Internet - FranceAntilles.fr
Again, no mention of an instruction from ATC, but a reference to a problem with the gear "a few seconds before takeoff".