9 Hurt in Air Transat Emergency Landing in Azores
 

An Air Transat A310 flying from Lisbon to Toronto made an emergency landing in the Azores this morning after a "sudden loss" of fuel.

The aircraft burst tyres on landing, and it is reported that fuel has been spilled extensively on the runway, causing the airport's closure.

Nine passengers were reportedly injured in the evacuation.

Some information:
www.globeandmail.ca

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Some reports claim it was an A330. Anyone know for sure?

It's been a difficult week for Air Transat. I understand that last Sunday they had an emergency evacuation of a L-1011 at Orlando due to smoke in the cabin at the start of the take-off roll.

[ 24 August 2001: Message edited by: stagger ]

From CBC:

WebPosted Fri Aug 24 07:07:21 2001

AZORES ISLANDS - Nine passengers were sent to hospital in shock when a Canadian passenger jet made an emergency landing and caught fire in the Azores islands on Friday.

The Air Transat jet was on its way from Toronto to Lisbon when it began leaking fuel over the Atlantic ocean.

After detecting the fuel leak, the pilot pointed the Airbus 330 for the Azores' Lajes airport.

By the time it got there, the plane was completely without power. Witnesses said it glided toward the airport before bouncing to a stop on the runway, its landing gear in flames.

The fire was quickly put out.

The 293 passengers escaped without injury, but nine went to hospital suffering from shock.

An emergency spokesman said tires blew out on the jet, and fuel leaked onto the runway. The airport was closed afterwards.

Information about the number of passengers and crew on board was not immediately available.

Written by CBC News Online staff

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According to a source of mine in Air Transat, one of their A330s - KTS - has been subject to serious fuel leak problems for some time now and an engineer has been travelling with it contstantly. It would be interesting to see if this is the aircraft involved in today's incident.

Even if the CBC news report, faithfully reproduced by the Guv is only partially correct, this incident is quite a story - shades of the Gimli Glider! However, as anyone in Canada interested in aviation knows, the reporting staff at the Holy Mother Corp (that's the CBC to all you non-Canadians) couldn't tell the difference between an A330 and an AS 350. I, for one, am on tenterhooks waiting for some factual details from a reliable source.
Rockhound

CNN:
http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/eur...ing/index.html

OK, more info straight from the moose's mouth ... the aircraft was an A330, registration C-GITS; and the flight was enroute YYZ-LIS.

One hell of a job done by the crew for sure!

If you have Real Audio, this makes for interesting viewing... CBC Air Transat A330 Coverage

http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view...ncy_land010824

Total respect to the Pilot of this one.

:)

Yet again Guvnor, I say not bad for a couple of system monitors and autopilot button pushers. Please don't come back and comment on the monitoring of the fuel leak.

If this really was a dead stick job then as well as being a remarkable effort it was also very, very fortunate to be within range of anywhere!! Not too many options in that neck of the woods.

As someone else has already said: respect!

If the Guvnor's source is reliable then two TS 330s have/had fuel leaks. How about other operators, or is it just a coincidence happening twice on the same airline ?

Don't know how 'witnesses' can tell if he had power or not, but it certainly looks like he was unable to flare. If the fuel was all gone in the middle of the Atlantic this has to be one of the luckiest and happiest outcomes we've seen in a while.

Oh well, another 1.25 million dollars for a distressed passenger.

Incidentally it says in the CBC report “The airline says the pilot has been flying for 30 years, and is calling him a hero” could this be a case of Pilot fatigue, 30 years is a long shift.

:D

Respect

There's a lot more to this one than a "FUEL LEAK". The fuel leaks I see on the Airbus (A300 and A310) will not cause anyone to run short of fuel.

This sounds like a fuel line separation where fuel could not be delivered to the engines from a tank or where fuel was being dumped overboard from an engine feed line.

I'm surprised that the cabin didn't report fuel for vapor dumping in the event the problemw as the latter.

From Transport Canada's website:

=========

No. H099/01
For release August 24, 2001

TRANSPORT CANADA TAKES PRECAUTIONARY SAFETY MEASURES FOLLOWING AIR TRANSAT INCIDENT

OTTAWA - Transport Minister David Collenette today announced that Transport Canada has sent a Minister's observer and a team of specialists to the Azores Islands following the emergency landing of an Air Transat A330 aircraft en-route from Toronto to Lisbon. The team is comprised of specialists in the area of aircraft maintenance and operations.

In addition, Transport Canada has suspended Air Transat's Extended Range Twin Engine Operations authority effective immediately. The suspension will remain in effect until Transport Canada is satisfied that no safety deficiencies exist. This suspension will require Air Transat to alter overseas flights involving its three A330 aircraft so that they remain closer to suitable en-route airports between the point of departure and destination.

Transport Canada, as part of its regulatory program of comprehensive monitoring, inspections and audits on all air operators, will begin a special audit of Air Transat maintenance and operations immediately, as well as conduct increased surveillance of Air Transat's aviation program to ensure compliance with all Canadian Aviation Regulations.

Transport Canada's team will join representatives of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada who have already sent an accredited representative to the investigation. In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Portuguese Authority is responsible for investigating this occurrence. Transport Canada will cooperate fully throughout the investigation and will take immediate action, as appropriate, should any regulatory or safety deficiencies be uncovered.

"We are grateful that this incident did not result in any serious injuries or loss of life," said Mr. Collenette. "While any occurrence of this nature is taken very seriously, Canada's aviation system continues to serve millions of passengers safely and efficiently every year. Transport Canada will take whatever action is required to protect the Canadian travelling public."

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Since this was put out, I have been informed - but have been unable as yet to confirm - that Air Transat's A330s have been grounded following the crew saying that what happened was an "uncommanded fuel dump" and that they were unable to stop it.

If true, then surely other operators will have been notified of this extremely serious problem - anyone from Airtours, bmi british midland etc able to comment??

No ETOPS? Eina kak. That's got to hurt. How thin are the margins on a charter like that anyway? 3%? 5%? Will CMM keep it's fares low and try to screw Transat or will AC, CMM and Transat all use this as an opportunity to raise fares on a low-yield route?

My bet is...watch the Canadian public pay! Yet another reason why Gerry Schwartz should have been allowed to buy CPA. Call me a sceptic.

Both my sister and I have had the misfortune of being SLF on Air Transat flights so I am glad to hear that their maintenance ops are being audited. I'm sure their pilots are first-rate, but their operation on the ground is nothing short of abysmal- in dealing with them I get the sense that they couldn't marshall a one-float parade. It is impossible to obtain info on flights (I once called their arrival info line and got a recording of the status of all flights from a date three months earlier), check-in counters are often deserted at departure time, all tech problems are handled for the convenience of the carrier (they once forced all pax to sit on A/C in Cuba for 10 hours because they didn't want to use a shop in Florida), cabin crew are rude to the extreme and their on-time record is a sick joke. With all of that happening in full view of the customers, I shudder to think of what must be going on behind the scenes.

So, an uncommanded fuel dump a possibility?

Any commection with an incident in the early days of the A340? AF 340 over a Pond somewhere starts dumping for reasoms best known to itself. The advice from Toulouse is eventually to shut down an particular engine (Only way to depower a particular bit of essential electrics that was powering up the problem!).
Hotly denied at the time by the Ministry of Truth at Airbus

Very good show by all the crew--(don't forget the Cabin Crew)!

Hear Hear. I didn't mean to diminish the efforts of the crew. Well done.

Another "legendary save" is born....exceedingly well done, no matter what the cicumstances leading up to the diversion.

Now these guys can log some more time in their gliding log book. A big glider though.
I suppose, some glider flying experience will come in handy in thse sort of situations !!!! :cool: :cool:

We don't know yet what caused the "drama" - but if it was a "software feature" dumping the liquid gold and these boys really did a GLIDE then I am standing and clapping with the rest of us...

Whatever the details - and I am sure they will be soon with us. Great job boys and girls. Great job.....

MG

According to Sky news this morning, the crew shut down one engine with an oil leak and then they started to lose fuel. No mention was made about the source of the leak.

I must say, the first thing that crossed my mind was, is it another case of uncommanded fuel dump?

Well done to all the crew. Remind me again. What page is that procedure on in the "nothing more than a system monitor" manual. ;)

[ 25 August 2001: Message edited by: max_cont ]

Re the fuel dump scenario - the A330's I fly do not have a jettison system so you can rule that one out. However not sure if it is a customer "option" - I doubt it.

Apocalypse - so what happens then when you have serious problems just after take off at MTOW? With no jettison system you're going to have to fly around a fair while to burn off all that fuel!! :D :confused: :D

I've heard that one engine flamed out, the aircraft then lost 12 tonnes of fuel over the next 20 mins, before the other Trent flamed out.

The a/c was then a glider from 34,000 ft.

Those canadian boys sure can glide! First the 767 then the A330. Well done though i'm sure the captain of that knocked back a few beers afterwards!

Heard this morning from a friend at Air Transat that the first engine was shut down - then the fuel dump problem started which made life rather interesting for the crew - and the other engine, of course!

CBC reports that Air Transat have been cited for seven maintenance infringements over the past year - including using an L1011 part on an A330. As that can mean anything from a seatbelt to a rivet, I wouldn't attach too much importance to it at this stage.

Apparently, the A330 is not much liked by anyone at Air Transat - with crews preferring by far the L1011 - apart from the accountants. Any other A330 operators feel the same?

I was in Orlando MCO last Saturday night and had a two hour start up delay due to TS over the field.An Air Transat L1011 pushed back before the ramp was closed and we thought departed.When we finally got going he was at the stop end of 36R with all the chutes deployed which meant that 36L was the only runway being used.17/35 was not being used due to the weather.I counted approx 25 aircraft waiting to go.Lightning strike causing smoke ?? Anybody know what was wrong.

This incident could have major ramifications on ETOPS. Unless there was a procedural or maintenance problem with this specific aircraft then surely A330 ETOPS will also have to be suspended pending investigation.

Also, given that all ETOPS operations are justified by the huge odds against both engines failing in flight, will this damage ETOPS credibility?

Given that virtually every airline operating on the Atlantic now relies heavily (or entirely) on big twins can the industry afford a large scale review of ETOPS?

Anderson - there was smoke in the cabin (from the airconditioning system apparently - the Captain did the right thing (in my opinion) and got everyone off asap and asked questions later.

FREDA - yes, especially if it transpires that anything similar has happened with other Airbus twins. The Hapag Lloyd A310 last year comes to mind?

I'm trying to find out more about the nature of the fuel leak on the other TS A330.

Regarding ETOPS implications - surely it doesn't matter how many engines you've got if you haven't got any fuel.

So I wonder what the rationale is for suspending Air Transat’s ETOPS certification? Could it have something to do with the fact that this incident initially involved an engine failure, or perhaps because the fuel leak may have arisen as a consequence of engine maintenance problems?

Can anyone explain?

[ 25 August 2001: Message edited by: stagger ]

Fuel dump is indeed an optional extra on the A330. I know for a fact that the bmi british midland aircraft do not have it fitted. The aircraft is certified for overweight landings right up to MTOW in an emergency.

Well done the Air Transat guys on a nice bit of flying!!! :)

I stand to be corrected FREDA, but if the aircraft dumped all it's fuel in the ocean, it doesn't matter how many engines are strapped to it-they won't be turnin'.

What a story though. Fantastic work by the crew.

Does anyone know if its true that this aircraft had a history of leaks? If so,then someone at Transat needs to provide some answers pretty quickly ! :confused:

This might give a few clues:

particularly if the C of G cruise control adjustments cut in after a precautionary shut-down.
http://203.59.230.234/images/airtransat/Fuelloss.html

If the aircraft suffered from an uncommanded fuel dump, then the implications for ETOPS aren't so severe.

However the nature of the fuel loss has yet to be explained. There were also initially rumours of large amounts of fuel on the runway which might indicate fuel starvation rather than loss. Obviously the facts aren't all in, but when a twin engined aircraft losed both engines in flight ostensibly due to different and possibly unrelated faults (i.e. inflight shut due to low oil pressure and fuel starvation) then that's enough to give me the heebies. I think it's fair to say that only accountants really liked ETOPS to begin with.

On another issue, how did they power their electrical and hydraulic systems in the descent? Would they have needed the APU? If so then there obviously was some fuel left in the airplane to run it.

If the a/c was enroute YYZ/LIS and it's only got as far as the Azores that seems like an awful lot of fuel to suddenly 'lose'.
I don't know the 'bus but an uncommanded fuel dump, if it could happen would not empty a tank, surely it would only reduce to a stack pipe level.
What with the GE90 compressor failures last week ETOPS could be going the same way as the dinosours :)

The A330 has a RAT.

If you have a serious technical emergency and return to land, is it really sensible landing with a full fuel load? Surely a big ball of flame may well result??

Amazing how much information comes out when an Airbus has a problem, and rightly so . Yet when I asked about the Continental Triple computer failure on a Boeing there was nothing, maybe they like to keep their problems in house.
Well done to the 2/3 flight deck for some great flying if it was deadstick and a good show from the cabin crew, there must have been mayhem on board.
All of this done without an FE, marvelous

[ 25 August 2001: Message edited by: fergineer ]

Was on the news that Transat have been forced by Transport Canada to modify their ETOPS atlantic route. My question , what is the normal max distance from a useable field that is allowed and what is the revised distance ?.