EK407 A340-500 @ MEL Runway Scrape on takeoff

[B77W-QOTS]

A6-ERG A340-541 has departed MEL from rwy 34

leaving the whole unpleasant incident behind them. Literally.

Yes might have given the ILS a 'tickle' with a bit of jet blast

[ZeroAltitude]

Well after being stranded in MEL for nearly three months A6-ERG A340-541 has departed MEL from rwy 34 @ 11.32 as EK7608 stopping PER, DXB and TLS unpressurised.

Strangely, I read a small news item in the latest (July 2009) issue of German aviation magazine "Aero international" that the plane had been written off and that the decision was made by the insurance company some time in April after mounting cost estimates for the repair.

[B77W-QOTS]

Well after being stranded in MEL for nearly three months A6-ERG A340-541 has departed MEL from rwy 34 @ 11.32 as EK7608 stopping PER, DXB and TLS unpressurised.

Strangely, I read a small news item in the latest (July 2009) issue of German aviation magazine "Aero international" that the plane had been written off and that the decision was made by the insurance company some time in April after mounting cost estimates for the repair.

Unless they are going to part it at TLS but Ive heard EK dont want a hull loss $100M to repair, I know there was some issues between the insurance company on where the repair should take place, insurance company saying TLS and EK saying MEL.

[B77W-QOTS]

http://www.pictaero.com/en/pictures/picture,46847

Arrival into TLS.

[monchavo]

Well after being stranded in MEL for nearly three months A6-ERG A340-541 has departed MEL from rwy 34 @ 11.32 as EK7608 stopping PER, DXB and TLS unpressurised.

Strangely, I read a small news item in the latest (July 2009) issue of German aviation magazine "Aero international" that the plane had been written off and that the decision was made by the insurance company some time in April after mounting cost estimates for the repair.

Unless they are going to part it at TLS but Ive heard EK dont want a hull loss $100M to repair, I know there was some issues between the insurance company on where the repair should take place, insurance company saying TLS and EK saying MEL.

There has to be more to it than reputation. You could nearly buy a new one for that kind of money. Retiring the craft wouldn't count as a hull loss.

[AndyToop]

Retiring the craft wouldn't count as a hull loss.

Retiring the aircraft wouldn't get the payout from the insurance company either.

[B77W-QOTS]

A6-ERG after repairs (assumably) being towed to the paintshop.

http://www.skyliner-aviation.de/viewpho ... picid=6138

[ZeroAltitude]

So when will they run it over the blast fence?

[B77W-QOTS]

So when will they run it over the blast fence?

After the paintshop.

[B77W-QOTS]

Well A6-ERG is due into MEL tonight operating EK408/409, Im sure the ATC guys up in the tower will be holding their breath when she is cleared for take off at around 0300 on the 12/10/09

[B77W-QOTS]

Computer typo caused Emirates jet's tail-strike



A simple keystroke error by a pilot on a laptop computer put the lives of 275 people at risk by causing an Emirates jet to scrape its tail along a runway at Melbourne Airport during take-off.

The Airbus A340's first officer mistakenly entered the plane's take-off weight as 262.9 tonnes, when in fact it weighed 362.9 tonnes, the latest report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found.

The plane's captain, who cross-checked the first officer's figures, did not detect the error in the data entered. The mistake meant the jet's engines were programmed with insufficient thrust to achieve take-off.

That fact became apparent as the plane started to run out of runway without having left the ground.

When the captain realised the plane was not lifting off, he ordered maximum engine thrust and extra elevation, exceeding the maximum take off angle of 13.5 degrees by 0.2 degrees, scraping the tail along the runway and clouting antennas and a light fixture at the end of the runway as tried to climb into the air.

When flight attendants alerted the pilots that there was smoke in the cabin shortly after take-off, the pilots requested an emergency landing, dumped excess fuel over Port Philip Bay and touched down.

Transport safety investigators say they do not believe fatigue was a factor in the mistake.

The captain and first officer both had a 30 hour break since their previous flight, but an earlier report said the captain had only slept for 3 1/2 out of the previous 24 hours.

"We have not at this stage seen anything that would lead us to the view that fatigue is a significant contributor to this," Mr Dolan told reporters in Canberra this morning.

Mr Dolan said the regulator had not found any broader explanation for the incident, agreeing with the description of it as "an unfortunate error".

"Based on what we know, (that's) a reasonable summary of where we stand, but it's the sort of error we want to avoid a repetition of."

The regulator said the captain and first officer were no longer employed by the Emirates, but it did not know if they were working elsewhere as pilots.

The safety bureau will now look at 17 similar incidents around the world since 1982, but the regulator's Director of Aviation Safety Investigations Ian Sangston said there was no apparent patten to the incidents.

"It's not type-specific, it's not airline-specific, it's not operator- or location-specific," he said.

In a statement released after the interim report was made public, Emirates said the safety bureau's investigation was in line with its own internal investigation into the incident.

"Safety is of paramount importance to Emirates," the statement said. "Since this incident nine months ago we have established working groups to examine aircraft procedure across out fleet, and have introduced a number of additional safety measures that exceed standard international airline practice."

Procedures have been developed for better cross-checking, with both pilots required to independently enter the data on separate laptops to spot anomalies.

But what is still under development is a real-time runway length calculator that tells pilots how much tarmac is left, where the plane is on the length of the runway, and systems that check take-off speed and engine power settings.

[B77W-QOTS]

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking ... melbourne/