A320 Troubles, Latest News

[3WE]

THERE HAS BEEN A TOTAL A320 DISASTER!!!!!

The attached video (link is probably short-lived) shows an A-320 being lifted and dropped from about 60 feet in India or some other foreign place I know nothing about.

It was being moved to be used as some sort of ground-training aircraft.

http://mashable.com/2016/04/12/crane-co ... V4KklYOkqV

Of course, there is much ironing to be covered.

Ironingly, it was probably a steel cable that broke.

Not-so ironingly is my new ongoing painful assertion that "wow, these cheap composite crackerbox airframes actually seem to hold up a bit better in crashes...as long as the control surfaces don't break off or they aren't stalled for thousands of feet.

No doubt cowboy disregard to procedure is involved here- as well as third world safety cultures.

So, wow, what do you do at that low of an attitude. A stall, but 0 airspeed...would you lower the nose or pull up relentlessly?

Does anyone have a no-hire list for crane operators?

Luckily, no one did died (except for probably the plane).

It's sad that we have A320's now wearing out and being retired...too bad those total idiots at boing (Sorry Brad & Verbie) didn't come out with the 757NG or whatever the JP bunch say it should be called.

[Not_Karl]

(Hopefully...) FIXED LINKY.

Let's not discard an automation vs. crew fatigue/lack of training/incorrect procedure following issue.
Can a crane operate automatically below 60ft. on a single AP?

[Verbal]

Long-dormant Iran Air order struck from Airbus backlog
FlightGlobal 01/11/2024
Author: David Kaminski-Morrow

Iran Air’s landmark agreement for 100 Airbus aircraft has been scrubbed from the airframer’s backlog, its year-end figures reveal.

The Iranian flag-carrier placed the order in 2016 after sanctions were eased as part of a political agreement over the government’s nuclear energy programme.

Iran Air ordered 98 jets including 16 A350-1000s and 28 A330-900s, as well as eight A330-200s, along with 32 A320neos, eight A321s and six A320s.

The carrier was also assigned a pair of A330-200s which had originally been delivered to Avianca but not put into service.

But while the two A330-200s and a single new A321 were delivered to the Tehran-based airline, the remaining 97 aircraft have remained on the backlog after political tensions between the US and Iranian governments re-emerged in 2018.

Airbus’s newly-released year-end backlog figures for 2023 show that all 97 remaining aircraft assigned to Iran Air have been struck off.

This adjustment for Iran Air accounts for over 40% of the 225 cancellations recorded by Airbus last year. It particularly affects the net order total for the A330neo family, which fell to eight aircraft.

It is instructive to note that the morally bankrupt eurocommies that run Air Bus even sold airplanes to the Iranians in the first place.

[Not_Karl]

It is instructive to note that the morally bankrupt eurocommies that run Air Bus even sold airplanes to the Iranians in the first place.

With or without loose nuts?

[Verbal]

AirBus builds disposable airplanes. It is more profitable to part out 10 year old A320neo's than to keep them in service.

A320neos being disassembled for parts as component shortages continue
FlightGlobal 04/02/2025
Author: Jon Hemmerdinger

Aircraft parts supplier Unical Aviation has acquired “a fleet” of used Airbus A320neos that it intends to disassemble and sell for parts, a plan it says marks the “first dedicated disassembly programme for the [A320]neo-family aircraft”.

Unical intends to start acquiring the jets this month, it said on 1 April.

“As the first to launch a disassembly effort on A320neo aircraft, Unical is staying ahead of the curve to meet the evolving needs of our airline and MRO customers,” says Unical executive vice-president of assets David Dicken.

“These assets will soon be transformed into high-demand material to support operators worldwide with cost-effective, timely aftermarket solutions.”

Unical, based in Glendale, Arizona, does not say how many A320neos it plans to acquire or from where the aircraft are coming.

But a photograph released by the company shows a stored Airbus jet that appears to be painted in the colours of defunct Indian airline Go First, formerly called Go Air. That carrier entered bankruptcy protection and ceased operations in 2023.

Go First blamed its troubles largely on maintenance problems with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G turbofans. It said unscheduled maintenance and poor engine durability forced it to remove hundreds of PW1100Gs from service and to ground many of its A320neo-family jets.

The oldest of the A320neos that Go First had operated were delivered by Airbus about 10 years ago, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Unical did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the aircraft is plans to acquire.

It says an affiliate called Ecube, which is part of Unical Group and also based in Glendale, will perform the work of disassembling the jets.

“Demand for quality, serviceable material is growing rapidly,” the firm says. “Unical is accelerating the availability of next-gen components to the market and helping reduce turnaround times for critical maintenance.”

[Not_Karl]

AirBus builds disposable airplanes. It is more profitable to part out 10 year old A320neo's than to keep them in service.

That's what's so genius about Boeing: they make sure their aeroplanies TAD!!! themselves way before they need replacement parts.

[Verbal]

No.

[J]

Batch of A320neos Set for Scrapyard

This marks the first time an A320neo aircraft has been disassembled. The company’s subsidiary, Ecube, will conduct the teardowns, it said in a news release.

The aircraft type first flew in 2014, with nearly 4,000 in service worldwide. Unical did not provide a specific number of A320neos planned for teardown but told FlightGlobal the number was in the “double digits.”

Another company called AerFin is also slated to part out four A320neo aircraft.

“Unical is accelerating the availability of next-gen components to the market and helping reduce turnaround times for critical maintenance,” the company stated in the release.

Photos posted to Unical’s website show a Go First A320neo, an Indian airline that ceased operations in 2023. Around 50 aircraft previously belonged to the carrier and are now in storage, per Cirium Fleet Analyzer data.

https://airlinegeeks.com/2025/04/17/bat ... scrapyard/

And from Unical's website a photo of one of the doomed planes.

https://unical.com/newsroom/unical-acqu ... isassembly