Forum: Technology

Ladies and Gentlemen

If you look out the right hand side of the aircraft, you will notice we are directing your attention away from the left hand side Shocked

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Panel(s) just came off for whatever reason. Cool. Well at least the guy did check the oil (outboard side ? ) Laughing

. I wonder where the missing piece landed? Shocked

(note Ryan International / AirTrans was formerly ValueJet)

Quote:

NTSB Identification: ATL04IA156
Scheduled 14 CFR Part 121: Air Carrier operation of Ryan International Airlines, Inc. (D.B.A. AirTran Airways)
Incident occurred Tuesday, July 13, 2004 in Atlanta, GA
Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A320-233, registration: N951LF
Injuries: 110 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors.
Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On July 13, 2004, about 1200 eastern daylight time, an Airbus Industrie A320-233, N951LF, operated by Ryan International Airlines, Inc., as AirTran Airways Flight 4, returned for landing after a portion of the left engine cowling separated from the airplane in flight in the vicinity of Atlanta, Georgia. The scheduled domestic air carrier flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 121 with an instrument flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The airline transport-rated captain, airline transport-rated first officer, four flight attendants, and 104 passengers were not injured, and the airplane sustained minor damage. The flight departed Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, at 1140 on July 13, 2004.

The flight departed runway 27R en route to Orlando, Florida. According to the captain, immediately after takeoff, the lead flight attendant called to inform him that a passenger reported seeing a cover come off the left engine. The captain received no cockpit indications of a problem, and the captain instructed the lead flight attendant to look out the window and verify. The captain stated he felt the airplane "shutter," and he contacted air traffic control and requested to return for landing. The lead flight attendant confirmed to the captain the left engine cowling was missing. The captain stated the No. 1 engine oil quantity indicator illuminated amber, and he declared an emergency. The engine continued to operate normally, and the flight returned for landing without further incident.

Preliminary examination of the airplane revealed both sides of the left engine cowling were separated, the left engine pylon was bent up, aft, and inboard; and the left wing slat outboard of the engine nacelle displayed an approximate 12-inch area with dent and puncture damage. The Union City Police Department retrieved the inboard side of the left engine cowling from a dirt roadway approximately 7.5 nautical miles west southwest of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Airport authorities found the outboard side of the left engine cowling in the grass beside runway 27R.

Hey! ELP-breath!!

JR, the zipperhead, passed on the photos to me a week or so back.

Thanks for the exerpt, Habu-deux. I had just posted it, and our replies crossed in cyber-space.

WOW!!!

Sure indicates how important a walk-around is, huh?

I also think there's a mechanic looking for work at KFC or Wendy's.

Finally, what are the folks using to build those things? We had the vertical fin come off one two years ago and a few hundred folks died.

I'll take Boeing, thank you.

Me thinks the above thing though is not airplane maker specific. Maybe the guy that tops off the oil / routine_checks_the_engine just didn't secure the thing correctly. Low fare airline means they have to cut corners somewhere... you did want a low fare didn't you? Twisted Evil

A few years back while riding on an old 737 ( probably made in the era when Gums was a very junior Captain Very Happy

) I watched the starboard engine oil bleed out. ( always try and get a window seat Laughing

) We were close to Atlanta and I am sure the pilot had to know about it.

O.T. re: tails.. Yeah that was an older 300 model Airbus that went down in Nov 2001. I remember seeing the video of a crane lifting a mostly intact rudder out of the water. It came off before the airplane went down.

Of course if one company had to get over a whole vertical rudder coming off their jet, another company had to get over the 737 rudder control issue ( search ) that would, like in two big time bad cases lock up and send the jet and all aboard into the ground. Took them a while to figure that one out. Another one that comes to mind re: tails, is off of California where on a DC9? ( MD-80? MD88? )They had an issue where a worm gear like device would lock up for the ( elevator? horizontal stab? ), due to corrosion or some such thing. That went down bad.

My fav to ride on: the Beech 1900D ( ugly but love the power ) had a bad one a few years back. One, after 11,000 cycles, had a horizontal stab lock up and go into a death climb crash. We just keep learning stuff I guess.

Speaking of tail separations I received a letter from a B-52 nav a while back. Seems he was flying out of Westover one winter morn and as the plane was passing over a mountain the tail fell off. Three of the crew ejected- pilot (survived minimal injuries), co-pilot (slammed into a tree under parachute- KIA), and nav. The nav is the only Weber Aircraft ejectee to survive without a parachute. He tumbled in the seat into a snow bank. Had some injuries that shouldn't have been too bad but was stuck in the seat in the snow for 20 hours. Covered himself with part of the parachute he dragged out of the container, but still suffered frostbite and exposure.

The article he enclosed indicated his was one of three B-52s that lost tails in 1963/64. They did fix that problem obviously!

Kevin
The Ejection Site

Joined: Feb 01, 2007 - 02:38 AM Posts: 0 Status: Offline

I'm sure the engine didn't notice a [Link pending approval]

As long as it was getting fuel flow, I would imagine it could care less.

Very Happy

The engine may not have noticed anything, but I think I would have Shocked

!!! If the ground crew failed to secure that, what else might they have missed?!

Joined: Feb 01, 2007 - 02:38 AM Posts: 0 Status: Offline

Goes to show you though, that if you make something ID10T-Proof, someone will order a better [Link pending approval] Very Happy

Salute all!

Once again, Herr Elp-breath has seen fit to MOCK!!!

Another Gums' aw s*&^% is awarded. This is tough, as Elp-face only has about a dozen "attaboys", and most here know the ROE.

I quote from his ill-advised assertion:

"A few years back while riding on an old 737 ( probably made in the era when Gums was a very junior Captain"

no respect, none. I was prolly a Major when the 737 came online.

I flew in one of the first 727's back in 1962. Was my first commercial flight in a jet. Only previous had been DC-7's.

And how about the Convair 880, Elp? Ever heard of it? Was prolly retired before you was even born. Sheesh.

Oh well, tracking Frances to see if it wipes out my kid on the 'liberal' coast of Florida.

out

Joined: Feb 01, 2007 - 02:38 AM Posts: 0 Status: Offline

I have only ever worked with one (1) jet engine mechanic in the USAF/ANG who had ever held the proper specialty code for working on radial [Link pending approval] In the last 15 years!

Now-a-days, I have a hard time explaining what a "Water-burner" is to the kids in our shop. I don't even think there is a "J" series engine tought at technical school today.

Sorry [Link pending approval]

My first flight (well, airplane ride) was in a Connie.

Gums wrote:

Salute all!

Once again, Herr Elp-breath has seen fit to MOCK!!!

Another Gums' aw s*&^% is awarded. This is tough, as Elp-face only has about a dozen "attaboys", and most here know the ROE.

I quote from his ill-advised assertion:

"A few years back while riding on an old 737 ( probably made in the era when Gums was a very junior Captain"

no respect, none. I was prolly a Major when the 737 came online.

I flew in one of the first 727's back in 1962. Was my first commercial flight in a jet. Only previous had been DC-7's.

And how about the Convair 880, Elp? Ever heard of it? Was prolly retired before you was even born. Sheesh.

Oh well, tracking Frances to see if it wipes out my kid on the 'liberal' coast of Florida.

out

LOL, this one I road on only a few years ago was a budget airline and I am sure it was a 737-100, some of the 100s are pretty ratty now. Not like the nice looking T-43 museum pieces USAF has. ( I just took a guess that you might have been a captain by the time it came out LOL )

Yeah I would double check anyone in Florida. This one looks like it isn't going to play around. Hope everyone has a safe weekend !!!

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