Etihad Dummy's

[pablo]

Got this info from an email.

I can't vouch for the authenticity, as no credits were given for the source. But in reading it, it sounded plausible to me. 555555

My hat's off to all you lads who fly on Etihad...."balls of steel", comes to mind.

WRECKED A340-600 at TOULOUSE FRANCE

These are pictures of the wreck of a brand new A340-600, in November 2007, that had never flown.

Brand spanking new right out of the hanger, without a single hour of air time. Enter the Arab flight crew.

Nine employees of the Arab airline were in the aircraft, but not one employee from French Airbus was present.

The Arabs taxied out to the run-up area. Then they took all four engines to takeoff power with virtually an empty aircraft.

This was their first mistake as they obviously didn't read the run-up manuals.

They had no clue just how light an empty air bus really is.

No chocks were set, not that it would have mattered at that power setting. The brakes will not hold it back at full power anyway.

As it turns out, the takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit because they had all 4 engines at full power.

The aircraft computers thought they were trying to takeoff but it had not been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc, etc).

Then one of these brain surgeons decided to pull the 'Ground Sense' circuit breaker to silence the alarms.

This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the air.

That was their last mistake. As soon as they did that, the computers automatically released all the brakes and set the aircraft rocketing forward.

The poor bastards had no idea that this is a safety feature so that pilots can't land with the brakes on.

There was no time to stop and no one smart enough to throttle back the engines from their max power setting.

So the rest is as you see it below. Arabs, don't you just love 'em..............

Note: No one is talking and it didn't make the main stream media so who knows

if there were survivors.

[nacha]

yes, i can remember that "accident"...
but i thought that also some (2) people from Airbus were on board during that test ??

FROM : AIRBUS FLIGHT SAFETY DEPARTMENT TOULOUSE
SUBJECT: A340-600 - MSN 856 - ACCIDENT IN PRODUCTION OUR REF.: F-WWCJ AIT 2 DATED 20th OF NOVEMBER 2007 PREVIOUS REF: F-WWCJ AIT 1 DATED 16th OF NOVEMBER 2007

THIS AIT IS AN UPDATE OF PREVIOUS AIT N°1 CONCERNING THE A340-600 PRODUCTION AIRCRAFT MSN 856 INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT IN AIRBUS PRODUCTION FACILITIES IN TOULOUSE ON THE 15TH NOVEMBER 2007 AT 17:00 LOCAL TIME.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS ACCORDING TO THE RECORDERS, WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR RELEASE BY THE FRENCH INVESTIGATION AUTHORITIES (BEA).

FOR ABOUT 3 MINUTES BEFORE THE END OF THE EVENT, ALL FOUR ENGINES EPR WAS BETWEEN 1.24 AND 1.26 WITH PARKING BRAKE ON AND WITHOUT GROUND CHOCKS.

THE ALTERNATE BRAKE PRESSURE WAS NORMAL. (WITH PARKING BRAKE ON, BRAKE
PRESSURE IS SUPPLIED BY ALTERNATE).

13 SECONDS BEFORE THE IMPACT THE AIRCRAFT STARTED TO MOVE. WITHIN 1 OR 2
SECONDS THE CREW APPLIED BRAKE PEDAL INPUTS AND SELECTED PARKING BRAKE OFF. THESE ACTIONS LED THE NORMAL BRAKE PRESSURE TO INCREASE TO ITS NORMAL VALUE.

2 SECONDS PRIOR BEFORE THE IMPACT, ALL 4 ENGINE THRUST LEVERS WERE SELECTED TO IDLE.

THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE CONTAINMENT WALL AT A GROUND SPEED OF 30 KTS.

THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF ANY AIRCRAFT SYSTEM OR ENGINE MALFUNCTION.

AIRBUS REMINDS ALL OPERATORS TO STRICTLY ADHERE TO AMM PROCEDURES WHEN PERFORMING ENGINE GROUND RUNS

ENGINE GROUND RUNS AT HIGH POWER ARE NORMALLY CONDUCTED ON A SINGLE ENGINE WITH THE ENGINE IN THE SAME POSITION ON THE OPPOSITE WING OPERATED AT A LIMITED THRUST SETTING TO AVOID DAMAGE TO THE AIFRAME

WHEEL CHOCKS ARE TO BE INSTALLED THROUGHOUT THE TEST.

YANNICK MALINGE

VICE PRESIDENT FLIGHT SAFETY

AIRBUS

[ub2yoo]

Originally Posted by pablo

Got this info from an email.

I can't vouch for the authenticity, as no credits were given for the source. But in reading it, it sounded plausible to me. 555555

My hat's off to all you lads who fly on Etihad...."balls of steel", comes to mind.

Yes, I remember these pictures as well. Actually, if I would be bothered to hit the search engine, I'm sure there's a thread about it... but I can't at the moment;-)

Don't underestimate Etihad, I flew them a couple of times, and out of all airlines, it was always the best experience and cutting edge technology up to date!

It's just that Emirates beats them by number of georgious air hostesses

[landofsmiles]

As the first two lines read>>>

""These are pictures of the wreck of a brand new A340-600, in November 2007, that had never flown.

Brand spanking new right out of the hanger, without a single hour of air time. Enter the Arab flight crew.""

...that doesn't make the rest of the explanation plausible because here is a picture of it flying in September>>>




Three Hospitalized in Bizarre Incident Involving New A340

In the second serious incident involving the type in six days, a new Airbus A340-600 due to be delivered to Etihad Airways on Nov.21 was severely damaged, perhaps beyond economic repair, when it jumped its chocks and ran over a blast fence during ground run-ups of its engines on Nov. 15. Three of the nine people onboard remained hospitalized the following day. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways already has two A340-600s in service and has ordered eight in all.

In the second serious incident involving the type in six days, a new Airbus A340-600 due to be delivered to Etihad Airways on Nov.21 was severely damaged, perhaps beyond economic repair, when it jumped its chocks and ran over a blast fence during ground run-ups of its engines on Nov. 15. Three of the nine people onboard remained hospitalized the following day. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways already has two A340-600s in service and has ordered eight in all. Credit: Etihad Airways In the second serious incident involving Airbus A340-600s in six days, three people remain in hospital after a brand-new Airbus A340-600 due to be delivered to Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways next week was severely damaged in a bizarre ground-testing accident.

The incident, which took place at the Airbus manufacturing complex at Toulouse yesterday, occurred when the aircraft's engines were being run up to full power during ground tests in preparation for formal delivery of the aircraft to Etihad Airways on Nov. 21.

During the engine run-up test, the aircraft's landing gear jumped over the chocks wedged against its tires to hold the A340-600 in place -- along with its brakes -- against the propulsive force developed by its four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines. At maximum takeoff power, the A340-600's four engines develop a total 224,000 pounds of thrust.

The A340-600 ran over a blast fence, causing severe damage to the aircraft and injuring five of the nine people onboard the aircraft at the time, according to an aviation insurance broker's initial report on the incident.

Two of those injured had been released from hospital by the morning of Nov. 16, Airbus said in a statement. The French air accident investigation authority, Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses, has begun investigating the incident and the French judiciary reportedly also has begun an investigation, supported by the police.

None of the people onboard the aircraft were Etihad Airways employees, but at least one -- who was injured and remained hospitalized on Nov. 16 -- was an employee of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, a service provider to the airline. The two other people who are still in hospital are Airbus employees, the manufacturer said.

Aircraft was still owned by Airbus

Although the A340-600 already had been painted in Etihad Airways' colors, Airbus was still the owner of the aircraft and it was insured on the policy of giant aerospace manufacturer EADS, which owns Airbus. The A340 bore a French test registration at the time of the incident. The agreed value of the aircraft for delivery to Etihad Airways was $148 million but EADS' policy has a maximum hull insurance value of $300 million, according to an insurance broker's report.

Fabrice Bergier, Airbus' chief operating officer, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying the aircraft was damaged so badly in the incident that it was "irrecoverable." This implies that EADS' insurers -- led by French company La Reunion -- may have to regard the A340-600 as a total loss and pay out its full insured hull value.

The aircraft was one of two new A340-600s due to be delivered to Etihad Airways before the end of the year. The Abu Dhabi airline already has two A340-600s in service -- as well as four ultra-long-range A340-500s -- and ordered a total of eight A340-600s. The airline also operates a fleet of twin-engine A330-200 widebody jets and five Boeing 777-300ER long-haul widebodies, and recently has begun operating A320 narrowbody jets on shorter routes.

In addition, Etihad Airways is a customer for the A380 and the recently launched freighter version of the A330-200F. When all the Airbus aircraft it has ordered are delivered, the Abu Dhabi airline will have 44 of the manufacturer's aircraft in its fleet.

Etihad Airways operates its A340-600s on long-haul services from Abu Dhabi to destinations such as Toronto and Sydney. It occasionally operates the type on its nonstop Abu Dhabi-New York flights, but usually flies the route with A340-500s. Shorter than the A340-600 but also powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 500s, the A340-500 carries fewer passengers than its bigger sister but can fly even longer distances.

The airline was planning to use the Nov. 21-delivery A340-600 initially as a back-up aircraft to replace other A340s as they were taken out of service for scheduled maintenance. As a result, the immediate impact of the loss of the new A340 on Etihad Airways' service plans isn't likely to be significant.

Iberia landing incident at Quito

Prefacing yesterday's accident at Toulouse, an Iberia A340-600 with 335 passengers and 14 crewmembers onboard burst several tires on landing at Quito in Ecuador on Nov. 9.

There were no reports of injuries, but the A340's landing gear was damaged and at least two of its four engines became partially detached. Initial insurance estimates have put the damage to the aircraft as high as $80 million. Its hull was insured for $155 million.

[Crustasian]

I have flown with Ethiad four times and been very happy with their organization.

You can't hold the airline responsible for some idiots on ground staff maintainence for wrecking the plane.It was not in service on a scheduled flight - it was in test.