Apparently A/C 330's left engine sh*t its self on a high power run-up yesterday.
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1055376/M/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1055376/M/
A/C 330
- Thread starter AMFAMAN
- Start date
Ken MacTiernan
Veteran
OUCH! Now THAT will leave a mark!
Glad the professionals in the cockpit and those on the ground were able to prevent a potential disaster from happening. I shudder to think if this had happened in the air. That's why you have quality maintenance personnel in place.
Glad the professionals in the cockpit and those on the ground were able to prevent a potential disaster from happening. I shudder to think if this had happened in the air. That's why you have quality maintenance personnel in place.
PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH
Veteran
- Oct 9, 2003
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What a mess. Are those fuel tanks in the background? Looks like the flaps-inboard aileron got cooked pretty good.
Garfield1966
Veteran
Seems to me the disaster did happen. It was just a matter of luck that what ever parts failed did so durring the ground check as oppsed to on take off or durring flight.
Ken, you really should go into politics.
Ken, you really should go into politics.
PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH
Veteran
- Oct 9, 2003
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Garfield did you ever consider the engine was being tested at full power because of high vibes or oil consumption that was abnormal. Looks like the professional AA mechanics found the problem before it could cause an inflight problem. Those AA mechanics at LAX deserve a medal for their excellent troubleshooting. At NWA they would have pencil whipped the engine as good to go and people would have died in the resulting crash.
Ken MacTiernan
Veteran
This was not a disaster by any means. This was a mechanical failure that COULD have turned into a disaster. No loss of life. Aircraft, though expensive, can always be replaced.
You mention "luck"? I tell you what, "luck" is what you NEED when unskilled, SCABS maintain an aircraft.
Professional craftsmen who believe in their profession reduces the "luck" you need when flying because proper maintenance begins well before Granny and the grand-children board an aircraft for Disneyland.
Garfield1966
Veteran
Perhaps I am missing something as far as procedures go but that makes little sense to me.
I will assume that the mechanics work on the aircraft were not aware of any thing wrong with the engine that could have caused this catastrophic failure. I will assume that they were testing for some other problem that may or may not have been related to the failure (I am assuming not). I am assuming this because I can see no conceivable reason why someone would bring a engine up to full power knowing that a component could fail which would result in the destruction of an multi-million dollar airplane. That would be the equivalent of me, knowing that my timing chain is loose and bring the engine up to full speed just to test it. Again, I am just looking at this from an automotive perspective but if I suspect an oil problem, I am not sure I would bring an engine up to full power until I had a reasonably good idea of where the oil is going. If it’s an oil pressure problem I sure as hell will not bring the engine up to full power for fear of the engine seizing and going "poof". Vibration? Not a good thing on something that spins and a very high velocity. Again, it would not make sense (to me) to bring an engine to full power but that’s just me.
It sounds much more reasonable to me that the engine was being tested for something that was unrelated (at lest in the mechanics eyes) to what subsequently transpired. What cause the failure is unknown (I am guessing). We do not know if it was just a fluke or if a part failed which should have been inspected but was not or if it was something like the United engine failure.
Luck? Considering the failure was detected 3 hours after arrival and that according to "rumor" the aircraft was deferred 2 times already yes, I would say we were damn lucky the engine exploded on the ground instead of on it’s next trip.
Just for the record, I never said or implied that AA did/does not have quality maintenance personnel.
I will assume that the mechanics work on the aircraft were not aware of any thing wrong with the engine that could have caused this catastrophic failure. I will assume that they were testing for some other problem that may or may not have been related to the failure (I am assuming not). I am assuming this because I can see no conceivable reason why someone would bring a engine up to full power knowing that a component could fail which would result in the destruction of an multi-million dollar airplane. That would be the equivalent of me, knowing that my timing chain is loose and bring the engine up to full speed just to test it. Again, I am just looking at this from an automotive perspective but if I suspect an oil problem, I am not sure I would bring an engine up to full power until I had a reasonably good idea of where the oil is going. If it’s an oil pressure problem I sure as hell will not bring the engine up to full power for fear of the engine seizing and going "poof". Vibration? Not a good thing on something that spins and a very high velocity. Again, it would not make sense (to me) to bring an engine to full power but that’s just me.
It sounds much more reasonable to me that the engine was being tested for something that was unrelated (at lest in the mechanics eyes) to what subsequently transpired. What cause the failure is unknown (I am guessing). We do not know if it was just a fluke or if a part failed which should have been inspected but was not or if it was something like the United engine failure.
Luck? Considering the failure was detected 3 hours after arrival and that according to "rumor" the aircraft was deferred 2 times already yes, I would say we were damn lucky the engine exploded on the ground instead of on it’s next trip.
Just for the record, I never said or implied that AA did/does not have quality maintenance personnel.
- Banned
- #8
At US Airways several years back we had the samething but the engine had an uncontained failure and the plane was written off, it was a 767-200ER with a CF-6 on it.
And when you have an oil problem as did the US 767 it is standard practice to run the engine up and at full power and other settings to troubleshoot and ensure the problem is fixed. It is done on the ground so it does not happen inflight and cause a disaster.
So don't assume things when you have no idea of what you are talking about.
And when you have an oil problem as did the US 767 it is standard practice to run the engine up and at full power and other settings to troubleshoot and ensure the problem is fixed. It is done on the ground so it does not happen inflight and cause a disaster.
So don't assume things when you have no idea of what you are talking about.
Garfield1966
Veteran
Thanks for the pissy attitude. Very much appreciated and very enlightening.
PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH
Veteran
- Oct 9, 2003
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Garfield, for your info, it is a common practice to run an engine up to full power to check for vibration that is out of limits. You also have to run the engine at full power,if possible,to trim balance the FAN assembly. My guess on this one is that there is going to be an airworthiness directive on the hardware that holds the HP turbine to the HP turbine shaft. That one picture they have is a complete HP disc sitting on the ramp and the other picture shows the HP section missing on the engine.
Does anyone know if the LP turbine is still in the engine or did it completely disinegrate and get blown out the back?
Does anyone know if the LP turbine is still in the engine or did it completely disinegrate and get blown out the back?
slipnutwrench
Member
- Sep 5, 2002
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Wretched Wrench
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- Apr 21, 2003
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They are water tanks for the hangar sprinklers. Water and beef blood.
The aircraft came in from NY with a slow acceleration complaint and was being run on the trim rack (not the hangar, as some articles say) to take parameter readings, etc. I heard it, and it sounded unusual, whatever that means. Then it went back to idle, went up again, still sounding "different". Then there was a horrendous mechanical noise, followed by a hissing sound, rather like the worlds biggest duct failure. One of the persons in the cockpit was quoted as hearing a duct failure noise, while many on the ground heard an actual explosion-like sound. I made the comment to the person with me, "Never heard that before." Anyway, two turbine wheels got loose and ran around wreaking havoc, penetrating both wings.
And, of course, it was a Good Thing that the complaint was investigated properly. A failure on take off could have been very very bad. However, after liftoff, the errant turbine wheels would not have skipped across the concrete to wreak their havoc. Who know.?
PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH
Veteran
- Oct 9, 2003
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Thanks for the answer. Here at AFW the Fuel farm is right next to the runup area and blast fences.
Wretched Wrench
Veteran
- Apr 21, 2003
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Perhaps someone should go on record at the next safety committee meeting about that.
check out the LA fire departments website.
www.lafd.org
lots more pictures of the plane
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lafd/15907965...57594153722446/
www.lafd.org
lots more pictures of the plane
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lafd/15907965...57594153722446/
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