A340 Engine Test Gone Wrong

An Airbus A340 jumped its wheel chocks and broke the tie-down chains
during an engine test, then leaped forward and into a concrete
barrier. The entire nose section broke off. The crew was injured,
but thankfully no one was killed. Brand new airplane with exactly one
flight in the log. Now it's a write-off.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1293784/M/

"Phil" wrote in message
...
An Airbus A340 jumped its wheel chocks and broke the tie-down chains
during an engine test, then leaped forward and into a concrete
barrier. The entire nose section broke off. The crew was injured,
but thankfully no one was killed. Brand new airplane with exactly one
flight in the log. Now it's a write-off.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1293784/M/

Damn! I bet someone is looking for a new job today.

--------------------------------
DW

Phil writes:

An Airbus A340 jumped its wheel chocks and broke the tie-down chains
during an engine test, then leaped forward and into a concrete
barrier.

All by itself.

The entire nose section broke off. The crew was injured,
but thankfully no one was killed. Brand new airplane with exactly one
flight in the log. Now it's a write-off.

If only there had been a human being around to intervene when that pesky
Airbus decided to develop a mind of its own, eh?

"Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com writes:

Damn! I bet someone is looking for a new job today.

In France? I'm not so sure.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Phil writes:

An Airbus A340 jumped its wheel chocks and broke the tie-down chains
during an engine test, then leaped forward and into a concrete
barrier.

All by itself.

The entire nose section broke off. The crew was injured,
but thankfully no one was killed. Brand new airplane with exactly one
flight in the log. Now it's a write-off.

If only there had been a human being around to intervene when that pesky
Airbus decided to develop a mind of its own,


there was, you're an idiot.

Bertie

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

"Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com writes:

Damn! I bet someone is looking for a new job today.

In France? I'm not so sure.


Not that it would do you any good anyway.


Bertie

wasn't there a new 747 that flew into kai tak airport, off the runway and
into the bay- that ultimately had to be bulldozed as salvaging the plane
would have kept the runway closed too long?

On Nov 17, 10:10 am, "Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com wrote:
"Phil" wrote in message

...

An Airbus A340 jumped its wheel chocks and broke the tie-down chains
during an engine test, then leaped forward and into a concrete
barrier. The entire nose section broke off. The crew was injured,
but thankfully no one was killed. Brand new airplane with exactly one
flight in the log. Now it's a write-off.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1293784/M/

Damn! I bet someone is looking for a new job today.

Yea, but he has 6 months to worry about it; he's in France.

-Robert

Is there enough thrust during an engine test on an A340 to drag locked
gear? I'm wondering if it's common to depend on blocks and the like to
restrain an airplane like this during a test, or does one commonly
engage the brakes as well?

I guess they'll just take the cost to repair out of someone's
paycheck.


On Nov 17, 12:58 pm, Phil wrote:
An Airbus A340 jumped its wheel chocks and broke the tie-down chains
during an engine test, then leaped forward and into a concrete
barrier. The entire nose section broke off. The crew was injured,
but thankfully no one was killed. Brand new airplane with exactly one
flight in the log. Now it's a write-off.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1293784/M/

Tina wrote in news:d0ba294f-7bbd-46a2-aac7-
:

Is there enough thrust during an engine test on an A340 to drag locked
gear?


You mean brakes? Yes, there is. You can take off with the parking brake
full on, especially on a wet runway, or so I've been told, anyway!
I haven't tried it myself.
Typically they only run up one at a time, of course.

I'm wondering if it's common to depend on blocks and the like to
restrain an airplane like this during a test, or does one commonly
engage the brakes as well?

They'd have to. It look like it might have been a brake failure that did
this. If the antiskid went into "test" for instance, or a shuttle valve
got stuck somewhere The airbus braking system is a bit strange and not
well thought out. I once had a brake failure on landing when the anti-
skid decided to do a test cycle. It wasn't a 340, but the system is
essentially the same.



I guess they'll just take the cost to repair out of someone's
paycheck.


Nah. unless they did something criminal, they should be OK It'l likely
be a combination of things that caused the accident, not a single item.
It depends on who was doing it as well. Engineering tend not to use
checklists since they actually know how the airplane works. However,
they don't think like pilots and tend to turn on only the bits they need
if they are going to start engines or taxi the airplane. It can leave
them a bit vulnerable. For instancde, they might decide they only need
to turn on the green system hydraulic since that will work the main
brakes and nosewheel steering. They don;'t need flight controls, after
all. but if that fails and the yellow sysem isn't right there to catch
it, they wouldn;'t have time to get them on before th eairplane hit
something.
Sabena crashed an A340 or 330 into another airplane of their own years
ago while it was on tow. The 'Bus hit one of Sabena's own 737s and wrote
it off. The next day, they also groundlooped a 340 in Brussels! Bad week
for them!

Bertie