On
landing in snow-covered Srinagar airport, the hydraulics of a A-320
failed and the reverse thrust of the other engine also became
non-functional.
NEW DELHI: In a rare double whammy and twin close shaves for passengers, a 20-year-old Airbus A-320 of Air India
(domestic) suffered a major snag each while landing at the critical
runways of Jammu and Srinagar on Monday. The aircraft was doing
Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar (AI 821) and return flight when it suffered serious
hydraulic and braking issues and had to be finally grounded in Srinagar
The first sign of trouble came after landing at the critically short Jammu runway. The reverse thrust of one engine (a mechanism in which air flow direction of engines is reversed soon after touching down to assist braking) failed. While the aircraft then faced control issues — with one engine's reverse thrust trying to slow the plane and the other not — it stopped safely.
"Rules permit aircraft with only one engine having reverse thrust to operate under minimum equipment list. So this aircraft was cleared for flying to Srinagar," said a senior AI official. But here another far more serious problem awaited the vintage aircraft.
On landing in snowed-in Srinagar airport, the hydraulics of the aircraft failed and the reverse thrust of the other engine also became non-functional. Hydraulic failure meant that the aircraft then had serious steering, flight control and braking issues. Luckily for flyers, the experienced pilots managed to stop the plane safely on the slippery runway and averted a crisis.
The aircraft then had to be grounded there. "It was rare to have twin troubles like that on a same plane on the same flight and same day. The aircraft was released from Jammu for the onward journey to Srinagar under MEL as per rules and once the other problem happened, it was grounded in Srinagar," said the senior official.
AI officials and pilots admit that the Airbus A-320s that joined erstwhile Indian Airlines' fleet in the 1990s have become very snag-prone. Due to this aircraft grounding and flight cancellation are common, disrupting schedules and inconveniencing passengers.
AI is now planning to get rid of this old fleet of Airbus A-320s that have a twin class configuration — business and economy — and replace them with newer Airbus with all economy seating. While the old Airbus A-320s had just 145 seats in economy and business class seating, the new A-320s it proposes to replace them with will be 180-seaters.
The first sign of trouble came after landing at the critically short Jammu runway. The reverse thrust of one engine (a mechanism in which air flow direction of engines is reversed soon after touching down to assist braking) failed. While the aircraft then faced control issues — with one engine's reverse thrust trying to slow the plane and the other not — it stopped safely.
"Rules permit aircraft with only one engine having reverse thrust to operate under minimum equipment list. So this aircraft was cleared for flying to Srinagar," said a senior AI official. But here another far more serious problem awaited the vintage aircraft.
On landing in snowed-in Srinagar airport, the hydraulics of the aircraft failed and the reverse thrust of the other engine also became non-functional. Hydraulic failure meant that the aircraft then had serious steering, flight control and braking issues. Luckily for flyers, the experienced pilots managed to stop the plane safely on the slippery runway and averted a crisis.
The aircraft then had to be grounded there. "It was rare to have twin troubles like that on a same plane on the same flight and same day. The aircraft was released from Jammu for the onward journey to Srinagar under MEL as per rules and once the other problem happened, it was grounded in Srinagar," said the senior official.
AI officials and pilots admit that the Airbus A-320s that joined erstwhile Indian Airlines' fleet in the 1990s have become very snag-prone. Due to this aircraft grounding and flight cancellation are common, disrupting schedules and inconveniencing passengers.
AI is now planning to get rid of this old fleet of Airbus A-320s that have a twin class configuration — business and economy — and replace them with newer Airbus with all economy seating. While the old Airbus A-320s had just 145 seats in economy and business class seating, the new A-320s it proposes to replace them with will be 180-seaters.
Source The Times Of India
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