A380 grounded (AGAIN!)
 

"Singapore Airlines has grounded a second Airbus A380 super-jumbo because of a fuel pump problem.
The carrier said the move delayed passengers bound for Sydney on Monday who had to switch to smaller planes":eek:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7313957.stm

So how many times now has the a/c gone u/s?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/sydn...207260765.html

And now it makes the front page of the Herald. Still, it is not good publicity for the aircraft or SQ with aircraft that are so new

Three in six months... not too bad for a new type.

In fact you could well say it is pretty good. I imagine one of the 'faults' was the one where they backed it onto the grass.

Very true, that's pretty good for a 6 month timeframe... but when you consider the fact that throughout those 6 months virtually only 2 A380's have been in service (the third was only very recently delivered)..well then the numbers aren't so impressive.

But on the whole, seems like the A380 is a very reliable aircraft...which is the way it should be in this day and age of technology!

Just out of curiousity, how did the 777 go in terms of in-service reliability when it began flying in June of '95?

Aeroplanes are complex beasts. They break. ALL THE TIME! It's a fact of life for any airline.

The thing is, this one has such a high profile that everyone is watching closely.... both aircraft are being fully utilised, so it is very difficult to swap to another tail number. Because there are only two of them even your average man on the street can tell that a swap's been done, when they expect a great big whopping A380 and instead get a crappy old 747.


The point, once I finally reach it, is that many people don't know what goes on around aeroplanes and airlines on a daily basis. What's happening to SQ is perfectly normal with such a complex system - it's just that the big ugly French thing is so new that people are watching!

Arithmetic 101

one, two, three!! :p

Very true..but in the case of the media they have 24/7 surveillance on the A380 with a huge magnifying lense, waiting at a moments notice to make a drama out of the A380 running over a caterpillar.
I'm suprised they haven't made a big fuss whenever the A380 arrives into SYD 10 minutes later than scheduled.

Apart from the fuel-pump issues, the only other 'problems' I've heard so far are the dirtiness of the first A380 during the first few weeks of service, and also the quietness of the cabin meaning passengers can hear the aircraft's plumbing at work.

Excellent work by Airbus to make the aircraft so reliable!! :)

:(

Hmm 2nd time for a fuel pump issue. I wonder when SKC will get this problem.

Well folks, just look back and remember how the 747 behaved the first months in full service........

They also have a brake cooling issue that can affect short turnarounds, which is why they prefer to use the more length of the runway on arrival into Sydney (compared to saya a B747) rather than jam on the anchors and use the rapid exits.

Can't say I was around way back then... Maybe some of the more "senior" members of the board can enlighten the less senior members

:D

Thanks for that Nigel. :)
Also, is there a reason why the A380 taxi's so increadibly slow once it has pushed-back from its gate? I was out there the other day and was amazed/perplexed as to why it was moving at snails-pace compared to other taxiing aircraft. :confused:


Weren't those issues related solely to the PW JT-9D's being underpowered as a result of the 747 being heavier than initially planned? ...or were there other niggling problems for the 747-100 much like the A380 is experiencing now?:)

2 aircraft have been grounded 3 times since it's start of operation:

SKA grounded in Singapore once (twice if you include the grass incident) because of fuel pump problem and once in Sydney which caused it to overnight. The incident in Singapore was rescued by the 747 and the incident in Sydney was rescued by the other flights and SKB the next day.

SKC grounded in Singaproe due to the fuel pump problem recently.

SKB hasn't been grounded due to any problem as yet.

I think the media don't realise that the A380 is still a brand new aircraft and any chance they get to give it a bad wrap they will. Overall the reliability of the aircraft is amazing, SKA operating everyday from October to January with it grounding twice is pretty good. Sydney is the route to delay or postpone if any problems do arise because London in all seriousness would make more money than Sydney would.

I bet you the media will have the same coverage if a 787 is grounded for the first time and then again if it happens.

Alex.

You'd have to ask an A380 jockey for that one...:rolleyes:

Possibly because of the brake cooling problem - brakes can get quite hot on a long taxi.

It's my understanding that SVA had some down-time to get its brake problem fixed after SKB arrived. Not sure is B and C were delivered with the fix or have had/will get their fix too.

BTW Shameel - did you see your 380 pic in the magazine last month? Came up well huh?

I saw my pic in the magazine of Transaero last month...where's the credit?!:eek:

You guys credited SACL, but not me!

Never again!:p:p:p:p:p:p

Unfortunately I just got back from the States a couple of weeks ago, so I was unable to get a copy of last month's issue. Actually I didn't even know that you guys had accepted the photo to be in the mag' ... but awesome news to hear my photo was included!:D

Is there any way I could get a copy from you Andrew? ... or do you think that last month's issue would still be at some Newsagencies ? :confused: ... I'd really love to get a copy to see how my photo turned out...and to use that as a trophy-example of how a non-DSLR can still take great shots. :)

Hey guys,

Has the A380 been operating the SYD flights in the past few days? A guy I know, Gary is out here from UK and his son is involved in the construction of the wings but Gary is yet to see the big girl fly so I must take him out and see.

Cheers

M

According to 16right.com

It didn't operate into Sydney today.

9V-SPG did the inbound SQ221
9V-SPP did the outbound SQ220

Alex.

not really SQ related but still A380...when does QF plan to start sending their A380 into London?

According to my Eyeball MkI AND MkII:

The A380 Scarebus was a no-show today.

Shameel, email me your address at deputy@ausaviation.com.au, and I'll make sure we send you one out.

Nigel - what can I say but sorry mate! ;) Hey, did you take the pic of the two SQ 380s as well?

Cheers

James Morgan came airside for those.

We were already there, had sorted out 'the shot' and had told our media people of our intention. They thought this was a good idea, and little did we know but they called in the big gun (James) to join us!

By the time the A380 departed, we had our work camera with one of my colleagues, James had one of his cameras, and I had a second one of his! Between the 3 of us, we got some pretty good shots (all officially sanctioned!).

10-4 :) ... you should be getting an email pretty soon.

Back on topic, is there any explaination as to the A380 no-show today?

It broke again?

Nah, they could only find two of them, Adam.

Good old James...what a character and a damn good photog too, but not in your league of course Nigel! :rolleyes:

It was a good shot whoever took it, although your media relations people need to learn how to post-process their pics before releasing them - there were dust spots all over it!!!

I actually got a pic of the second 380 taking off over the broken one from the QF Heritage Centre that morning. If I zoom in tight I can see your car and someone up on a stand behind a pile of containers with a camera in hand.

Cheers

You're too kind!;)

It didn't depart Singapore?

One would hope

Any one know if its coming in tomorrow yet?

Cheers

M

It's only an A380...:rolleyes:

Someone commented on my YouTube'd video of landing in Singapore on 9/3 to the effect that it was grounded in SYD on 5/3 with a spoiler problem.

They have their own video of the disembarkation by stairs from their cancelled flight (which appears to have been 9V-SKA).

It will arrive on 34L at around 0803, subject to change.

I was on this flight. It was delayed 1 hour due to "maintainace on the fuel pump". Im pretty sure we swapped gates with the one originally for the later Heathrow flight.

By the way, the new Changi Terminal 3 is a very impressive building.

Sorry to bring this up again (but believe it or not there are still people who have not seen this big bird in person and are pestering me to show it to them!) but according to www.16right.com we have not seen an A380 all week?

Any ideas if one will be in tomorrow?

Thanks guys

M

Mark - 9V-SKB was here yesterday (Friday 11/4). :)
Attachment 15