Sydney Airport Message Board Sydney Airport Message Board  

Go Back   Sydney Airport Message Board > Aviation Industry News and Discussion > International Industry


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 25th June 2017, 01:11 PM
MarkR MarkR is offline
Prolific Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,058
Default Air Asia x 237 turn back to Perth

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/XAX237


Flight turned back to Perth around the Shark Bay Area, believed to be an engine failure. Marine Alerfa declared (Alert Phase with rescue assets on active standby).

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-2...-issue/8649990
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 25th June 2017, 10:30 PM
Adam W Adam W is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Perth
Posts: 175
Default

7 News footage from the cabin shows a lot of vibration through the aircraft, it would seem that the engine was not shut down. The captain was apparently heard telling passengers to pray and the he himself was quite scared. Very unprofessional flight crew.
I would also question why they chose to return to Perth instead of landing in Learmonth.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 26th June 2017, 07:36 AM
Martin Buzzell's Avatar
Martin Buzzell Martin Buzzell is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Yarrawonga, Victoria
Posts: 127
Default

Is it possible the engine was shut down, but wind milling? Hence why there were vibrations. It would of only stopped turning if the damage were that great to seize it.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 26th June 2017, 08:20 AM
MarkR MarkR is offline
Prolific Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,058
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam W View Post
I would also question why they chose to return to Perth instead of landing in Learmonth.
Learmonth is a poor alternate to Perth, and not even an option unless preapproval has been sought from a flight planning perspective, it also doesn't have the RFF capabilities on hand, especially on weekends. They also get charged quite heavily for pulling the services in, not the first time:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...r/ao-2016-101/
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 26th June 2017, 03:19 PM
Mick F Mick F is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: NSW
Posts: 852
Default

Adam,
A windmilling engine will still produce vibrations, so it could have been shutdown.

And as Mark pointed out, Learmonth probably isn't the best option for a diversion.

I see this a lot lately, where people automatically assume that if you have an engine failure or a problem, that you must land at the nearest aerodrome. Not the case at all. In fact there's even a paragraph in the CAO's that says in the event of an engine failure, that the Captain can overfly an aerodrome to reach another that may have more strategic advantages (think RFFS, ATC, Approaches, Recovery, Customs in this case).

Without all the specifics, no one can know for sure whether a good decision was made.

Referring to the Airbus Engine Vibration checklist, nowhere in the checklist does it say to shut down the engine (until after landing actually) just because high engine vibration is being experienced. That decision comes after weighing up all the options etc.

Personally I wouldn't fly Air Asia, but before you crucify the Captain (maybe a bit of work needed on his PA's though), put yourself in his shoes and consider that there's a lot more to it than simply "shut her down".

Mick
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 26th June 2017, 09:01 PM
Adam W Adam W is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Perth
Posts: 175
Default

Mick you're probably right, I forgot about the windmilling factor.

As for the choice of diversion aerodrome I realize that closest isn't always the best but I find it strange that marine rescue all along the WA coast were put on standby in case of a ditching. If they thought their situation was that dire then I would have thought that landing sooner rather than later would be warranted.

I stand by my criticism of the crew announcements. The captain should have been more reassuring to the passengers.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 26th June 2017, 09:44 PM
Mick F Mick F is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: NSW
Posts: 852
Default

Without knowing what the action plans are with regards to what services are put on standby for an aircraft emergency, it's possible that notifying the water rescue services is completely normal practice, you just don't know it.

So anytime an aircraft declares a PAN or Mayday, there would be a set list of services to notify so that they are aware.

Like I said, the PA's did leave something to be desired (if I made a PA like that, I'd be hauled over the coals), but I think a lot of the event has been blown out of proportion by the media (that's no surprise) and people jumping to conclusions.

It'll be interesting to see the final report when it's completed in probably 5-6 years!

Mick
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 26th June 2017, 10:14 PM
MarkR MarkR is offline
Prolific Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,058
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam W View Post

As for the choice of diversion aerodrome I realize that closest isn't always the best but I find it strange that marine rescue all along the WA coast were put on standby in case of a ditching. If they thought their situation was that dire then I would have thought that landing sooner rather than later would be warranted.
When there is an Alerfa on a situation, the SARMC will take all steps to ensure all possible resources are on standby just in case. I had a Qantas trans Tasman flight suffer a cracked windscreen enroute NZ to Aus, it descended to a safe altitude and the only asset I had was a bou at East Sale. The bou was scrambled to shadow the inbound aircraft and as you can imagine it's ability to tail the jet was the intercept was done was limited. Better than nothing.

The best asset you could have was a P3 onsite, they were fantastic.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time now is 03:46 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © Sydney Airport Message Board 1997-2022
Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Conditions of Use and Privacy Statement