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Rebooting Your Airbus (After All The Screens Go Dark)
AV Web ^ | april 24, 2006 | Russ Niles

Posted on 04/24/2006 10:17:12 AM PDT by Yo-Yo

Rebooting Your Airbus (After All The Screens Go Dark)
April 24, 2006
By Russ Niles,
Newswriter, Editor

Cures aside, pilots of Airbus A320-series airliners are getting new guidance on what to do if the screens on their electronically biased aircraft go blank. "Checklists will be streamlined so re-booting of power is quicker," an Airbus spokesman told the London Daily Mirror after Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch released a report on an incident aboard a British Airways A319 last October. The plane was carrying 76 passengers to Budapest from London when most of the electronic displays went blank. The crew was able to bring everything back online in 90 seconds and the passengers were blissfully unaware of the glitch.

The incident brought to light five similar instances on Airbuses. In the October incident, the plane was over southern England when the crew heard an audible "clunk." Five of six screens went out, the intercom and radio failed, the autopilot and autothrottles disengaged and most of the cockpit lights went out. The captain took over the controls and flew night VFR (fortunately it was a clear night) while he and the first officer sorted out the power failure. The flying pilot's task was further complicated by the fact that the backup analog instruments aren't lit. The AAIB has issued a series of safety recommendations but its final report isn't finished yet.


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: aaahsht; airbus; aviatio; aviation; hatewhenthathappens; kissyourassgoodbye; linux; microsoft; windows; windowscrash
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To: Squawk 8888
It was a similar, but not interchangeable bracket which permitted chafing of the fuel line by the hydraulic lines.

The pilot left the crossover valve open even when faced with evidence that there might be fuel leakage.

41 posted on 04/24/2006 11:12:46 AM PDT by Petronski (I love Cyborg!)
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To: Golden Eagle

Are you claiming the photo you posted is of the same incident as described in the story at the top of the thread?


42 posted on 04/24/2006 11:14:52 AM PDT by Petronski (I love Cyborg!)
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To: AntiKev
The glide ratio for the A320 seems to be 17.

So he had to have been at a minimum altitude of around 36,000 feet to have pulled it off (assuming everything the pilot did was 'perfect'...)

I think luck played a major role here.

43 posted on 04/24/2006 11:15:00 AM PDT by Publius6961 (Multiculturalism is the white flag of a dying country)
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To: Paleo Conservative

aerospace ping


44 posted on 04/24/2006 11:16:35 AM PDT by Fractal Trader
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To: hunter112
Like we say here in Washington State: "If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!"

Uh, I hate to break it to you, but if you fly 757, 767, 777 or the new 787, you will be in an airplane that has the same issues. Remember that 757 that crashed somewhere in South America a few years ago because its hi-tech "glass cockpit" all went dark?

In these new all-electric airplanes, there is no direct connection between the pilot and the engine and pilot and flight control surfaces. It's as though someone thinks that the computer knows how to fly the airplane better than the pilot.

Hi-tech may be wonderful, but we used to have a saying at Boeing: "If it's electric, you can't trust it!"

'Course, that was in the olden days of the 747.

45 posted on 04/24/2006 11:17:54 AM PDT by nightdriver
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To: Rummyfan

Aluminum showers.


46 posted on 04/24/2006 11:20:10 AM PDT by ops33 (Retired USAF Senior Master Sergeant)
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To: Petronski
The pilot left the crossover valve open even when faced with evidence that there might be fuel leakage.

That was the final nail in the coffin. They noticed an imbalance between the left & right wing tanks and followed the checklist item that called for turning on the crossover pump. They ended up pumping all the fuel through the broken line.

47 posted on 04/24/2006 11:21:44 AM PDT by Squawk 8888 (Yay! It's Riding Season!)
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To: MediaMole
Thank you for calling Airbus technical support. If your aircraft is plummeting to earth, press 1. If you need a replacement tail, press 2.

To hold, press 3.
Gives "holding" pattern, a whole new meaning. :^/

48 posted on 04/24/2006 11:27:39 AM PDT by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you....... :^)
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To: Yo-Yo

Give me Boeing or I ain't going.


49 posted on 04/24/2006 11:31:51 AM PDT by Jim Noble (And you know what I'm talkin' 'bout!)
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To: Petronski

I'm claiming Airbus uses Linux on these planes, not Windows, as some were claiming. Why, are you claiming it was Windows, and not Linux? On a French jet?


50 posted on 04/24/2006 11:32:22 AM PDT by Golden Eagle
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To: paul51
Don't forget 'your call is very important to us' in there somewhere

Well, never forget they are French, it isn't like they REALLY care.

Cheers,

knewshound

Brew Your Own
51 posted on 04/24/2006 11:33:12 AM PDT by knews_hound (When Blogs are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Blogs.)
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To: knews_hound

Para espanol, oprima el dos....


52 posted on 04/24/2006 11:33:49 AM PDT by Theo
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To: Brian Allen

Ping!


53 posted on 04/24/2006 11:34:04 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: Golden Eagle
I have no idea what OS is used for navigation systems on an Airbus, but that photo is of a reboot of the entertainment system on an Air Algerie A330, and not the flight described in the story above. Source.
54 posted on 04/24/2006 11:39:56 AM PDT by Petronski (I love Cyborg!)
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To: Theo

Entendre ces options est français, la pression trois


55 posted on 04/24/2006 11:40:53 AM PDT by knews_hound (When Blogs are Outlawed, only Outlaws will have Blogs.)
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To: Yo-Yo

"Are the backup analog instruments in the A320 really unlit? Or wass the instrument lighting circuit part of the affected power bus?"

That's why you carry TWO flashlights in your flight bag.


56 posted on 04/24/2006 11:46:04 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: Petronski

Apparently they are having trouble with Linux all over those planes (foreign source):

http://theinquirer.net/?article=28689


57 posted on 04/24/2006 11:48:22 AM PDT by Golden Eagle
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To: Publius6961

"Nothing personal, friend, but I would not want my captain on a commercial flight having to do that..."

If you're flying in an Airbus you might not have a choice.


58 posted on 04/24/2006 11:48:33 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: Pukin Dog

"A nice reminder of why pilots are paid all that money."

Amen brother. I've got NO problem paying them handsomely. I've also never understood why people who own private planes spend more on their cars than on maintenance for their aircraft.


59 posted on 04/24/2006 11:52:11 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: Yo-Yo

Next time I'm flying in an Airbus, I'll let the Captain know on the way to my seat that I have a TomTomGo unit with me just in case he needs it!


60 posted on 04/24/2006 11:55:46 AM PDT by Incorrigible (If I lead, follow me; If I pause, push me; If I retreat, kill me.)
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