Airbuses suffer cockpit power failure, await fixes

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By DAVID PORTER

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - As United Flight 731 climbed out of Newark with 107 people aboard, the pilot and first officer were startled to find screens that display crucial navigational information were blank or unreadable and radios were dead.

They had no way to communicate with air traffic controllers or detect other planes around them in the New York City area's crowded airspace.

"I made a comment to the captain about steering clear of New York City, not wanting to get shot down by USAF fighters," first officer Douglas Cochran later told investigators. He wasn't joking: "We both felt an extreme urgency to get this aircraft on the ground as soon as possible."

Within minutes, Cochran and the captain had turned around and safely landed the Denver-bound Airbus A320 at the Newark airport. Cochran later told investigators that clear weather might have been the only thing that saved them from a crash.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120822/DA0QIE5O0.html

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A United Airbus A320 passenger plane takes off at Newark Liberty International airport Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, in Newark, N.J. Airline pilots who fly certain Airbus jets that first came into service more than two decades ago have reported over 50 episodes of multiple electrical failures in the cockpit. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

[longship]

1. FAA found the culprit.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d35c61f4b0/the-best-of-johnny-from-airplane-from-airplanefan

[SoapBox]

2. If it ain't Boe'n...I'm not go'n.

Airbus equip. scares me.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. i have been working...

in flight simulation for 15 years and agree totally

[rickford66]

8. I agree also

I've worked in flight simulation since 1980. The Airbus aircraft has too many bugs. Give me a 727 where you can fly it in an emergency with no electric or hydraulic power. You even have 15 minutes or so of standby battery powered instruments as a bonus. There has never been one lost to mechanical failure. The Airbus computers can't be over-ridden in many cases and the pilots can be helpless.

[petronius]

3. Scary! So is there a procedure that pilots and air traffic controllers recognize

in that situation? When a plane just turns around and starts to land without any contact, how do the controllers figure it out and clear out the other traffic?

[dballance]

4. At only $6,000 per plane seems they should do it faster than 4 years

The article says $6,000 per plane but can it be that small an amount?

If I were an airline I'd think I'd want to get all the planes squared away before a crash happens. The lawyer's fees just to work one case from the family of a victim would add up to $6k in no time.

[Blue_Tires]

7. That doesn't factor in the lost revenue

from keeping a plane on the ground for 46 hours, so airlines probably only cycle out one or two at a time during a major maintenance check -- When you've got scores of jets in your fleet, it can take awhile

[formercia]

6. I always wondered about the Glass Cockpit

It seems my concerns were justified.