Page 49 - 6748

2 standard procedures 4 planned maintenance

9a Read the article on the right and answer the following questions.
1 How did the problem start?
2 What were the initial, unseen consequences?
3 What were the subsequent consequences?

“We have a problem”
The true story of AirTransat Flight 236.
The chain of events began during routine maintenance work on an Air Transat Airbus A330. An
incorrect hydraulic pipe was fitted to the right-hand engine. The component was oversized,
leaving inadequate clearance with an adjacent fuel line. Subsequently, the two pipes rubbed
together, causing the fuel line to wear progressively. The problem went undetected, until the
night of August 24, 2001, at 35,000 feet above the Atlantic. With Flight 236 en route from
Toronto to Lisbon, carrying 306 people, the fuel line ruptured, resulting in a major leak. Less
than two hours later, the aircraft was completely out of fuel, gliding silently through the night
sky ...

b Complete the sequence of events that followed the fuel leak on the Airbus A330 using the
extracts (a-d).
04:38 The flight data recorder registered an abnormal increase in fuel consumption. At this
stage, however, this slight anomaly was insufficient to cause warning lights to come on to alert
the crew to any imminent danger.
04:58
05:33 A warning message came up, alerting the crew to an imbalance between the amount of
fuel in each wing tank. Initially, the problem was thought to be an instrument malfunction. But
further analysis by the crew revealed that the amount of fuel remaining in the right tank was
significantly below the planned quantity.

05:36
05:45 As a precaution, the crew decided to divert to the nearest airport - the Lajes military
airbase in the Azores.
06:13
06:26 ENG 2 FAIL appeared, and the left engine cut out. Having completely run out of fuel, and
with both engines now down, the Airbus A330 was gliding, descending at 2,000 feet per minute.
06:27
06:46 With the airport in sight, the landing gear was lowered manually. The pilot then performed
a series of spectacular zigzag manoeuvres to slow the plane down as much as possible. The
aircraft touched down on the runway at 370 km/h - exceeding the standard approach speed by
over 100 km/h. The pilot applied emergency braking, causing several tyres to blow out and catch
fire. But the plane stopped safely, well before the end of the runway.

a An alarm sounded, a red master warning lit up and the message ENG 1 FAIL came up on
the screen. Seconds later, the right engine flamed out, due to insufficient fuel.
b During a routine instrument check, the crew noticed a disproportionate amount of oil had
been used by each engine. Oil pressure and temperature readings for each engine were also
irregular, but the levels were found to be within acceptable parameters.
c As the aircraft was now powerless and potentially uncontrollable, an emergency ram air
turbine was deployed automatically to generate back-up electrical power for the fly-by-wire
controls and instruments. However, with the main hydraulics shut down, the flaps and spoilers
used to slow the plane before and after landing were inoperable. The co-pilot calculated the

47