Cathay Pacific Emergency Landing

[Matt Coughran]

HONG KONG—Eight people were injured Tuesday when a Cathay Pacific Airways jet made an emergency landing in Hong Kong after experiencing engine problems, in one of the carrier's most serious incidents in recent years involving safety.

Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department and Cathay Pacific officials offered few details on the cause of the incident pending an investigation. Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler did say the Airbus A330-300 aircraft, which was carrying 309 passengers and 13 crew members, encountered engine trouble as it approached the city's airport on a flight from Surabaya, Indonesia.

The airline, which is based in Hong Kong, said in a statement that the jet's left-hand engine shut down as the aircraft made its landing approach. The other engine was functioning, according to the statement.

When flight CX780 landed, a small fire broke out on its main landing gear that was quickly extinguished by fire services. The fire was likely caused by tires overheating when the pilots executed the plane's emergency braking system, the government's aviation department said.

The crew deployed emergency slides to evacuate passengers on the runway. Authorities said the eight passengers sent to hospital suffered injuries to the legs, arms and head that were likely caused during the evacuation process.

"At the moment, it is far too early to speculate on the causes of this incident, and we will of course act on anything we need to make sure our fleet remains the safest fleet in the air," Mr. Tyler said at a news conference. He declined to say whether the airline would suspend its A330 aircraft from service.

Mr. Tyler said the Airbus aircraft involved joined Cathay Pacific's fleet in 1998 and last underwent a full maintenance overhaul in October 2008. Cathay Pacific has more than 30 A330s in service, operating mainly on regional and Australian flights. The A330 first entered service with the airline in 1995.

Cathay Pacific has enjoyed a solid safety record in recent years. However, the latest incident wasn't the first time the airline has experienced a problem with its A330 aircraft.

In 1997, Cathay Pacific grounded its entire fleet of A330s for nearly two weeks because of problems with the planes' Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. Trouble with the gearboxes of the Rolls-Royce engines caused some in-flight engine shutdowns, prompting the carrier to take the aircraft out of service for immediate modifications.

Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department said it will launch a full inquiry into the incident and said it will invite French and U.K. air-crash investigators to join the probe. The Airbus aircraft was manufactured in France, while its Rolls-Royce engines were made in the U.K.

The government said Hong Kong's airport suffered little disruption from the incident, with 35 flights being delayed by fewer than 30 minutes.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...IDDLTopStories

Photo Taken by Thomas Kwan

Rego: B-HLL

[Andrew M]

Media now reporting that both engines failed before landing!

"Cathay Pacific said in a statement the plane's left engine had shut down as the aircraft made its landing approach at Hong Kong's international airport yesterday with 309 passengers on a flight from Surabaya in Indonesia.

The right engine also began to "cut out inexplicably, leaving the (pilots) to cope with dips and surges in power and the prospect of the plane plunging into the sea short of (the airport)," the South China Morning Post reported"

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/trav...0414-sd3g.html



Hmmm another A330 computer malfunction ? Very interested to see the final report on this one!

[Lee G]

Why deplane all the passengers via the slides? I would have thought that keeping then on board and disembarking by steps brought to the aircraft would have been safer even with blown tyres on the main gear?

[Ryan N]

Seven News mentioned the pilots were Australians.

[Raymond Rowe]

Glad that they made it ok.Does anyone know the rego please.

[D Chan]

B-HLL is the aircraft involved. Reports that the engines surged seem to indicate an engine problem or possible fuel contamination problem. Don't want to speculate the cause but this has the potential to be a Trent issue again.

Evacuation is ordered probably because of the brake fire?

[Tim Bowrey]

Originally Posted by Raymond Rowe

Does anyone know the rego please.

B-HLL according to The Hong Kong Spotters forum.

[Adam.S]

Originally Posted by Lee G

Why deplane all the passengers via the slides? I would have thought that keeping then on board and disembarking by steps brought to the aircraft would have been safer even with blown tyres on the main gear?

I second this question. I understand there is written procedure that crews must follow and 2mins to evacuate 309 pax is a great effort by the CX crew.
However with firecrews present, was there really a concern that the flaming brakes could ignite the fuel tanks?
I would have thought 2 or 3 fire tanks on the scene could have put out all fires very quickly, even if every wheel of the a/c was on fire?

I obviously don't have much of an understanding of the fire risks, so I ask here seeking knowledge.

cheers

[D Chan]

Originally Posted by Adam.S

I second this question. I understand there is written procedure that crews must follow and 2mins to evacuate 309 pax is a great effort by the CX crew.
However with firecrews present, was there really a concern that the flaming brakes could ignite the fuel tanks?
I would have thought 2 or 3 fire tanks on the scene could have put out all fires very quickly, even if every wheel of the a/c was on fire?

I obviously don't have much of an understanding of the fire risks, so I ask here seeking knowledge.

cheers

flaming brakes could trigger the following,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRzWp67PIMw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UocxPoUUnIQ

if the landing speed is so high a lot of energy would have been converted into heat with the brakes.
Notice the fire doesn't start until 3 or 4 minutes after the heavy braking

[Owen H]

This crew had just done a VERY high energy stop (far in excess of any considered scenarios for the aircraft) having lost control of both engines during various stages.

I think we should forgive them a decision to evacuate the aircraft given they had no idea why they had the failures they did, and that they had put far more energy into the brakes than any test ever has, including the ones resulting in wheel fires.

The jury is still out on whether it is a good idea to evacuate or not in a brake fire scenario. Yes, the fire crew will be on hand, but have a read of what the fire crew's job actually is... you might be surprised. The purpose is to protect a safe evacuation route for passengers from an aircraft, not to put out fires. That is a secondary role.