Air India Phuket-Delhi Flight Lost Pilot Control For 7 Seconds, All 3 Hydraulics Failed: Airbus Report

A
Ai
I dia
flight
f om
Phuket
to
Delhi
expe ie ced
a
se ious
flight-co t ol
malfu ctio
o
August
4
whe
all
th ee
of
its
hyd aulic
systems
failed
withi
seco ds,
leavi g
the
ai c aft& squo;s
p ima y
co t ol
su faces
u espo sive
fo
a ou d
fou
seco ds,
acco di g
to
a
i itial
Ai bus
e gi ee i g
epo t.

The
i cide t
i volved
Ai
I dia
flight
AI2379,
ope ated
by
a
Ai bus
A320 eo
t avelli g
f om
Phuket& squo;s
VTSP
ai po t
to
I di a
Ga dhi
I te atio al
Ai po t
i
Delhi.
The
ai c aft
sudde ly
lost
a ou d
300
feet
of
altitude
du i g
the
episode,
i ju i g
some
passe ge s
o
boa d.

The
epo t,
p epa ed
by
Ai bus
afte
Ai
I dia
sought
tech ical
cla ificatio
followi g
the
i cide t,
is
based
o
data
decoded
f om
the
ai c aft& squo;s
flight
data
eco de ,
o
black
box.
Ai bus
has
desc ibed
its
assessme t
as
p elimi a y
a d
ot
a
fi al
dete mi atio
of
what
caused
the
malfu ctio .

ALSO
READ
|

7
Killed
As
Wate
Floods
U de -Co st uctio
Tu el
I
Utta akha d’s
Chamoli;
Sea ch
O
Fo
2
Missi g

What
Happe ed
Du i g
Those
Seve
Seco ds?

The
Ai bus
epo t
eco ds
the
seque ce
ove
oughly
seve
seco ds.
Withi
that
b ief
pe iod,
the
ai c aft& squo;s
th ee
hyd aulic
systems
failed
o e
afte
a othe ,
the
ose
of
the
ai c aft
pitched
upwa ds
a d
the
autopilot
disco ected.

The
pilots
the
fou d
that
thei
comma ds
we e
ot
p oduci g
the
expected
espo se
f om
the
ai c aft& squo;s
p ima y
flight-co t ol
su faces.
The
loss
of
hyd aulic
p essu e
left
the
elevato s
a d
aile o s
u able
to
espo d
fo
a ou d
fou
seco ds.

The
ai c aft
subseque tly
egai ed
hyd aulic
p essu e
automatically.
The
blue
system
etu ed
fi st,
followed
by
the
yellow
a d
the
the
g ee
system.
O ce
co t ol
su faces
became
espo sive
agai ,
the
pilots
we e
able
to
egai
co t ol
of
the
ai c aft.

Why
A e
The
Th ee
Hyd aulic
Systems
So
Impo ta t?

Hyd aulic
systems
p ovide
the
fo ce
eeded
to
move
key
co t ol
su faces
o
a
ai c aft& squo;s
wi gs
a d
tail.
These
su faces
allow
pilots
to
co t ol
the
ai c aft& squo;s
pitch,
oll
a d
di ectio .

The
A320
has
th ee
sepa ate
hyd aulic
systems,
k ow
as
g ee ,
blue
a d
yellow.
The
edu da cy
is
desig ed
to
e su e
that
the
ai c aft
ca
co ti ue
to
be
co t olled
eve
if
o e
system
fails.

I
this
i cide t,
howeve ,
all
th ee
systems
epo tedly
lost
p essu e
withi
about
a
seco d
of
o e
a othe .
That
mea t
the
o mal
backup
a a geme t
was
tempo a ily
u available.

G ee
System
Failed
Fi st,
The
Blue
A d
Yellow

Acco di g
to
the
Ai bus
assessme t,
the
g ee
hyd aulic
system
failed
fi st.
This
affected
the
g ee
co t ol
of
the
left
elevato
a d
both
aile o s,
as
well
as
two
spoile s.

The
ai c aft
the
automatically
switched
to
its
available
backup
systems,
as
desig ed.
At
that
stage,
the
ai c aft& squo;s
edu da cy
was
still
fu ctio i g
as
i te ded.

Howeve ,
the
blue
a d
yellow
hyd aulic
systems
failed
du i g
the
followi g
seco d.
With
all
th ee
systems
u available,
the
elevato s
a d
aile o s
stopped
fu ctio i g,
while
the
emai i g
spoile s
we e
also
e de ed
i effective.

Ai bus
said
the
affected
co t ol
su faces
emai ed
u available
fo
a ou d
fou
seco ds.
Without
hyd aulic
p essu e,
they
we e
exposed
to
ae ody amic
fo ces
a d
bega
movi g
with
the
ai flow.
The
aile o s
moved
to
a ou d
13.5
deg ees,
co t ibuti g
to
the
ai c aft& squo;s
ose
pitchi g
upwa ds.

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E olme t
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CJI
Row

Pilots
Gave
A
Nose-Dow
Comma d
But
Got
No
Respo se

The
autopilot
subseque tly
disco ected.
Acco di g
to
the
epo t,
the
co-pilot
issued
a
full
ose-dow
comma d,
but
the
ai c aft& squo;s
co t ol
su faces
did
ot
espo d
because
they
we e
tempo a ily
i ope ative.

I
simple
te ms,
the
pilots
we e
comma di g
the
ai c aft
to
cha ge
its
attitude,
but
the
flight-co t ol
su faces
we e
ot
espo di g
to
those
i puts.
That
b ief
loss
of
co t ol
is
o e
of
the
most
sig ifica t
aspects
of
the
i cide t.

The
situatio
cha ged
afte
the
hyd aulic
systems
bega
etu i g.
The
blue
system
ecove ed
afte
oughly
seve
seco ds
f om
the
begi i g
of
the
seque ce,
followed
by
the
yellow
a d
g ee
systems
sho tly
afte wa ds.
The
flight-co t ol
su faces
the
became
ope atio al
agai ,
allowi g
the
pilots
to
stabilise
the
ai c aft.

What
Caused
The
Hyd aulic
P essu e
Loss?

The
p ecise
cause
has
ot
yet
bee
established.
Ai bus
said
the
behaviou
of
the
flight-co t ol
system
was
a
co seque ce
of
the
loss
of
hyd aulic
p essu e.

The
epo t
i dicates
that
at
least
two
p essu e
switches
eco ded
low
p essu e.
A
fault
was
also
ide tified
i
o e
of
the
p essu e
switches
associated
with
the
g ee
hyd aulic
system.

Howeve ,
the
epo t
does
ot
co clude
that
the e
was
a
hyd aulic-fluid
leak
o
that
a
hyd aulic
pump
had
failed.
I stead,
it
establishes
that
the
se so s
eco ded
low
p essu e.

That
leaves
a
impo ta t
questio
fo
i vestigato s:
did
the
hyd aulic
p essu e
actually
fall,
o
did
a
p oblem
with
a
se so
o
its
wi i g
p oduce
a
i co ect
sig al?
Ai bus
has
called
fo
fu the
i vestigatio
befo e
a
fi al
cause
ca
be
dete mi ed.

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