aviation - the past, present and future of flight

INITIAL INSPECTIONS

The technical and ultimately legal part of

the delivery process normally takes around

 ve days for an A350 XWB. Airlines often

have an internal meeting prior to the ‘official’

start of the process at which the  ight

operations and maintenance inspection

teams review the overall information

regarding the status of new aircraft to be

delivered. Thai is one of those airlines and

the meeting involved one of its experienced

aircraft inspectors who had monitored the

whole process of the aircraft’s journey from

assembly to the completion of last  ight test

by Airbus.

The following day officially becomes ‘day

one’ of the delivery process, and the actual

physical work of accepting this shiny new

widebody jet begins in earnest. The basic

procedure is always the same, although

some airlines will make small variations.

The process for HS-THF started with

a welcome meeting between the Thai

acceptance team and the Airbus delivery

team, enabling everybody to get to know

each other and their roles. They all received

a status report on the aircraft following its

hand-over from  nal assembly/ ight test.

Any known issues in the process of being

resolved and any others that do not warrant

delaying the delivery process, are mentioned

at this stage.

The  rst physical checks of the aircraft

follow. The Thai team, along with Airbus

staff, performs a ground check and engine

run-up. At this stage, all the aircraft systems

are tested in the cockpit.

While this is going on up front, a joint

team from the airline and manufacturer

examine all the cabin systems, including

in- ight entertainment (IFE), the connectivity

system, galley equipment, lavatories, seats

and emergency kit.

Externally the aircraft is also being

checked by both Airbus and Thai staff. Flight

control surfaces, the landing gear, engines

and auxiliary power unit (APU) are included

in this process.

Any snags or discrepancies discovered

by any members of the Thai team during

these three separate inspections will

be entered into a logbook for further

investigation and, if necessary, corrective

actions by Airbus.

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 79

Above: The new Thai Airways Airbus waits

outside the distinctive delivery centre at

Toulouse.

Main photo: Aircraft HS-THF performing a go-

around as part of its initial test  ight on June

22, 2017. Benoit Machefert

78-82_thaiDC.mfDC.indd 79 01/12/2017 18:49