Flight_International_14_20_February_2017

AIR TRANSPORT

flightglobal.com

Lufthansa powers

A350 growth plan

from Munich hub

Air Transport P

Pieces of degraded

O-rings left over from

manufacturing could

have caused the

uncommanded turn

14-20 February 2017 | Flight International | 11

T

wo of Airbus’s A380 test air-

craft are to be transferred to

museums, along with two other

testbeds including the first A320.

Airbus is moving its A

MSN4 to the air and space muse-

um at Le Bourget, the site of the

Paris air show. The aircraft, built

in 2005, will be the first to be

transferred and is set to be relo-

cated on 14 February.

MSN4 is powered by Engine

Alliance GP7200 engines – hav-

ing originally been fitted with

Rolls-Royce Trent 900s – and has

been used as a demonstrator air-

craft at various displays.

Airbus says the “iconic” jet

will be structurally preserved

and refurbished to “showcase its

operational role”, and will have

an internal exhibition for visitors

from 2018.

MSN2 is a Trent 900-equipped

aircraft, produced in 2005, and

was long associated with a deal

with Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom

Holding for a VIP A380, before

the order was cancelled in 2014.

Airbus will move this to the

new Aeroscopia museum in Tou-

louse, along with A320 MSN1,

which dates from 1987, and

A340-600 MSN360, built in 2001.

They will be maintained by Air-

bus Heritage.

Airbus had five A380s in its

test fleet, and Etihad Airways had

once been in line to take four of

them before it opted instead for

new-build aircraft.

Two of the five – MSN7 and

MSN9 – were subsequently de-

livered to Emirates for commer-

cial service, while Airbus re-

tained aircraft MSN1 for

product development.

Meanwhile, Airbus has formal-

ly recorded the cancellation of

two outstanding A380s intended

for Air France, which instead is

taking three more A350-900s.

The swap, originally disclosed

by the airline about a year ago, in-

creases the Air France commit-

ment for A350s to 21 aircraft.

It brings the backlog for the

A380 down to 110 aircraft. Air-

bus did not deliver any A380s

during January, according to the

airframer’s revised backlog data.

Air France had originally or-

dered 12 A380s fitted with

GP7200 powerplants, and has al-

ready taken delivery of 10.

The flag carrier had previously

indicated that the final of its

A380s were due to arrive during

2018. ■

One of the two retirees was used as a demonstrator, while the other had been intended as a VIP aircraft

The incidents involved ERJ-145s

but other types may be affected

Embraer

Airbus

M

anufacturing defects have

caused several Embraer

ERJs to experience unexpected

nose wheel turns upon landing,

including two incidents in which

aircraft veered off runways.

The US National Transporta-

tion Safety Board (NTSB) has de-

tailed the events, and called on

Embraer and the Federal Aviation

Administration to address them,

in a safety recommendation re-

port released on 2 February.

The defects could potentially

affect three types: the ERJ-135,

ERJ-140 and ERJ-145.

Embraer tells FlightGlobal it

has co-operated with the NTSB

on the investigations and will

“continue to work... on a resolu-

tion, where applicable”.

One event involved a China

Eastern Airlines flight at Shang-

hai Hongqiao International air-

port on 7 June 2013. On landing,

the aircraft, an ERJ-145 registered

B-3052, veered left and departed

the runway, damaging the aircraft

but not injuring passengers or

crew.

The other event involved an

ERJ-145 operated by ExpressJet

Airlines. That aircraft, registra-

tion N27152, departed the left

side of the runway when landing

at Quad City International airport

in Moline, Illinois, on 29 August

2011, the report says.

It is thought that both runway

excursions were caused by for-

eign object debris in the nose

wheel’s electro-hydraulic servo

valve, which converts electrical

command inputs to hydraulic

outputs, according to the NTSB.

The debris, determined to be

pieces of degraded O-rings left

over from manufacturing, could

have caused the uncommanded

turn by blocking a hydraulic

port, the report says.

The board also determined

that foreign debris in the servo

Early A380s become museum pieces

RETIREMENTS DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Test aircraft built in 2005 will go on display in France as flag carrier converts remaining two orders for type to A350s

REPORT JON HEMMERDINGER BOSTON

Nosewheel defects led

to ERJs leaving runway

valve of another ExpressJet

ERJ-145 caused several uncom-

manded turns in March 2013.

Parker Aerospace manufac-

tures the steering manifold,

while Woodward HRT makes the

servo valves. ■

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