TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
AP: 0e639bea-b286-4974-86a7-dd26a36570d3
A United Airbus A320 passenger plane takes off at Newark Liberty International airport Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, in Newark, N.J. Airline pilots who fly certain Airbus jets that first came into service more than two decades ago have reported over 50 episodes of multiple electrical failures in the cockpit. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

When cockpits go dark

August 24, 2012 @ 1:01 pm (Updated: 7:15 am - 8/25/12 )

cedargrove
A United Airbus A320 passenger plane takes off at Newark Liberty International airport Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, in Newark, N.J. Airline pilots who fly certain Airbus jets that first came into service more than two decades ago have reported over 50 episodes of multiple electrical failures in the cockpit. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

The Associated Press has been reviewing records of close calls involving the Airbus A320 family and found an incident in 2008 that sounds like just about the most terrifying malfunction that could ever happen in a cockpit.

In January of 2008, as United Flight 731 was climbing out of Newark Airport headed for Denver with a full load of fuel, all the instruments in the cockpit went dark. Everything. The navigation screens, the primary and standby attitude indicators, and even the radios. Which meant that as they circled back for an emergency landing, there was no way to contact the tower. And in the control tower at Newark, as they watched this airplane making a hard right turn, and not answering the radio, they were thinking 9/11.

Fortunately, heads remained cool, the weather was clear, and flight 731 landed safely.

But the story says a review of the records found 50 episodes like this.

The FAA ordered fixes in 2010, but gave the airline four years to make them because the fix takes 46 hours per plane, and costs about $6,000.

Now you have to keep this in perspective: a total of 50 of these blackout incidents out of 9.5 million scheduled commercial flights each year.

Still, even at $6,000 a plane, even if there's a little inconvenience in fixing them all right away, if it guarantees that all the screens and gauges in the cockpit won't ever again just go blank I think most of us would take that deal.

At least the pilots should have the cell phone number of the tower, right? On on a hot key, preferably?

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Comments (34)


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  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    can't get me on an airbus
    August 25, 2012 6:40 am
    that's a lot of people to die at once if it malfunctions...
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Why did these incidents reach 50 before the public was made aware?
    August 25, 2012 7:11 am
    I recently received a recall notice for a Ford Escape that I own it said that the car could accelerate without warning and that I should come in to the shop immediately to have the cruise control disconnected and that part will be made available at a later date for a FIX to the problem. I wonder how many accidents and deaths happened before they revealed to the public that a huge problem exists?Any time the public is kept in the dark you can bet that costs to the business or manufacturer were the motivating factor
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  • manimal wrote...
    You get what you pay for
    August 25, 2012 7:13 am
    What did you expect for $6,000?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    Dave - I did the math
    August 25, 2012 7:41 am
    46 hours for $6000 is $130/hr, so nothing outlandish there.

    Commercial aircraft are serviced every 500 to 750 hours flight time - with about a 20 hour service at that time, at the airports. Again, nothing unusual.

    SO... this fix could be done by simply extending normal maintenance by a shade over 2 days. Unless there is a huge SHORTAGE of commercial aircraft, that doesn't seem like it would take 4 YEARS.

    I've got to agree. Maybe not immediately, but these normal maintenance times come up about every 3 months. Considering air traffic was halted for - what - 3 days after 911, 3 months should be plenty of time.

    .

    But, Dave. You do know that FAA rules forbid use of cell phones, so why should pilots be exempt? Besides, the roaming charges alone would be too expensive, unless they levied an additional charge on your ticket.

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  • fartforce1 wrote...
    Its the time out of service and storage fees that makes 6K Look like 100K.
    August 25, 2012 7:42 pm
    6K is not the issue, but still, the fact he airbus knew there was a problem and just let it go really bothers me. I have been on A320 and the such. They are okay but they are sure not a 747-400 and that's for sure. I still side with Boeing. Its like driving an old 84 Ford f-150 with a 300 six and then climbing into a King Ranch for the first time. The difference is obvious.
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  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    When assembling an aircraft
    August 25, 2012 10:10 am
    Special attention has to be paid to the ground(electrical)connections.Do they (Airbus)do this?Probably not as much as they should.
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  • ohyea53 wrote...
    Aircraft haven’t been a built with sextant port since the sixties.
    August 25, 2012 10:51 am
    They became obsolete because of technology. First was INS then GPS. But if all else fails use the good old whiskey compass.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • adiru wrote...
    To clarify,
    August 25, 2012 12:15 pm
    Electrical power failure is not the same as engine failure - the generators are merely accessories bolted onto the engines. On all aircraft, there are one or more means of backup (Standby) electrical power, whether it's from the main battery, Ram Air Turbine (RAT), Aux Power Unit (APU), or Hydraulic Motor Generator. The A320 family has the battery, RAT, and APU so the chance of an electrical POWER SOURCE failure is extremely remote. It's very odd that the standby instruments failed, as they are either mechanically driven or have their own battery. The airworthiness directive calls for a modification to add an automatic switching function to switch between the two major electrical busses. It also states that if the plane doesn't have the mod, the busses can still be switched manually. Although this manual switching does exist in the cockpit it doesn't explain how it would work if both INDEPENDENT pilots instruments and the INDEPENDENT Standby instruments lose power at the same time, as the articles state.
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  • Cougsfan34 wrote...
    Christ all mighty
    August 25, 2012 2:37 pm
    All these comments about aircraft design, aircraft this and aircraft that...god its like you guys work for some multi-billion dollar super successful, legendary plane making company....in an area of the country they call jet city. I just like how they serve sunflower butter on flights now and the trays actually will hold your cup of Coke during a bumpy part of the flight...thats all continue arguing hydraulics.
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  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Electronics.
    August 25, 2012 5:06 pm
    Fail. Period.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • adiru wrote...
    It's not electronics
    August 25, 2012 7:14 pm
    in general that fail, but rather, it's the design and implementation of the design, and it's becoming more software driven. Electronics on aircraft have been around since the 1940s but software control without manual reversion (all fly-by-wire) is becoming more common in the new generation, relying on redundancy of electrical/electronic systems. And I don't work at Boeing and also didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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  • Drool wrote...
    ADIRU, You May Not Have Stayed ata Holiday Inn....
    August 25, 2012 9:31 pm
    ...but your "handle" is a black box that resides in many Boeing airplanes. Methinks you know more than you let on.
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  • longwayhome wrote...
    Bill law
    August 25, 2012 7:42 pm
    Did you read the article in AOPA mag about the D.C.10 water tanker? I thought that was quite impressive. Hand flying an aircraft of that size with a full load of water, muchos cajones. I'm a pilot also and appreciate the work that these water bombers do.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    longwayhome
    August 25, 2012 7:50 pm
    I believe EVERGREEN has a 747 h2o tanker
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    I was wrong
    August 25, 2012 7:52 pm
    It carries fire retardant not h2o
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  • Drool wrote...
    Messiah
    August 25, 2012 9:34 pm
    They can carry retardant or just water. The DC-10s re based out of Victorville, Ca. I think Evergreen's are in Oregon.
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