Qantas Airbus 380 water leak investigation...
Rope-Style Cleaning Mops Behind A380 Water Leaks...
Qantas has deployed an interim solution to problems with water leaks on its A380 fleet while Airbus develops a permanent fix, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) incident report reveals.
The issue first arose in July when a Qantas A380 (VH-OQD) that had just departed Los Angeles for Melbourne had to return to Los Angeles when the cabin crew discovered that 40% of the potable water on board—185 gallons—had leaked from a disconnected water pipe coupling just above the floor in the business class galley on the top deck. Although the crew was able to switch off the system, the spilled water moved rearward, drained through the upper deck floor and was “raining†on passengers seated near Row 65 of the main deck as it flowed toward bilges, according to ATSB’s final report on the incident.
The pilots, in contact with Qantas maintenance watch ground staff, decided there were no safety-of-flight issues, but elected to return to Los Angeles given that the water to the toilets and sinks was not available with the main switch off, making it “untenable to continue a 14-hr. flight.â€
It is amazing that this simple situation was not identified and sorted at build time?
Any average DIY man would recognise the risks :-(
Source Discovered
The crew also switched off the in-flight entertainment system and power to the seats as a precaution when the leak was discovered.
“Leakage of that quantity of water had not occurred previously, and the eventual impact of the water on the aircraft was unknown,†the ATSB wrote. After dumping some fuel, the crew transitioned to a relatively nose-high, slow-speed descent after the initial descent profile had caused the spilled water to begin moving forward along the floor.
A mechanic testing the same coupling on another A380 that was scheduled for the flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne the next day observed the same problem, but with less water leaking.
“The engineers attempted to dry out the leaked water in the cabin, resulting in the aircraft arriving about one hour late at the departure gate,†the ATSB explained.
Despite the clean-up attempt, “some water came down from the overhead bins in the main deck†during the takeoff run, but it was “similar to that normally arising from condensation and not considered to be significant,†the ATSB added. The flight continued to Melbourne.
Rope-Style Mops
An initial inspection on the A380s revealed that the couplings were likely being unlatched by rope-style mops that cleaners had been using in the galley area.
“Fleet-wide inspection of the fittings found strands of cleaning mops tangled in the brackets,†said the ATSB, “with evidence of couplings rotated in opposing directions.â€
Qantas, in consultation with Airbus, initially wrapped the couplings with aluminum tape to protect the joint, and changed cleaning procedures so that sponge-style mops would be used under galley bench areas.
The ATSB said Qantas also planned in mid-September to install lock-wire to “prevent the clamp from coming adrift†while Airbus developed a permanent fix.
The ATSB commended the Qantas crew that had aborted its flight to Melbourne for “excellent†crew resource management techniques during the “abnormal and unusual situation.â€
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Sounds like a shower of s hite to me. Water leak inside an Aeroplane. What!
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>> Sounds like a shower of s hite to me. Water leak inside an Aeroplane. What!
Happens more often than you think! The tail used to fall off one model of plane (can't remember which one) because it was corroded by leaking bogs.
I've been in several planes where passengers suddenly got wet from mal functioning aircon units.
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>> Happens more often than you think! The tail used to fall off one model of
>> plane (can't remember which one) because it was corroded by leaking bogs.
>>
BEA Vanguard ?
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>> >> Happens more often than you think! The tail used to fall off one model
>> of
>> >> plane (can't remember which one) because it was corroded by leaking bogs.
>> >>
>> BEA Vanguard ?
Thats him. Many other planes had leaking toilets but not with the same critical effect.
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'install lock-wire '
I'm surprised it wasn't in the first place, never seen water flow out of the overhead consoles but I've seen a whole panel drop down and the face masks etc all fall out behind it. Luckily no-one was sat there otherwise it would have been a fair whack on the head. Can't remember the name of the airline, some charter company.
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>> 'install lock-wire '
>>
>> I'm surprised it wasn't in the first place, never seen water flow out of the
>> overhead consoles but I've seen a whole panel drop down and the face masks etc
>> all fall out behind it. Luckily no-one was sat there otherwise it would have been
>> a fair whack on the head. Can't remember the name of the airline, some charter
>> company.
>
As an apprentice I had to replace several overhead PSU's (Passenger service units) in a trident that were dented by passenger heads. The units didn't come down, the passengers went up.
Have always worn my seat belt when flying after that.
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A380 fixed ali tape a bit of wire + a new mop . - MD
