Airbus Updates No.163

Incident: TAM A332 at New York on Apr 5th 2011, nose gear steering failure

By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Apr 6th 2011 13:13Z, last updated Wednesday, Apr 6th 2011 13:17Z A TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A330-200, registration PT-MVS performing flight JJ-8082 from Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil) to New York JFK,NY (USA), was on final to runway 31R descending through about 1000 feet MSL about 90 seconds prior to touch down when the crew reported they needed to stop on the runway having just lost nose gear steering prompting tower to have two other aircraft already on final for 31R swing over to 31L for landing. The Airbus continued the approach, touched down safely and stopped on the runway. The crew requested a tow truck, the tower reported the nose wheel appeared to be turned sideways. The runway was closed for about 25 minutes as a result. The aircraft was able to depart for the return flight JJ-8081 with a delay of 3:20 hours. Incident: Air Canada A319 at Toronto on Apr 3rd 2011, instrument failure and acrid smell By Simon Hradecky, created Thursday, Apr 7th 2011 21:13Z, last updated Thursday, Apr 7th 2011 21:13Z An Air Canada Airbus A319-100, registration C-GBIN performing flight AC-1294 from Toronto,ON (Canada) to Aruba (Aruba) with 69 people on board, was accelerating for takeoff from runway 23 when the lower ECAM and the first officers primary flight display and navigation display failed accompanied by an acrid smell. The crew continued the takeoff, declared emergency in the initial climb reporting smoke and electrical smell, stopped the climb at 3000 feet and returned to Toronto's runway 23. On downwind the crew indicated they'd need to stop on the runway but did not expect an evacuation, reaffirming on final that they did not expect an evacuation but needed a tow. The crew performed a safe landing about 13 minutes later, the airplane was towed to the gate. The Canadian TSB reported maintenance found two circuit breakers tripped (for the bus2 electrical supply and the Brake and Steering Control Unit (BSCU)). The BSCU did not show any malfunction, abnormal odour or signs of overheating/burning. The #2 transformer rectifier unit was replaced, systems checked operative thereafter and the airplane returned to service.