Heathrow emergency landing: Engine doors 'left unlatched' !!!...

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board ARCHIVE' started by Tekkytyke, May 31, 2013.

  1. Tek

    Tekkytyke Well-Known Member

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    HMMM!!! So Given that TWO engineers are supposed to check the latches of the cowls are in the shut position and didn't here's my suggestion.....
    My car has a display which tells me if a door is partly open and which one it is. My fridge light also comes on if the door aint shut (both use a simple pressure switch) Other devices I have use safety cut outs if the cover is not on properly preventing the possibility of electric shock.

    Given the critical issue of a cowl not being shut on take-off e.g. ruptured fuel pipes, damaged hydraulics, fire etc. why the Hell didn't they rule out human error and fit such a switch that either displays a warning light or even prevents the engine startup sequence if the cowl latches are not correctly locked down.

    These non-latching switches and relays normally cost 50p and a bag of nuts from Radio Shack but even given that an aircraft component will obviously be much dearer having to be more robust, in the grand scheme of things since an Airbus costs 00s of millions, cost ain't exactly a showstopper surely!

    Just a thought like!
     
    Tekkytyke, May 31, 2013
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  2. Farnham_Red

    Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    I particularly like this statement from the BBC

    "Last July Airbus said there had been 32 reported fan cowl door detachment events, but none of the cases resulted in a fire"

    so its hardly a one off- really cant believe there isnt some interlock like you say above.
     
    Farnham_Red, May 31, 2013
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  3. Dragon Tyke

    Dragon Tyke Well-Known Member

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    was an aircraft engineer 32 years RAF/MoD

    Knowing what panel fasteners are the main in the industry I find it hard to believe that it has happened. Basically its down right negligence, most fasteners are designed that when locked they are in deed locked. No way can it be an accidental opening/failure. This is pure human error, and total carelessness at that. But again we are all human, and in the grand scale of things I think you will find that air travel is the most accident free of all the travel means in the world, but it does not mean people can be complacent.
     
    Dragon Tyke, May 31, 2013
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  4. budmustang

    budmustang Well-Known Member

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    Dunno

    Complete guess... weight? It allus comes down to weight. A sensor that could survive varying temperatures and so forth might be a fairly heavy (especially when you factor in the wiring) and if you multiply this by the number of positions that could conceivably be incorrectly closed/engaged it may not be insignificant.
     
    budmustang, Jun 1, 2013
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