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05-22-2008, 09:42 PM
COLOR="Blue"]Two hours before flight, Air India aircraft's nose wheel gear collapses
Express News Service
Posted online: Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 0325 hrs IST
Ground engineer under belly has narrow miss as engineer in cockpit puts
front wheel lever into retract position; both engineers suspended;
leased aircraft was to depart for Dubai .
The nose wheel gear of a Dubai-bound Air India Boeing 777 collapsed
today around 1.30 pm, two hours before it was bound to take off, the
second incident involving the airline's aircraft in two days at the
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport . An engineer carrying out
maintenance work under the aircraft's belly had a narrow escape.
The incident occurred when the aircraft was still in the maintenance
area, at Bay 48. "It's a leased aircraft and not owned by Air India ,"
said an Air India spokesperson. "Prima facie, the nose gear seems to
have collapsed but the plane was still in the maintenance area while
designated to fly to Dubai ."
He said nobody was injured in the incident.
On Thursday, the door of an Airbus A-320 was damaged after the
still-attached aerobridge slammed against it as the pushback vehicle at
the rear wheels began to move. The passengers had already boarded.
It is standard procedure for engineers to carry out maintenance tests on
a departing plane. Sources said the plane's landing lever, known
technically as a retraction lever, was put into the 'retract' position
forcing the front wheel of the plane to collapse while it was still
standing. The landing lever is put into this position once the aircraft
hits airspace, allowing the wheels of the plane to retract into the
aircraft.
"Prima facie, it appears to be a case of human error as the ground
engineer should have fixed the nose pin on top of the front wheel before
testing the landing lever," said an air safety expert, not wishing to be
named. The nose pin is a thick titanium pin that fixed on top of the
front wheel of the aircraft so that even when the lever is 'retracted',
the front wheel cannot collapse.
While an aircraft engineer named Panchal was testing the plane from the
cockpit, it was ground engineer Manoj Nair , under its belly, who
reportedly saw the plane vibrating violently. He escaped unhurt,
narrowly. The Dubai-bound plane, the AI 717, is a Boeing 777 and among
the new aircraft in Air India 's stable, leased from the United Airlines.
The airline spokesperson said that while human error could not be ruled
out, the two engineers concerned have been suspended pending an inquiry.
He also refuted charges of the aircraft had vibrated before its nose
collapsed, saying no aircraft can vibrate when its engine is switched
off.
"While nothing can be said before investigations are completed as you
have to carefully go through every minute detail. However, you cannot
ignore the fact that it is a very serious incident - there is no doubt
about that," said senior civil aviation advisor and a former Director of
Civil Aviation, H.S Khola .[/COLOR]
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/3554/dsc01359yr9.jpg
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8708/dsc01362hi7.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/921/dsc01365co8.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9892/dsc01366vq9.jpg
Express News Service
Posted online: Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 0325 hrs IST
Ground engineer under belly has narrow miss as engineer in cockpit puts
front wheel lever into retract position; both engineers suspended;
leased aircraft was to depart for Dubai .
The nose wheel gear of a Dubai-bound Air India Boeing 777 collapsed
today around 1.30 pm, two hours before it was bound to take off, the
second incident involving the airline's aircraft in two days at the
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport . An engineer carrying out
maintenance work under the aircraft's belly had a narrow escape.
The incident occurred when the aircraft was still in the maintenance
area, at Bay 48. "It's a leased aircraft and not owned by Air India ,"
said an Air India spokesperson. "Prima facie, the nose gear seems to
have collapsed but the plane was still in the maintenance area while
designated to fly to Dubai ."
He said nobody was injured in the incident.
On Thursday, the door of an Airbus A-320 was damaged after the
still-attached aerobridge slammed against it as the pushback vehicle at
the rear wheels began to move. The passengers had already boarded.
It is standard procedure for engineers to carry out maintenance tests on
a departing plane. Sources said the plane's landing lever, known
technically as a retraction lever, was put into the 'retract' position
forcing the front wheel of the plane to collapse while it was still
standing. The landing lever is put into this position once the aircraft
hits airspace, allowing the wheels of the plane to retract into the
aircraft.
"Prima facie, it appears to be a case of human error as the ground
engineer should have fixed the nose pin on top of the front wheel before
testing the landing lever," said an air safety expert, not wishing to be
named. The nose pin is a thick titanium pin that fixed on top of the
front wheel of the aircraft so that even when the lever is 'retracted',
the front wheel cannot collapse.
While an aircraft engineer named Panchal was testing the plane from the
cockpit, it was ground engineer Manoj Nair , under its belly, who
reportedly saw the plane vibrating violently. He escaped unhurt,
narrowly. The Dubai-bound plane, the AI 717, is a Boeing 777 and among
the new aircraft in Air India 's stable, leased from the United Airlines.
The airline spokesperson said that while human error could not be ruled
out, the two engineers concerned have been suspended pending an inquiry.
He also refuted charges of the aircraft had vibrated before its nose
collapsed, saying no aircraft can vibrate when its engine is switched
off.
"While nothing can be said before investigations are completed as you
have to carefully go through every minute detail. However, you cannot
ignore the fact that it is a very serious incident - there is no doubt
about that," said senior civil aviation advisor and a former Director of
Civil Aviation, H.S Khola .[/COLOR]
http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/3554/dsc01359yr9.jpg
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8708/dsc01362hi7.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/921/dsc01365co8.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9892/dsc01366vq9.jpg