AirNZ A320 crash

[TechsMechs]

Press release 24 February 2009

Accident on approach to Perpignan 2008

The BEA has just published an Interim Report in the context of its investigation into the accident that occurred off the coast of Canet-Plage on 27 November 2008 to the Airbus A320 registered D-AXLA. The airplane, operated by XL Airways Germany, was performing a non-revenue flight that departed from Perpignan-Rivesaltes aerodrome. This flight, planned in the leasing agreement, included a programme of checks to be performed before the return of the airplane to Air New Zealand.

The interim report, which is strictly factual, contains the information established at this stage of the investigation, without any analysis. The report shows, specifically, that since the flight was shortened, a check at low speed planned at altitude was undertaken during the approach to Perpignan. It was during this check that the crew lost control of the airplane, which crashed into the sea.

The interim report contains a recommendation to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) aimed at reinforcing the regulatory requirements related to the preparation and execution of non-revenue flights. The investigation in fact showed that in the almost complete absence of indications or standards, a wide variety of descriptions by operators of these flights was found, both in their performance and in the selection and training of pilots.

The interim report is available on the BEA's website

http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2008/d-la...la081127ea.pdf

[No Smoking]

Merci beaucoup, TechsMechs. So, the Airbus notice reported in Post #30 about low-altitude slow-speed checks is relevant.

[TinyTim2]

Maybe but be careful as we still dont know why they crashed only that they were doing handling checks .

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

We've already had conspiracy theories concerning the FDR and CVR when the reasons are now quite clearly explained in the interim report......

[Billy No Mates]

Explain....

[Obi-wan Kenobi]

Just go back over the thread. Even after I'd done some deleting earlier it's still there.....

[willdoatrip]

This report of the "FACTS" has caused a little stir downunder and a few red faces. The NZALPA are a bit upset one of thier chappies being maligned. Can't let a few facts get in the way of a little story eh.

[No Smoking]

ATW Online: Thursday February 26, 2009
ANZ protests release of 'partial' A320 accident report

Air New Zealand is concerned that France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses released its 53-page interim report on the November A320 crash to the media before it was provided to the airline, in addition to the fact that ANZ has not been given access to either the CVR or the FDR.

BEA said the A320's pilots, who worked for XL Airways, were conducting a low-speed test on approach to Perpignan when they lost control and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, killing seven (ATWOnline, Feb. 25).

Yesterday, ANZ CEO Rob Fyfe said, "It disappoints me that the BEA chose to release their report to media, under embargo, half a day before the report was made available to Air New Zealand and the families who lost their loved ones." He added that the carrier "should be allowed to contribute their insights and knowledge into the BEA investigation, a fact I will be raising again with the BEA and New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission, as well as New Zealand Transport Minister Steven Joyce."

ANZ officials told ATWOnline that the airline did not have access to the CVR or FDR. Fyfe said the BEA report offered "only a partial outline about certain aspects of what happened during the flight and not why the accident occurred" and that "there could have been a combination of failures that contributed to the accident."

He pointed to the fact that the aircraft's two stall warning vanes failed at 32,000 ft. He added that ANZ's reading of the report does not give it any concerns about normal commercial operation of its A320 fleet.

by Geoffrey Thomas

[No Smoking]

ATW Online: Thursday July 1, 2010
French prosecutor cites 'faulty sensors' in 2008 A320 crash, won't press charges

An inquiry by French prosecutors concluded that a combination of pilot error and faulty sensors caused an Air New Zealand A320 to crash into the Mediterranean Sea during a November 2008 test flight conducted by XL Airways pilots, killing all seven people aboard.

Prosecutors determined that no criminal misconduct took place and decided against levying any charges. The A320 had been leased to XL for more than two years by ANZ and was on an acceptance flight on Nov. 27, 2008, in advance of its planned Dec. 1 return when it crashed off Canet-en-Roussillon, killing two XL pilots, four ANZ personnel and one New Zealand CAA inspector (ATW Daily News, Feb. 25, 2009).

The French BEA issued an interim report last year that alleged the aircraft stalled during a low-speed, low-altitude test maneuver as it was coming in to land at Perpignan. French Deputy Prosecutor Domnique Alzeari told media in Perpignan yesterday that "faulty sensors might also be partly to blame for the crash." Two of the three sensors apparently were not working and thus the excessive pitching of the A320 "could not be corrected by the electronic brain of the aircraft," he said.

It is understood that this could be "linked to cleaning operations" on the A320 the day before the crash, he added, explaining that some water may have lodged in the sensors and frozen in flight, causing them to fail. No charges will be filed, the prosecutor stated.

ANZ said yesterday that it was unable to comment on the prosecutor's decision or statements "due to a confidentiality agreement...Under French law all the parties to that investigation are bound by confidentiality, so we can't make any comment until the final report is completed."

By Geoffrey Thomas

Hope corrective measures have been distributed following the sensors' findings.