Severe turbulence injures seven

Sully

Seven people on board a Qantas flight have suffered minor injuries after the Airbus A330 lost altitude in extreme turbulence.

The plane, which was carrying 219 passengers, was flying from Hong Kong to Perth overnight when it struck turbulence over Borneo.

Passengers filmed the interior of the plane to show the damage that had been done by people being thrown around in the turbulence.

Qantas spokesman David Epstein said the plane had operated normally following the incident.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8113515.stm

(CNN) -- Seven people were injured aboard a Qantas flight from Hong Kong, China, to Perth, Australia, after the jetliner hit turbulence over Borneo in Malaysia overnight, the airline said on Monday.
A Qantas jet landed safely in Perth, Australia, Monday after several people were injured during turbulence.

A Qantas jet landed safely in Perth, Australia, Monday after several people were injured during turbulence.

Six passengers and a crew member sustained minor injuries and were treated onboard, the airline said in a statement on its Web site. Qantas said the aircraft was an Airbus A330-300, adding that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate and that there was no reason to link the incident to other incidents involving A330 aircraft.

The turbulence arose four hours into the flight, and the jet landed at Perth around 7:30 a.m. local time Monday (11:30 p.m. GMT Sunday), according to Qantas.

There were 206 passengers and 13 flight and cabin crew onboard the jet, according to Qantas.

The captain reported minor damage to two overhead panels in the cabin and the dislodgement of two oxygen masks, Qantas said.

Air France 447, which crashed in the Atlantic Ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people onboard, was also an Airbus A330.

Last year, an A330-303 was forced to make an emergency landing in Australia after a sudden change in altitude injured 74 passengers. Qantas Flight 72 was flying from Singapore to the western Australian city of Perth when a sudden change of altitude caused abrasions, contusions, fractures and other injuries. The cause of the sudden drop remains under investigation.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/22/qantas.turbulence/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Strange. Few seconds and it drops, causing minor damage. Not great for Airbus A330, seems to be a fair few problems with their jets.

alpha2zulu

Strange. Few seconds and it drops, causing minor damage.

It does happen from time to time where an aircraft encounters clear air turbulence that cant be picked up by radar which is why your always asked to keep your seat belts losely fastened in flight. The fact that it is an A330 is pure coincidence. On long haul for example, "ride reports" from aircraft ahead can be as influential as on board weather radar in plotting tracks through rough weather.

Not great for Airbus A330, seems to be a fair few problems with their jets

.

I wouldent agree with that, yes there is the question of suspect pitot tubes but many airlines including Air France and Aer Lingus have replaced most if not all of the equipment in question by this stage. The fact is that the Air France tragedy is the only fatal incident invloving the A330 that I can think of since it went into service in 1994. I'd gladly hop on one of them in the morning, no question about it.

As for that CNN piece, most of the media (and governments) havent a clue about aviation so its no surprise that they link in the Air France story at every opportunity.

Foggy43

Sully wrote: »

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8113515.stm



Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/22/qantas.turbulence/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Strange. Few seconds and it drops, causing minor damage. Not great for Airbus A330, seems to be a fair few problems with their jets.

It would not have mattered what aircraft type it was. The result would have been the same. Anyone with no seat belt on is very likely to be injured. Overhead bins will open and possibly injure. Aircraft will fly on normally afterwards.

This is why cabin crew now advise people to continue wearing their seat belts even though the seat belt sign is switched off.

Tenger

Foggy43 wrote: »

This is why cabin crew now advise people to continue wearing their seat belts even though the seat belt sign is switched off.

And why a little turbulence is handy to remind passegers that they say it for a reason rather than just to annoy the passengers.

Sully

Its bad news for Airbus as that model seems to be particularly in the news a lot more frequently. I would have thought a plane should be able to withstand turbulence and not just drop out of the sky.

alpha2zulu

Its bad news for Airbus as that model seems to be particularly in the news a lot more frequently

In fairness though, this time last month the only reason that A330's were in the news in aviation circles was for picking up a new wave of orders in recent months. Issue's regarding safety were never really in the public domain

I would have thought a plane should be able to withstand turbulence and not just drop out of the sky.

But as the incident in Australia at the weekend shows, all civil aircraft can withstand huge amounts of turbulence. Whether this brought down the Air France jet is still pure speculation as I think its fair to say that it is the small speed sensors (pitot tubes) under the cockpit windows that are the focus of attention and if severe weather can disrupt these sensors.

At the moment at least the there isent so much of a debate as to how the airframe itself withstands turbulence, bearing in mind that since A330's have been in commercial service for 15years practically all weather phenomenon would have been encountered years ago.

Yes the A330 is taking a public hammering at the moment but this will past.Almost all civil aircraft built in such huge numbers have undergone scares at one stage or another over the years.

joey54

As a an ordinary member of the public I wont let these recent issues with the airbus but me off flying. I mean consider the amount of flights that are made every day. There are bound to be some problems along the way.

Fratton Fred

The company i work for insists all regular flyers attend a flight safety course (I heven't done it yet). The thing they point to as being the easiest and most effective way of not being injured during a flight, is wearing your seat belt at all times. This highlihts exactly why.

This sort of thing happens very regularly, but Qantas and the airbus combination would make it newsworthy at the moment.

pclancy

alpha2zulu wrote: »

In fairness though, this time last month the only reason that A330's were in the news in aviation circles was for picking up a new wave of orders in recent months. Issue's regarding safety were never really in the public domain
...

Yes the A330 is taking a public hammering at the moment but this will past.Almost all civil aircraft built in such huge numbers have undergone scares at one stage or another over the years.

Yep. Excellent points.

A330s happen to be in the news recently due to the AF crash so now something has happened again to a 330 its natural for joe soap to connect things. Qantas have had a rough time too with maintenance and in flight issues. All people need is a few bits of news but they don't focus on the specifics, plus news outlets of all types focus on simple things that people can connect.

When that A320 came down but survived intact in the Hudson everyone was blasted with what an amazing airplane it was, then the Air NZ one came down in the med and people are worried again. But even though the investigation is ongoing, the public fear not the A320 right now because they're not in the mass media.

A year and a half ago, a 777 flames out just before Heathrow and that's the scare of the moment....then you guess it, the very next incident that happens to a 777 is reported in the media and the fear begins again. But since that time the 777 has faded from peoples minds, even though investigations into its heat exchangers are still ongoing, and there are probably over 1000 of them in the air right now in public service.

Modern aircraft are machinery like nothing else on this Earth in terms of their technology, their maintenance and the skills of the crews that fly them. When incidents happen, I just wish that the media would be more responsible and have experts report for them and not focus so much on selling the story.

Cessna_Pilot

Sully wrote: »

Its bad news for Airbus as that model seems to be particularly in the news a lot more frequently. I would have thought a plane should be able to withstand turbulence and not just drop out of the sky.

It dropped out of the sky?

partyatmygaff

I wouldn't say dropped out of the sky, More like dived quickly like a stall.
Not a nosedive(Or maybe it was a nosedive?)

Just a huge loss of altitude anyways.