A340 Engine Test Gone Wrong

Bertie the Bunyip wrote in
:

Tina wrote in news:d0ba294f-7bbd-46a2-aac7-
:

Is there enough thrust during an engine test on an A340 to drag locked
gear?


You mean brakes? Yes, there is. You can take off with the parking brake
full on, especially on a wet runway, or so I've been told, anyway!
I haven't tried it myself.
Typically they only run up one at a time, of course.

I'm wondering if it's common to depend on blocks and the like to
restrain an airplane like this during a test, or does one commonly
engage the brakes as well?

They'd have to. It look like it might have been a brake failure that did
this. If the antiskid went into "test" for instance, or a shuttle valve
got stuck somewhere The airbus braking system is a bit strange and not
well thought out. I once had a brake failure on landing when the anti-
skid decided to do a test cycle. It wasn't a 340, but the system is
essentially the same.



I guess they'll just take the cost to repair out of someone's
paycheck.


Nah. unless they did something criminal, they should be OK It'l likely
be a combination of things that caused the accident, not a single item.
It depends on who was doing it as well. Engineering tend not to use
checklists since they actually know how the airplane works. However,
they don't think like pilots and tend to turn on only the bits they need
if they are going to start engines or taxi the airplane. It can leave
them a bit vulnerable. For instancde, they might decide they only need
to turn on the green system hydraulic since that will work the main
brakes and nosewheel steering. They don;'t need flight controls, after
all. but if that fails and the yellow sysem isn't right there to catch
it, they wouldn;'t have time to get them on before th eairplane hit
something.
Sabena crashed an A340 or 330 into another airplane of their own years
ago while it was on tow. The 'Bus hit one of Sabena's own 737s and wrote
it off. The next day, they also groundlooped a 340 in Brussels! Bad week
for them!

Bertie






Bertie - there was one report which said the A340 jumped the chocks as
well. Do you know how large in relation to the wheel the chocks are for
that aircraft?

The reason I ask is that earlier today I was at my FBO's bar-b-que
celebrating their second aniversary in their new building and spoke to the
head mechanic about it. He is an ex-Navy mechanic who said that on the
fighters he worked on, the chocks went up higher than the wheel hubs and
there was no way they were going to jump them unless they went to full
afterburner, and even then he sort of doubted it.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)