Preliminary Report of CX780 High Speed Landing Released

HONG KONG ( AIRLINE INDUSTRY REVIEW ) – Accident Investigation Division of Hong Kong Civil Aviation Authority has released its preliminary report of Cathay Pacific flight 780 which suffered an engine failure leading to a highspeed landing at Hong Kong on 13th April 2010.

Photo ©AP

The aircraft, reg B-HLL, an Airbus A330-300 powered by two Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines had been built in 1998.
The aircraft declared a Mayday when approaching Hong Kong Airport ( ICAO : VHHH ), on a flight from Surabaya, with a control problem on both engines. The aircraft landed on runway 07L at a groundspeed of 230 knots, with No. 1 engine stuck at about 70% N1 and No. 2 engine stuck at about 17 % N1. Five main tyres had been deflated when the aircraft came to a complete stop on the runway. All the passengers and crew were evacuated while one passenger suffered serious injuries.
The Captain had 7756 flight hours experience of which 2601 were on the type.

Below is the incident explanation from the CAA’s Preliminary Report
All times UTC. CPA = Cathay Pacific

At 0158 hr, when the aircraft was leveling off at Flight Level (FL) 390 (i.e. 39,000 feet above mean sea level at standard atmosphere), the Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitoring (ECAM) message ENG 2 CTL SYS FAULT was annunciated. The flight crew followed the ECAM procedures. They also contacted the Maintenance Control (MC) of the CPA Engineering Department for technical advice. The company’?s Operations Manuals were reviewed. As parameters on both engines were normal except the slight fluctuation of the EPR indications, both the flight crew and the MC were satisfied that it was safe for the flight to continue.

4. At 0316 hr, ECAM message “ENG 2 CTL SYS FAULT” reappeared. CPA 780 contacted MC to discuss and review the issue again. As all engines parameters remained normal except the EPR fluctuations, both the flight crew and the MC were satisfied that it was safe for the flight to continue to VHHH.
5. At around 0455 hr, the flight crew obtained the current weather conditions from the Hong Kong arrival Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) information Hotel issued at 0435 hr. The runway in use at VHHH was 07L, with significant windshear forecast for runway 07L and 07R. Wind was from 160 degrees at 9 knots variable between 100 degrees and 230 degrees, visibility was 10 kilometres, few clouds were at 600 feet, scattered clouds were at 1800 feet, temperature was at 29 degrees Celsius, dew point was at 24 degrees Celsius and QNH was 1013. The flight crew completed the preparation for a normal arrival to VHHH.

6. At 0519 hr, during the descent to FL230 at about 110 nautical miles southeast of VHHH,CPA 780 had the ECAM messages “ENG 1 CTL SYS FAULT” and “ENG 2 STALL” annunciated within a short period of time. The flight crew completed the necessary ECAM actions with No. 2 thrust lever at idle position. No. 1 thrust lever was advanced to Maximum Continuous Thrust (MCT) position. At 0521 hr, CPA780 declared a PAN PAN (i.e. an urgency signal) with Hong Kong Air Traffic Control (ATC) and advised ATC that it had No. 2 engine at idle thrust. CPA 780 also requested track shortening and priority landing. This was facilitated by ATC, which also alerted the Airport Fire Contingent (AFC) accordingly by declaring a Local Standby.

7. The commander informed the Inflight Service Manager (ISM) that there was a problem on No. 2 engine and priority landing would be provided by ATC. The cabin crew were asked to prepare the aircraft for landing.

8. At 0530 hr, when the aircraft was approximately 45 nautical miles southeast from VHHH and was about to level off at 8,000 feet above mean sea level (AMSL), ECAM message “ENG 1 STALL” was annunciated. The flight crew carried out the ECAM actions. At 0532 hr, CPA 780 declared a MAYDAY (i.e. a distress signal) with ATC.
The commander then tested the engines by moving the thrust levers. During these movements, the No. 1 engine speed increased to about 74 % N1 while the No. 2 engine speed remained at about 17 % N1. [Note : N1 is the rotation speed of the engine low-pressure compressor and turbine rotor expressed as a percentage of its maximum rotation speed. ]
9. The commander flew the aircraft manually for a visual approach for runway 07L. At 0541 hr, ATC cleared CPA 780 to land with the reported wind of 150 degrees at 13 knots. During the final approach with both thrust levers at the idle position, No. 1 engine was stuck at about 74 % N1, and decreased to about 70 % N1 during touchdown, and No. 2 engine was stuck at about 17 % N1 throughout the approach and landing.

10. CPA 780 landed on runway 07L at 0543 hr at a ground speed of 230 knots with a landing weight of approximately 173,600 kg. On landing, the lower cowling of No. 1 engine contacted the runway surface briefly. Spoilers were deployed automatically.
Only No. 1 engine thrust reverser deployed. The commander applied maximum manual braking and the aircraft came to a complete stop on the runway. The No. 1 engine was still running at 76 – 79% N1 with the No. 1 thrust lever at idle. The flight crew shut down both engines. The aircraft had five main tyres deflated.

The investigation is being conducted by an investigation team consisting of investigators from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department, the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) of France and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the United Kingdom. The National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) of Indonesia and the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States of America also provide assistance in the investigation. Experts from Airbus, Rolls Royce and CPA also assist in the investigation.
14. The accident investigation team has conducted interviews with the commander, the co-pilot, the cabin crew, and some of the passengers on CPA 780. The information of the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), Quick Access Recorder (QAR) have been successfully downloaded for analysis. The aircraft flight documents, maintenance records, weather information, ATC radio and radar recordings, fuel samples from the subject aircraft and the departure airport have also been collected for investigation purposes. The engines, their control systems and the fuel system are under detailed examinations to determine the possible causes of the abnormal engines behaviours. Engine fuel components and the fuel samples collected have been sent to the United Kingdom and the United States of America for test and analysis.

15. Based on past experience, the investigation is expected to take more than one year to complete. However, during the course of the investigation, should any safety recommendation be necessary, it will be promulgated immediately.

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