Chinese commercial airline safety

[oddlycalm]

This from a business acquaintance who must remain anonymous this morning.

For anybody who is not familiar with a jet engine, a jet fan blade should be perfectly smooth. A pilot for a Chinese carrier requested permission and landed at FRA (Frankfurt, Germany) for an unscheduled refueling stop. The reason became soon apparent to the ground crew: The Number 3 engine had been shut down previously because of excessive vibration, and because it didn't look too good. It had apparently been no problem for the tough guys back in China. They took some sturdy straps and wrapped them around two of the fan blades and the structures behind, thus stopping any unwanted wind-milling (engine spinning by itself due to airflow passing thru the blades during flight) and associated uncomfortable vibration caused by the suboptimal fan.

Note that the straps are seatbelts....how resourceful! After making the "repairs", off they went into the wild blue yonder with another revenue-making flight on only three engines. With the increased fuel consumption they got a bit low on fuel and just set it down at the closest airport (FRA) for a quick refill.

That's when the problems started: The Germans, who are kind of picky about this stuff, inspected the malfunctioning engine and immediately grounded the aircraft. (Besides the seat-belts, notice the appalling condition of the fan blades.) The airline operator had to send a chunk of money to get the first engine replaced (took about 10 days). The repair contractor decided to do some impromptu inspection work on the other engines, none of which looked all that great either. The result: a total of 3 engines were eventually changed on this plane before it was permitted to fly again.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg245/oddlycalm/ATT21490944.jpg?t=1201115484http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg245/oddlycalm/ATT21490946.jpg?t=1201115373 http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg245/oddlycalm/ATT21490945.jpg?t=1201115518

[Andrew Longman]

Reminds me of Cheech and Chongs van.

Is there a regulatory agency that can shut them down until there is a complete review of their maintenence procedures?

The FAA could keep them from flying into the US, no?

[Sean Malone]

I hope their military is that maintained.

[dando]

:eek: :saywhat:

Absolutely insane. :thumdown:

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

Think about this. The pilot KNEW they were flying a rattletrap and willingly risked their lives. What's that say?

[dando]

Think about this. The pilot KNEW they were flying a rattletrap and willingly risked their lives. What's that say?

There's a Japanese word for that.... :saywhat:

-Kevin

[Gnam]

Safe enough. You fly now. :gomer:

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/4299/mnjapanplanefire1wi9.jpg

[dando]

Safe enough. You fly now. :gomer:

Must have exceeded the P2P on the turbo... :gomer:

-Kevin

[Sean Malone]

I remember a somewhat humorous scene in the cult favorite TV series ‘Northern Exposure’ where Joel was on a Russian commercial flight. It was over loaded with Russian businessmen, every one of them smoking. Strange bangs and whines were abound, Joel was a nervous wreck and when he looked out of the window he wondered why the ground crew were banging on the engine with a wrench. Fiction?

I also remember reading an article by a journalist who visited Afghanistan in ’03 or ’04. He was taken on a tour by natives on a leftover Soviet helicopter. The article was supposed to be about his finding in Afghanistan but the majority of his time was spent writing about his experience in this helicopter that was held together with bungee cords…literally.

When the Red Menace enslaves us all, I hope they never make me fly anywhere.

:D

[dando]

The condition of those engines reminds me of The Twilight Zone movie. I can just see John Lithgow being taken off of the plane.


Credence. I love Credence....

:D

-Kevin

[Ankf00]

http://www.danharlow.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/kim-jong-il.jpg

Herro.

Who you think you are, Hans Brix?



YOU NO QUESTION MY AIRCRAFT!!!

[oddlycalm]

The part of this that I can't get my mind around is that this isn't some third tier carrier on a domestic hop, this was an intercontinental flight to Europe. :eek:

The context of the message was a CEO of a Canadian electrical equipment mfg. company sending this to our CEO as a heads up for our folks traveling in China where we sell a large portion of our production.

BTW, a common trick used to clean up the blades and prevent them getting to this point on stationary turbines used to power remote oil drilling operations is to periodically dump a 50lb. bag of walnut shells through them while at full power to polish things up and take off the rough edges. :gomer: Then again, they aren't attached to an airplane holding 350 people flying at 35,000 feet....

oc

[oddlycalm]

Safe enough. You fly now. :gomer: Translation: Safe enough. You fry now. :\

oc

[extramundane]

I remember a somewhat humorous scene in the cult favorite TV series ‘Northern Exposure’ where Joel was on a Russian commercial flight. It was over loaded with Russian businessmen, every one of them smoking. Strange bangs and whines were abound, Joel was a nervous wreck and when he looked out of the window he wondered why the ground crew were banging on the engine with a wrench. Fiction?

A friend of mine spent 6 months in Russia in the late '90s. This guy had been in several bad car accidents and survived a fall down an elevator shaft with only scratches, yet says all of that paled in comparison to the horror of the 2 hour flight from Moscow to Nowheresgrad. Apparently after witnessing a rather sketchy ground crew and hearing in-flight creaks and noises one would expect from a 300-foot Chevy Malibu, the local rotgut vodka he bummed off a fellow traveler was all that got him through.

He took a train back to Moscow.

[Ankf00]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/airchina.asp

[TravelGal]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/airchina.asp

Let's hope they're right. They usually are.

But "you fry now" still has me laughing.

[oddlycalm]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/airchina.asp Zero doubt it was a foreign object that caused the damage. It's what happened afterward is what is at issue...:laugh:

oc

[Gnam]

^ and since when are compressor blades "tie down" points? :saywhat:


I hope their military is that maintained.
Chinese jet pilots have it rough. Both sides are trying to kill them. :p

[coolhand]

Safe enough. You fly now. :gomer:

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/4299/mnjapanplanefire1wi9.jpg


Thats the ROC airline, the PRC one is Air China (Domestically China southern/eastern/western)

[coolhand]

I have flown on Aeroflot round trip between Moscow and St. Pete. It was on the Tu-154 I believe, the 727 knockoff.

It was an early morning flight and everyone on the flight was sleeping and I was paying attention to how they operated the airport etc. Then we starting rolling at what must of been 60 mph then...........BRAKING.......the plane was only taxiing. The seats on the plane would fold forward like law chairs and when everyone leaned forward theirs seatbacks would go too.

Funny part is when we landed the ground crew ran up with fire hoses and hosed of the landing gear creating a lot of steam.

They also had a plane with a glass nose like a bomber. While waiting to head back to St. Pete I saw one of these planes pull in. First off was a guy in a strecher then they rolled a down the airstairs before the passengers could get off.

[Don Quixote]

About 10 years ago I made several flights within China from city to city on Air China. The flights were fine, and the planes were relatively new and in good shape. What struck me was that as soon as the last passenger was on the plane the pilot starts taxiing down the runway with at least half of the passengers standing in the isles trying to put their luggage away and find their seats. Then he turns and lurches down the runway and takes off and there were still at least 25 people still not in their seats. Every flight I took it was the same thing. In China, they are big on personal responsibility, so if you are stupid enough to stand on a plane taking off, its your own damn fault.

[RichK]

as soon as the last passenger was on the plane the pilot starts taxiing down the runway with at least half of the passengers standing in the isles trying to put their luggage away and find their seats. Then he turns and lurches down the runway and takes off and there were still at least 25 people still not in their seats. Every flight I took it was the same thing. In China, they are big on personal responsibility, so if you are stupid enough to stand on a plane taking off, its your own damn fault.

That all sounds fine to me - implement it here NOW!

[Andrew Longman]

That all sounds fine to me - implement it here NOW!

In about 1978 I was booked on a flight from EWR to ORD. Upon boarding someone had the same seat as I. The FA asked me to stand in the galley until she sorted it out. The next thing I knew we were taxiiing and we took off. Flight was sold out and I spent the entire flight sitting in a FA jump seat.

I was just glad to make my connection to Marquette but I probably could have gotten my money back and cost a FA her job.

[OW]

Ahhhhhh....what's a little wear and tear.....

:D <---- chinaman

[RichK]

In about 1978 I was booked on a flight from EWR to ORD. Upon boarding someone had the same seat as I. The FA asked me to stand in the galley until she sorted it out. The next thing I knew we were taxiiing and we took off. Flight was sold out and I spent the entire flight sitting in a FA jump seat.

I was just glad to make my connection to Marquette but I probably could have gotten my money back and cost a FA her job.

:laugh:

Hey, it's all in the marketing. They could call it "Xtreme Air Surfing" and charge extra to stand during takeoff. :cool:

[dando]

:laugh:

Hey, it's all in the marketing. They could call it "Xtreme Air Surfing" and charge extra to stand during takeoff. :cool:

And Spickly would be all over it. :tony: <=== Spickly, I'm quite certain. :gomer:

-Kevin