Take Care of the Wheel Tie Bolts
A significant number of missing wheel tie bolts have been reported to Airbus over the last 5 years. A few of these reports have described significant damage to the wheel or brakes. Carefully checking the condition of the wheel tie bolts during aircraft walkarounds can allow detection of missing or damaged bolts and help to […]
Unreliable airspeed at Takeoff
Since the beginning of 2020, Airbus has received an increasing number of reports of unreliable airspeed events at takeoff due to Pitot probe obstruction. Despite the existing prevention means and the preflight exterior walkaround, takeoffs with obstructed air data probes may happen. This article highlights why it is so important for pilots to actively monitor […]
News: Parking and Storage / Return to Service Summary Letter
A dedicated task force in Airbus Customer Support was created in response to the unprecedented impact of the global pandemic on our industry since March 2020. As there have been many aircraft grounded for an extended period of time, this letter provides Operators with the latest Airbus guidance on parking & storage of aircraft and […]
Mind the OEBs
Operations Engineering Bulletins (OEBs) are temporary procedures published for flight crews. They must be applied only in specific conditions to ensure safe and efficient operations of the aircraft.This article explains why OEBs are issued, the importance of communicating them to flight crews as soon as possible, and the importance for flight crews to comply with […]
Preparing for a Safe Return to the Skies
Aircraft that were parked or stored due to the impacts of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis are progressively returning to the skies. It is in this context that Airbus has already received several reports of rejected takeoff (RTO) and in-flight turn back (IFTB) events due to unreliable airspeed. All of these events had positive outcomes thanks […]
Aircraft Parking and Storage
Facing the unprecedented and massive fleet storage worldwide which is needed in the current COVID-19 pandemic, Airbus has launched an active support to all operators about the grounding, parking and storage conditions.To complement this on-going effort, this article aims at reminding some of the key safety considerations for a proper parking and storage.
Safe Aircraft Refuelling
Safe refuelling operations require strict adherence to procedures and careful application of the safety precautions, not only by the refuelling operators but also flight crew, the cabin crew and the other ground operators.This article highlights the safety precautions that must be considered when refuelling an aircraft. It also describes supplementary tasks that are necessary if […]
Avoiding Fuel Spills on A320 Family Aircraft
Cases of fuel spillage have been reported to Airbus on A320 family aircraft equipped with fuel transfer jet-pumps in the center tank.This article recalls the protections available against tank overfill. It explains why fuel spillage happened on the reported events and provides recommendations on how to avoid it.
Safe Aircraft Parking
Incorrect or incomplete application of the parking procedures at the end of a flight can lead to unexpected aircraft movement potentially resulting in injuries or significant damage from a collision with ground obstacles. Several cases of this type of event during maintenance are reported to Airbus each year.This article provides an overview of the parking […]
GNSS Interference
Signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) are one of the main inputs used for aircraft positioning or time reference for Communication, Navigation and Surveillance functions on-board most of the Airbus aircraft.Operators report an increasing number of events related to the loss of GNSS signals due to Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) during operations in […]