News: A Statistical Analysis of Commercial Aviation Accidents 1958-2020
The latest Statistical Analysis of Commercial Aviation Accidents is available and updated with 2020 figures. In a year that saw half the number of flights of the previous year, there were still three fatal accidents and six hull losses. The industry fatal accident and hull loss rates are steadily decreasing over time, but this trend […]
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 […]
Editorial – January 2021
by Yannick MALINGE – SVP & Chief Product Safety Officer
A Focus on the Takeoff Rotation
An appropriate takeoff rotation maneuver is a balance between good takeoff performance and sufficient margin versus tail strike, stall speed, and minimum control speeds. Applying the 3°/s rotation rate requested in the SOPs is the key to ensure that the aircraft meets the expected takeoff performance. Flight data monitoring shows that the rotation rate values […]
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 […]
Attention Crew at Stations
An emergency evacuation is always a stressful situation for passengers, cabin crews, and flight crews. Decisions have to be made rapidly and if the communication between the cabin and cockpit is not clear, or the evacuation is delayed by passengers trying to take their personal belongings, these can have critical consequences on the outcome. From […]
Prevention of Unstable approaches
Unstable approach has been a problem since the very beginning of commercial aviation. Even so, it is still one of the most common contributing factors to many of the incidents and accidents that occur on landing today. Regardless of the changes or cycles our industry faces, this article is a timeless reminder for the importance […]
A Focus on the Landing Flare
There were several cases of aircraft touching down with their nose landing gear first or hard landings reported to Airbus over the last 2 years. This article will present some key points coming from the analysis of two of these incidents and recall the operational recommendations for performing the flare phase that are key to […]
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 […]
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 […]