Don't worry it's not a safety issue...

nzporsche944s2 · 07-02-2014, 01:03 PM

A Qantas A380 bound for Melbourne from Los Angeles had to turn around an hour into the flight because water was leaking from the upper deck to the lower deck. Described as "gushing" and wetting up to 80 passengers so it wasn't just a few drops.

The spokesman said "It wasn't a safety issue, it was just passenger discomfort,

Ummm - I would have thought that water anywhere near electrical circuits especially in a fly-by-wire aircraft WOULD be a safety issue? Or am I missing something?...

Here is a link;

Leak forces Qantas flight to turn around | Stuff.co.nz

It's Boeing all the way for me...

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

The fact that nothing shorted out does say something positive about the design you know (placement of water lines vs electric, redundancy, etc.)

stomachmonkey · 07-02-2014, 01:37 PM

All airlines crash!

Quantas.

Quantas?

Quantas has never crashed.

Rot 911 · 07-02-2014, 01:41 PM

Cheese balls. I have to have 12 cheese balls.

nzporsche944s2 · 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

All airlines crash!

Quantas.

Quantas?

Quantas has never crashed.

QANTAS = Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service (so no "U")

"never crashed" is not quite correct but certainly no fatal accidents. A 747 overran a runway in Thailand in 1999 by 220 metres and ended up in a golf course with 407 people on board.

And of course there was that "turbine blade perforating the wing" incident on the A380 that based on the report was sheer luck it missed the fuel tanks and pipes. Admittedly that was a Rolls Royce issue not QANTAS but it would still have been recorded against them

fingpilot · 07-02-2014, 02:01 PM

The concern would be where was the water going to end up.

In my early DC-9 days, a light hair colored FA put a stopper in the front galley sink to wash something, started the water running, and got 'distracted'. She next reported (to me) that the water system was empty. She didn't mention that the galley sink had overflowed, and water had 'disappeared'.

The entire 40 gallons had run down the starboard side of the floor, thru the cabin floor channel, and emptied thru a drain into the main wheel well compartment. The cabin pressurization flows thru holes in the floor into the cargo bins, and then out the outflow valves back in the rear bin.

At 33000', was minus 55C that night. Water immediately froze as it swirled around in the wheel well, even with the gear doors closed.

My saying in those days was that the DC-9 actually did not stand for 'Douglas Commercial', but 'Direct Cable'. Every single control surface was hooked to the cockpit by a cable, some hydraulically boosted, some not. Flaps? Cable to the actuator valve. Trim? Direct cable. Engines? Direct cable.

Every one of those cables went thru the wheel well. They were all encased in rapidly solidifying ice. As the light bulb went off over my head, the autopilot disconnected itself, the trim had 'frozen'.

Long story short, a slow descent to below freezing level, all wing anti-ice on, and lots of prayers. We planned a no-flap landing, possibly emergency extend on the gear, and no thrust reverse.

By the time we got on final, we had everything back.

Once in the gate, I dropped the gear doors and turned on the well lights. It looked like a Swiss chalet in the dead of winter. There was 6" of free clearance around the wing anti ice ducts, and the bulkhead where the control cables ran was warmed up enough to allow them to move thru the solid block of ice. A perfect reverse shape of the gear, tires and wheels was the only space not wet and glistening.

Douglas issued an AD. They forbade plugging the sink, and removed the stoppers in the entire fleet.

To this day, I see F/A's using a cocktail napkin to plug the drain to fill the sink.

stomachmonkey · 07-02-2014, 02:01 PM

john70t · 07-02-2014, 07:27 PM

I recently was boarding a short-hop jet overseas, when I happened to look over to the right and noticed the tube was dented in about a foot+ all around the left elevator.

Wowsah!

I'm guessing some knucklehead backed it into something( i.e. hanger door), mechanics replaced and checked integrity, and it was certified it to fly.