This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2024) |
![]() G-EZAC, the aircraft involved in the incident, pictured in 2015 | |
Incident | |
---|---|
Date | 15 September 2006 |
Summary | Major electrical failure |
Site | Near Nantes, France |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Airbus A319-111 |
Operator | EasyJet |
IATA flight No. | U26074 |
ICAO flight No. | EZY6074 |
Call sign | EASY 6074 |
Registration | G-EZAC |
Flight origin | Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, Elche, Spain |
Destination | Bristol Airport, North Somerset, United Kingdom |
Occupants | 144 |
Passengers | 138 |
Crew | 6 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Survivors | 144 |
EasyJet Flight 6074 was a scheduled flight on 15 September 2006 from Alicante, Spain to Bristol, United Kingdom on an Airbus A319-111. The flight suffered severe electrical failures during its flight to Bristol. [1]
The aircraft involved was a brand-new Airbus A319-111, MSN 2691, registered as G-EZAC, which was manufactured by Airbus Industrie in 2006. It had logged 1962 airframe hours and 1428 takeoff and landing cycles and was powered by two CFM International CFM56-5B5/P engines. [2] [3] : 20
On 15 September 2006, about 85 minutes into the flight, EasyJet Flight 6074, an Airbus A319-111, en route from Alicante experienced an electrical systems failure near Nantes, France, while cruising at 32000 feet (FL320). It caused multiple aircraft systems to become inoperative, including the aircraft's radios, autopilot, ECAM, the captain's electronic flight instrument display, and TCAS. As a consequence of these failures, the A319 nearly collided with American Airlines Flight AAL63, a Boeing 777-223ER. The transponder, which lets the ATC track down Flight 6074, was also knocked out, disabling the controller's ability. Ten minutes before a shift change, the ATC noticed that Flight 6074 disappeared from radar. Fearing the worst, the ATC asked the pilots of AAL63 to descend to 31000 feet (FL310) and if they could see EasyJet Flight 6074 in their TCAS, but AAL63 replied negative. After the ATC shift change, the new controller again commanded AAL63 to descend to 31000 feet. At 11:01:17 local time, AAL63 then began their descent. A few moments later, AAL63 reported spotting an "EasyJet 737" flying overhead, undetected by the TCAS. This was because the TCAS was disabled due to the electrical failure on EZY6074 and the TCAS needs to work on both aircraft to detect each other. Moments later, the pilots of EasyJet Flight 6074 managed to reconfigure their transponder and then a minute later, the code changed to the number 7700, or the General Emergency code number. [1] : 41 Before landing, several attempts were made to contact ATC using mobile phones without success. [1] The crew was unable to reconfigure the majority of the aircraft's electrical systems and continued on to land uneventfully at Bristol Airport without any further communication to air traffic control or remedy to the affected systems. [4]
Due to their radio failures, EasyJet Flight 6074 decided to continue their flight to Bristol to avoid being shot down by fighter jets that may think that the flight was hijacked. The air traffic control canceled all departures and arrivals at the airport. The aircraft safely landed at Bristol.
According to the analysis, EasyJet Flight 6074 intersected with American Airlines Flight 63 at a distance of 2.86 nautical miles (3.3 miles) directly ahead, with AAL63 being 600 feet below EZY6074 which was at 32000 (FL320), only because of descending 40 seconds prior. At 11:02:16 local time, American Airlines Flight 63 continued its descent and reached the point where the two aircraft tracks intersected, at approximately FL310, 19 seconds after EasyJet Flight 6074 had passed. At that moment, EZY6074 was 2.67 nm (3.07 miles) east of AAL63. This marked the closest recorded separation between the two aircraft. [1] : 45
The crew reports, the Post Flight Report (generated by the Centralised Fault Display System), and the recorded data all indicate that the incident occurred due to the AC BUS 1 losing power. AC BUS 1 is a crucial electrical bus that distributes alternating current (AC) power to various systems and components on the aircraft. It's an essential part of the aircraft's electrical system, providing power for critical in-flight functions. The investigation examined Trouble Shooting Data automatically recorded by the Generator Control Unit (GCU) for the electrical generator on the left engine. This indicated that this loss of power was caused by the offline tripping of that generator, and this was due to the GCU activating a protective function (the "Welded GLC Protection function") intended to deal with the situation where a generator needs to be disconnected but the appropriate switchgear (the Generator Line Contactor) has failed to open. [4] : 59
The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of 3,700 nmi. Final assembly of the aircraft takes place in Hamburg, Germany and Tianjin, China.
EasyJet plc is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlines EasyJet UK, EasyJet Switzerland, and EasyJet Europe. The company employs circa 13,000 people, based throughout Europe but mainly in the UK. EasyJet plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Key West International Airport is an international airport located in the City of Key West in Monroe County, Florida, United States, 2 miles east of the main commercial center of Key West.
On 1 July 2002, BALBashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet, and DHL International Aviation ME Flight 611, a Boeing 757 cargo jet, collided in mid-air over Überlingen, a southern German town on Lake Constance, near the German-Swiss border. All of the passengers and crew aboard both planes were killed, resulting in a total death toll of 71.
A traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS), pronounced TEE-kas), also known as an Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS), is an aircraft collision avoidance system designed to reduce the incidence of mid-air collision (MAC) between aircraft. It monitors the airspace around an aircraft for other aircraft equipped with a corresponding active transponder, independent of air traffic control, and warns pilots of the presence of other transponder-equipped aircraft which may present a threat of MAC. It is a type of airborne collision avoidance system mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization to be fitted to all aircraft with a maximum take-off mass (MTOM) of over 5,700 kg (12,600 lb) or authorized to carry more than 19 passengers. CFR 14, Ch I, part 135 requires that TCAS I be installed for aircraft with 10–30 passengers and TCAS II for aircraft with more than 30 passengers. ACAS/TCAS is based on secondary surveillance radar (SSR) transponder signals, but operates independently of ground-based equipment to provide advice to the pilot on potentially conflicting aircraft.
Air Inter was a semi-public French domestic airline in France that operated from 1954 until it merged with Air France in 1997. It was last headquartered in Paray-Vieille-Poste, Essonne. Earlier in its life, it was headquartered in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 2006.
On 29 September 2006, Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737-800 on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, collided mid-air with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet flying on an opposite heading over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The winglet of the Legacy sliced off about half of the 737's left wing, causing the 737 to break up and crash into an area of dense jungle, killing all 154 passengers and crew on board. Despite sustaining serious damage to its left wing and tail, the Legacy landed with its seven occupants uninjured.
Thai Airways International Flight 311 (TG311/THA311) was a flight from Bangkok, Thailand's Don Mueang International Airport to Kathmandu, Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport. On July 31, 1992, at 07:00:26 UTC, the Airbus A310-304 operating the route crashed into the side of a mountain 37 kilometres north of Kathmandu, killing all 113 passengers and crew members on board. This was both the first hull loss and the first fatal accident involving the Airbus A310.
On 31 January 2001, Japan Airlines Flight 907, a Boeing 747-400D en route from Haneda Airport, Japan, to Naha Airport, Okinawa, narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with Japan Airlines Flight 958, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 en route from Gimhae International Airport, South Korea, to Narita International Airport, Japan. The event became known in Japan as the Japan Airlines near miss incident above Suruga Bay.
Skytraders is an Australian airline, headquartered at 180 Jersey Road, Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia. Skytraders was founded in 1979. It is the provider of specialist air services to the Australian Federal Government.
Hunnu Air is a Mongolian airline that began scheduled flights in 2011. The company changed its name from Mongolian Airlines Group in April 2013 to avoid confusion with the similarly named Mongolian international flag carrier MIAT Mongolian Airlines. The company slogan is Wings of Mongolia. The name Hunnu refers to the Mongolian spelling of the Xiongnu.
ADC Airlines Flight 086 (ADK086) was a Nigerian domestic flight operated by ADC Airlines from Port Harcourt to Lagos. On the afternoon of 7 November 1996, the crew of the Boeing 727-200 operating the flight lost control of the aircraft while avoiding a mid-air collision on approach; the aircraft crashed inverted at a very high speed into a lagoon, killing all 144 passengers and crew on board. The crash remains as the fourth worst plane crash in Nigerian history.
Northwest Airlines Flight 188 was a regularly scheduled flight from San Diego, California, to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 21, 2009, which overshot its destination by more than 150 miles (240 km) because of pilot error. During the event, air traffic control lost contact with the flight for approximately 75 minutes. The flight later landed in Minneapolis/St Paul International Airport over an hour past its scheduled arrival.
Asiana Airlines Flight 162 was a regular short-haul international passenger flight from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, to Hiroshima Airport in Hiroshima, Japan. On 14 April 2015, the Airbus A320-232 aircraft touched down short of the runway, struck the localizer array, skidded onto the runway on its tail, and spun 120 degrees before finally coming to a rest on the grass, opposite the terminal building. The aircraft suffered substantial damage to the left wing and engine. Of the 82 people aboard, 27 occupants were injured, one seriously.
On 5 September 2015, CEIBA Intercontinental Flight 071, a Boeing 737 passenger jet en route from Dakar, Senegal, to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, collided mid-air with a Hawker Siddeley HS-125 air ambulance jet operated by Senegalair. The 737 was slightly damaged and managed to land safely at Malabo, but the HS-125, after remaining airborne for almost an hour with the crew unresponsive, eventually crashed into the ocean, killing all seven people on board.
Proteus Airlines Flight 706 was a scheduled commuter flight from Lyon, France to Lorient, France. On July 30, 1998, the Beechcraft 1900D operating the flight collided in mid-air with a Cessna 177 over Quiberon Bay, Brittany. Both aircraft crashed in the sea, killing all 15 occupants on both planes.
Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 was a flight from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to Lhasa Gonggar Airport on 14 May 2018, which was forced to make an emergency landing at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport after the cockpit windshield failed. The aircraft involved was an Airbus A319-100. The incident was adapted into the 2019 film The Captain and was also featured in the documentary series Mayday.
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 was a scheduled domestic flight from Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan. On 22 May 2020, the Airbus A320 crashed into Model Colony, a densely populated residential area of Karachi only a few kilometres from the runway, while on a second approach after a failed landing attempt with the landing gear not extended.