Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633

Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633

B-6419, the aircraft involved, seen in June 2014 at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
Incident
Date	May 14, 2018 (2018-05-14)
Summary	Windshield failure due to a leaking seal, leading to uncontrolled decompression
Site	Near Xiaojin County, Sichuan Province, China
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Airbus A319-133 [1]
Operator	Sichuan Airlines
IATA flight No.	3U8633
ICAO flight No.	CSC8633
Call sign	SI CHUAN 8633
Registration	B-6419
Flight origin	Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, Chongqing, Yubei District, China
Destination	Lhasa Gonggar Airport, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Occupants	128
Passengers	119
Crew	9
Fatalities	0
Injuries	2
Survivors	128 [2]

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. ^[3] 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 .

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was an Airbus A319-133, serial number 4660, registration B-6419. ^[4] It first flew on 11 July 2011 following roll-out from Airbus Tianjin final assembly line, and was delivered to Sichuan Airlines on the 26th of the same month. ^[5] It was powered by two IAE V2524-A5 engines. As of 14 May 2018, the aircraft had recorded more than 19,900 flight hours and 12,920 cycles before the incident. ^[1] In addition to the 3 pilots, the jetliner also carried 6 cabin crew and 119 passengers.

Liu Chuanjian, captain in this incident

The pilots were: Captain Liu Chuanjian (Chinese :刘传健) (45), who had logged 11,400 flight hours including 9,200 on A319; Captain Liang Peng (Chinese :梁鹏) (33), who had logged 8,700 flight hours including 6,700 on A319; and First Officer Xu Ruichen (Chinese :徐瑞辰) (27), who had logged 2,800 flight hours including 1,100 on A319. Before Liu joined Sichuan Airlines in 2006, he worked as a flight instructor for ten years in Sichuan's Second Aviation College of People's Liberation Army Air Force. ^[6]

Incident

On 14 May 2018, Flight 8633 took off from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport at 6:25 CST (22:25 UTC). Approximately 40 minutes after departure while over Xiaojin County, Sichuan at the altitude of 9 km (30,000 ft; 9,000 m), the right front segment of the windshield separated from the aircraft followed by an uncontrolled decompression. ^{[7] [8]} As a result of the sudden decompression, the flight control unit was damaged, and the loud external noise made spoken communications extremely difficult. The co-pilot however, was able to use the transponder to squawk 7700, alerting Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport control about their situation. Because the flight was within a mountainous region, the pilots were unable to descend to the required 8,000 ft (2,400 m) to compensate for the loss of cabin pressure.

About 35 minutes later, the jetliner made an emergency landing at 7:42 CST (23:42 UTC) at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. ^[9] The aircraft was overweight on landing. As a result, the plane took a longer distance to come to a stop and the tires burst. ^[10]

Despite wearing a seatbelt, first officer Xu was partially sucked out of the aircraft. ^[11] He suffered facial abrasions, a minor right eye injury and a sprained wrist. ^{[12] [13]} One of the flight attendants on the aircraft, Zhou Yanwen (Chinese :周彦雯), also suffered a wrist injury and received treatment. ^[14] Owing to the insulation design of the Airbus A319, the temperature did not drop immediately for the passengers, despite the cockpit's exposure to the outside environment, saving them from frostbite. Even though the plane was unable to descend at the time of the incident due to the surrounding terrain, the flight crew remained conscious and did not experience hypoxia or frostbite. No other crew member or passenger was injured. ^{[3] [14]}

Investigations

The incident was investigated by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Airbus and Sichuan Airlines. In accordance with the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation's Annex 13 regulation, Airbus refrained from any further comment on their progress. ^[15] On 2 June 2020, the final report was released. The root cause of the incident was damage to the seal on the right-hand side windshield, which caused moisture to penetrate and remain in the cavity on the bottom edge of the windshield. The insulation of wires in the windshield heating system was reduced after being soaked for a long time, resulting in continuous arc discharges at the bottom left corner of the windshield. This led to local high temperatures and breakage of the windshield's double-layer structure. As a result, the windshield could no longer withstand the pressure difference between inside and outside the cockpit and burst off from the fuselage. In addition the flight control problems were found to be caused by the cockpit door opening as designed to prevent a pressure difference between the cockpit and cabin. The force of the door opening however, resulted in 17 circuit breakers to be popped, leading to a loss of utility from linked systems. ^{[16] [17]}

Aftermath

The crew of Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 were hailed as heroes by the public media and the captain, Liu Chuanjian was given a prize of 5 million yuan (£569,400). ^[18]

The crew and pilots continue to work for Sichuan Airlines and the airline continues to keep flight 3U8633 in operation, flying the same route. ^[19] The aircraft B-6419 was repaired and returned to service with Sichuan Airlines on 18 January 2019. ^[20]

In popular culture

The incident was adapted into the film The Captain, directed by Andrew Lau. The film, released during the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China in 2019, ranked second at the box office during the national holiday. ^[21]

The incident was also featured in season 23 of the Canadian documentary series Mayday , titled "Cockpit Catastrophe". ^[22]

See also

• British Airways Flight 5390, a similar incident

References

1. "三个数字 7700、32000英尺、13秒 还原史诗级备降震撼细节" [Three numbers: 7700, 32,000 feet, 13 seconds, Restore epic-level diversion shocking details]. Chengdu Economic Daily (in Chinese). 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
2. "20分钟 奇迹备降" [20 minutes, miracle diverted]. West China City Daily (in Chinese). 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
3. Goh, Brenda (15 May 2018). "Sichuan Airlines co-pilot 'sucked halfway' out of cockpit, captain says". Reuters. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
4. "川航客机脱落玻璃未进行过维修更换" [The fell glass of Sichuan Airlines has not been repaired or replaced] (in Chinese). The Beijing News. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
5. "A319-133, Sichuan Airlines, B-515L, B-6419 (MSN 4660)". The A320 Family Archive. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018.
6. Zhuang, Pinghui (16 May 2018). "'Best of the best': pilot said to have drawn on air force training to land Sichuan Airlines jet". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
7. Wilkinson, Bard; Wang, Serenitie (16 May 2019). "Sichuan Airlines co-pilot sucked halfway out of cockpit window". CNN. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
8. "空客：已派出技术团队，川航风挡玻璃破裂航班已飞近2万小时" [Airbus: A technical team has been dispatched, and the Sichuan Airlines flight of windshield bursting has flown nearly 20,000 hours] (in Chinese). The Paper. 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
9. "川航航班因驾驶舱风挡破裂安全备降成都" [Sichuan Airlines flight safely diverts to Chengdu due to cockpit windshield rupture] (Press release) (in Chinese). Southwest Regional Administration of Civil Aviation Administration of China. 14 May 2018. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
10. Sichuan flight 8633 blown windshield (Report). Sylvia Wrigley's Fear Of Landing. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
11. "英雄机长 副驾半身被吸出窗外 靠手动和目视继续开" [Heroic captain: the half-body of copilot was sucked out of the window and keep flown by manual and sight]. Chengdu Economic Daily (in Chinese). 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
12. "川航3U8633航班经历空中惊魂" [Sichuan Airlines flight 3U8633 experienced an airborne crash]. China Youth Daily (in Chinese). 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
13. "川航举行3U8633航班当班机组人员媒体见面会 27名旅客留院观察后已全部出院" [Sichuan Airlines hosted flight 3U8633 crew members's media conference, 27 passengers has been discharged after them were hospitalized]. Chengdu Daily (in Chinese). 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
14. "川航超高难度备降机长刘传健：非常荣幸能保证所有旅客的安全" [Liu Chuanjian, captain of Sichuan Airlines' super-high difficulty diverted, said very honored to guarantee the safety of all passengers]. The Paper (in Chinese). 14 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
15. "Airbus responds after Sichuan Airlines windshield blowout". China Daily. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
16. Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Sichuan A319 near Chengdu on May 14th 2018, burst windshield". avherald.com. The Aviation Herald . Retrieved 28 August 2020.
17. "Final report" (PDF) (in Chinese). Civil Aviation Administration of China. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
18. "Heroic flight of Chinese pilot to be turned into movie". The Telegraph. 28 August 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
19. "(3U) Sichuan Airlines 8633 Flight Tracker". Flight stats. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
20. "B-6419 Sichuan Airlines Airbus A319-100". Plane spotters. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
21. Yau, Elaine (2 October 2019). "Chinese national day holiday box office winners and losers: from My People, My Country to The Captain, patriotism rules". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
22. "Air Crash Investigation" Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 (TV Episode) - IMDb , retrieved 7 June 2022

External links

• Final report of this accident by Civil Aviation Administration of China (in Chinese)
• Air traffic control recording of flight 3U8633/CSC8633 communications on YouTube - via VASAviation
• Accident description  at the  Aviation Safety Network