Engineers and Flightcrew Slipped Up

[FLEX1978 373]

I was recently on a flight with easyjet from Barcelona to Bristol when the a319 was taxiing on just one engine with the PTU running. The cabin staff told us that the airline were trying out a fuel saving technique and that the hydraulics that we could hear were powering the aircraft during taxi. Its noted that the cabin crew had informed us to all take seats and ensure that our luggage was neatly stowed as the aircraft was full today. From this i obviously gathered that they were touching very close to minimum landing fuel estimate and opted to not put more fuel in to account for the extra pax load...

Single engine taxi is something that many operators do, nothing new. The problem with the A319/320 is the PTU is damn loud from the cabin and can freak some passengers out.

 

Now what is strange about your experience is why they didnt use the yellow hydraulic pump? That is standard procedure, even with Easy jet. Don't want to second guess the flight crew however it is bizarre that they would put the PTU under strain like that and allow it to bark all the way to runway.

 

Btw, they would add extra fuel for any additional pax or baggage, single engine taxi saves a small amount of fuel, the gain comes from operating a large fleet, the combined savings of all the aircraft performing a single engine taxi adds up to a large saving.

 

Regards

[GregL 26]

Single engine taxi out to the runway is something that has been looked at for a long time.

 

Primary brakes are powered from the Green hydraulic, supplied by the left engine. Yellow hydraulics provide alternate braking. The green system also provides nose wheel steering. Therefore the philosophy was (when I was on the bus) to shut down the right hand engine on taxi in and allow the PTU to cross power the Yellow system.

 

Shutting down the left engine left you with the potential problem of loosing your brakes and nose wheel steering in the event of a PTU failure.

 

As for using the electrical pump on the yellow system this was frowned upon as the possibility exists that the pump might be forgotten in the high workload environment of departures leading to double pumping on the yellow system and the possibility of pressure waving. Thus the PTU was considered more than adequate on the ground. Even if it does bark like an enraged Rottweiler!

 

Taxying out on one engine is a dubious money saver as many airports where Easy operate have little or no delay for departing traffic the minimum engine warm up prior to application of take off thrust negates the necessity to taxi on one engine. Chatting to the engineers a fair few years ago we were discussing why our company doesn't do it at LHR as the taxy times can be long. The engineers stated that the wear on the engine by application of T/O thrust before the necessary 5 minutes warm up was off the scale and had a seriously detrimental effect on the engines lifetime. Single engine taxy in is standard.

 

:-)

[FLEX1978 373]

Good points Greg, single engine taxi in is much more common, especially since the aircraft is already much lighter. Single engine taxi out can cause a host of problems.

[Raindance 25]

One wonders when some of the 'budget' airlines are going to start experimenting with single-engine take-offs :lol:

[vc10man 732]

ALERT----that pilot is on air tonight on BBC's Radio 5 Live's Stephen Nolan Show after the football coverage from Rio de Janeiro is over.

[Airbus Commander 563]

Thanks for the heads up, I shall be sure to tune in, I listened to the podcast earlier today with Captain Mooney, interesting, and I think I can guess exactly which airline that other Captain worked for with their fuel league tables...  :rolleyes:

 

Regards,

Ró.

[kand 205]

my old FI and good friend flies for a major European low cost, he usually reports 2 hours before duty so he can do all the notams and wx etc, he is mightily angry at present because of the fuel savings pressure, there are some skippers who he now avoids because they are fuel champions and it makes the CRM on the flight deck particularly difficult. Some examples are single engine taxi out (then unable to make your TO slot because the engine still needs to warm up) and reducing the burn off when fog is forecast at the destination in Southern Spain because you always get a direct vectors at XYZ......  

[vc10man 732]

With that program a mere 40 mins from its end, and still no sign of the follow-up to Capt 'Andy's' revelations last night on the BBC R5 Live Stephen Nolan Show as had been promised, wish I had not bought Nolan's pre-Show bait-dangler hype instead of wasting my time listening with bated breath for more revelations.

[Airbus Commander 563]

But what about these pensioners, eh?   LOLOLOLOLOL  ^_^

[BillW 210]

When we get over to the UK I think I will opt for Aer Lingus. Just saying.....

[vc10man 732]

But what about these pensioners, eh?   LOLOLOLOLOL  ^_^

Wonder if there was a legal intervention here by the airline concerned who may have effectively muzzled this Capt 'Andy'? Only surmising because there was a big pre-programme blurb about it, then zilch during the Show. I'm miffed because I missed a very good programme on RTE called The Rolling Wave(traditional Irish music scene)!!

[Airbus Commander 563]

Wonder if there was a legal intervention here by the airline concerned who may have effectively muzzled this Capt 'Andy'? Only surmising because there was a big pre-programme blurb about it, then zilch during the Show. I'm miffed because I missed a very good programme on RTE called The Rolling Wave(traditional Irish music scene)!!

 

If I'm thinking of the correct airline, then there's a certain Captain Andy who's services have suddenly "no longer been required" out there this morning looking for a new job unfortunately...   :sorry:

 

To think of what his family must be going through right now makes me sick to my stomach...  :(

 

Regards,

Ró.

[mgh 89]

Wonder if there was a legal intervention here by the airline concerned who may have effectively muzzled this Capt 'Andy'? Only surmising because there was a big pre-programme blurb about it, then zilch during the Show. I'm miffed because I missed a very good programme on RTE called The Rolling Wave(traditional Irish music scene)!!

 

Or perhaps it was just the programme maker's hype and he didn't really have much to say?

[vc10man 732]

Or perhaps it was just the programme maker's hype and he didn't really have much to say?

Well, BBC's Radio 5 Live have been known to over-hype before, so I'd not put it past them, but I'm more inclined to go with Capt Ro's theory.

[Airbus Commander 563]

Over-hyping is one thing, but mentioning that it's coming up and then not saying a peep is another. Knowing the airline I suspect is in question, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest at all if they just fired Capt. Andy on the spot to make an example out of him in front of other pilots to ensure they don't go talking to the press about the threatening letters they receive, or the threats to be moved to a base away from home without pay for a month.

 

Regards,

Ró.