A380 wake turbulence - Challenger totalvrak - AW&ST

 

German Challenger Totaled After A380 Wake Turbulence

May 22, 2017Tony Osborne | ShowNews

 

 

 

A German-registered Challenger rolled several times after encountering wake turbulence from an Airbus A380 over the Arabian Sea, investigators have confirmed.

The encounter on January 7 exceeded the Bombardier CL604 Challenger’s airframe certification design load and the aircraft could not be repaired to an airworthy state, Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) said in a May 18 preliminary report.

The incident occurred as the aircraft was flying at 34,000 ft. between Male, Maldives and Abu Dhabi’s Al-Bateen airport, when a UAE-registered A380 flying at 35,000 ft. from Dubai to Sydney, Australia, passed overhead.

Interior and structural damage to the Challenger was extensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around 45 seconds later, the Challenger began to roll, with the bank angle steadily increasing, from 4 deg. to 6 deg. over 10 seconds. Then, within one second, the bank angle increased to 42 deg. The airplane continued to roll despite control inputs by the crew and it completed several rotations.

Flight data recorders showed vertical acceleration of 1.6G before fluctuating to 3.2G. The aircraft lost some 8,700 ft. of height, and airspeed increased to 330kts before the pilots managed to engage the spoilers. The crew declared an emergency and diverted to Muscat, Oman where the aircraft landed safely two hours after the incident.

A statement from the flight attendant, who had been looking after the aircraft’s six passengers states the “airplane had turned three times around its longitudinal axis, during which the occupants had been thrown against the ceiling and the seats.”

In the cabin, there was damage to seats and panels while seat armrests on four seats in the front had been deformed or had fractured.

One passenger suffered from head injuries and a broken rib; another fractured a vertebra. The other passengers and the flight attendant sustained minor injuries. The report does not identify the aircraft, but it is understood to be D-AMSC, operated by German general aviation operator MHS Aviation.

The investigation continues.