A Fiji Airways pilot who landed his new Airbus A330 so hard its undercarriage may need to be replaced has been suspended, the Fiji Sun reports. Social media sources say the landing at Sydney last week was so hard, a crew member had to be hospitalised with spinal injuries. The landing measured at 2.9 g-force of vertical acceleration, or nearly three times the force of gravity. The airline has not explained why the aircraft landed so hard, but it was then flown - with passengers - back to Nadi, Fiji, where it was then found the undercarriage was damaged. Fiji Airways chief executive Stefan Pichler told the Sun the airline had started an internal investigation. Until the result of this investigation is established, the captain has been grounded, he said. The Aviation Herald said the aircraft, registration DQ-FJV, had been grounded. Examination in Nadi... found substantial over-stress damage to the landing gear, it said. An assessment [on whether] landing gear struts need to be replaced is still ongoing. It is not being ruled out ... that all gear struts need to be replaced. Fiji Airways has re-equipped itself with four new A330 aircraft, each worth $285 million. REF: stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/9875039/Fiji-Airways-pilot-suspended-after-landing
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 21:19:53 +0000
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