The Airbus A321neo Has An Excessive Pitch Problem
Yesterday morning, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) alerted
A321neo operators that there is potential for an “excessive pitch” anomaly.
Airbus is introducing a temporary revision to its A321neo flight manuals that
would prevent the aircraft from reaching excessive pitch altitudes. “
Excessive pitch” is the issue that plagued the 737 MAX and is what led
Boeing to install its MCAS on the type.
The A321neo has a range of 7,400km. Photo: BriYYZ Flickr
This revision is the result of analysis of the elevator and aileron computer
on the A321neo. Airbus has yet to elaborate on the situation except for
stating that “excessive” pitch could occur under certain conditions and “
during specific maneuvers.”
FlightGlobal reports that the EASA has ordered A321neo operators to amend
their flight manuals accordingly, within 30 days of when the alert was
issued. In fact, the order will cover both the CFM International Leap-1A as
well as Pratt & Whitney PW1100G versions of the aircraft.
Should you worry?
According to an article by AirInsight, the Airbus with its existing
fly-by-wire system being more extensive than those on the 737MAX, can remain
in safe operation following the procedure. View from the Wing and other
sources are saying that it is still unknown whether a software modification
will be needed for the A321neo.
Featured Video:
With the 737 MAX and its fundamental design issues in the aviation industry’
s spotlight, it’s a safe bet that Airbus will carry out its due diligence to
make sure its aircraft are safe to fly.
a321neo
A321neo test-bed on a low gears-up departure from Toulouse. Photo: Wikipedia
A321neo operators
According to Wikipedia, here is a list of some of the notable A321neo
operators and the number of aircraft they currently have (at the time of
writing this article):
American Airlines – 5 currently in service, 65 on order
easyJet – 6 currently in service, 24 on order
IndiGo – 5 currently in service, 145 on order
JetBlue – 1 currently in service, 58 on order
Lufthansa – 2 currently in service, 38 on order
Turkish Airlines – 7 currently in service, 85 on order
and WIZZ Air – 3 currently in service, 181 on order
Lastly, Virgin America was the first airline to take delivery of the aircraft
type in May of 2017. However, the airline was acquired by Alaska Airlines in
2016 and thus flew its final flight in the Spring of 2018. The A321neos are
now flying with Alaska Airlines.
American-Airlines-A321neo
American Airlines has a total order of 70 Airbus A321neo jets. Photo:
American Airlines.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, the aircraft type has been flying since 2017 with its
first delivery going to Virgin America (now Alaska Airlines). Therefore, it’
s been flying for two years now without a serious incident. We should note,
however, that the 737 MAX also entered service in May of 2017. Perhaps, then,
it depends on whether you see the glass half-empty or half-full as entry into
service was at a similar time.
Of course, Boeing and Airbus aircraft fly quite differently. Therefore,
despite the fact that “excessive pitch” is a common problem, the solution
may be very different.
Does this news worry you at all? Or does Airbus have this under control? Let
us know by leaving a comment!
This post was last modified on July 18, 2019 11:07 am
PUBLISHED BY
Chris Loh
4 HOURS AGO
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/a321neo-operators-alerted-over-exce
ssive-pitch-ano-459718/
https://tinyurl.com/y69rg7pv
欧洲航空安全局（EASA）前段时间发出警告，指空巴A321 Neo机型有可能出现“过度抬头
”（Excessive Pitch)的问题。而同样的问题正是当初波音737 Max系列机型设计时引入
机动特性增强系统（MCAS）的原因之一。
空巴经过升降舵和副翼电脑数据分析评估后，初步认为这种情况“在特定操作下”
(during specific maneuvers)会出现。欧洲航空安全局下令空巴在警告发出30天内修改
手册以处理问题。