Investigators found signs of a "fault" with the nose-gear shock absorber of the JetBlue plane that made an emergency landing in Los Angeles last month — raising questions about efforts several years ago to fix problems in the devices.JetBlue has said that it followed the Airbus directives.
Investigators are studying the apparatus in hopes of figuring out if it actually was the problem, the National Transportation Safety Board says.
At least seven incidents involving the A320 nose gear were known to U.S. aviation authorities before the A320 used in JetBlue's Flight 292 on Sept. 21 couldn't retract its nose wheel, forcing an emergency landing. The problems led Airbus in 2002 to issue new instructions to repair shops on fixing the shock absorber.
This isn't good news for the airplane manufacturer. This was a problem that was identified years ago and a fix was supposedly made to the problem. That it continues to present itself as a problem is not a good sign. Also, it's not a good sign that the company claims that the problem isn't serious because there haven't been any fatalities or serious incidents because of the problem.
It takes common sense to realize that Airbus is lucky that the seven prior incidents did not lead to a major incident. I'd call that luck, combined with the skill of the pilots. And that isn't good enough for the safety of the flying public and the safety of those on the ground.
Technorati: JetBlue, Jet Blue, airbus, A320, and Airbus A320.
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