HongKong media reports that Airbus has ordered all Airbus pilots to check the fuel tanks every 30 minutes. This is invoked after an A340-600 of Virgin flying from HKG to LHR made an emergency landing at AMS in Feb 2005 due to fuel tank problems. It is reported that the computer on the A340 malfunctioned and stopped dispatching fuel from the central fuel tank to the fuel tanks in the wings 3 hours into the flight. Engine number 1 failed a few hours later and engine number 4 soon followed. The cockpit crews first thought the plane was leaking fuel but later found that it's the computer problem, so they started manually feeding fuel across tanks. The plane finally made an emergency landing at AMS.
Britain's CAA also criticized in the incident report that the pilots nowadays rely on computers too much and sometimes do not notice problems early on.
Britain's CAA also criticized in the incident report that the pilots nowadays rely on computers too much and sometimes do not notice problems early on.
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