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> Subject: : Air France Accident: Smoking Gun Found
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> Subject: Air France Accident: Smoking Gun Found
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> A Brazilian Naval?unit?reportedly found the?complete vertical fin/rudder
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> The fin-failure-leading-to-breakup sequence is strongly suggested in the
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> It's regrettable that these aircraft are permitted to continue in routine
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> Les
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> --------------------------(George Larson's Report)---------------------
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> This is an account of a discussion I had recently with a maintenance
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> who salvages airliner airframes for a living.?He has been at it for a while,
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> Salvage at Opa Locka Airport in Florida. In the process of stripping parts, he
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> things few others are able to see.? His observations confirm?prior assessments
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> Airbus structural deficiencies within?our flight test and aero structures
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> by those who have seen the closely held reports of A3XX-series vertical fin
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> His observations:
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> "I ?have scrapped just about every type of transport aircraft from A-310,
> A-320, B-747, 727, 737, 707, DC-3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, MD-80, L-188, L1011
> and various Martin, Convair and KC-97 aircraft.
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> Over a hundred of them.
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> Airbus products are the flimsiest and most poorly designed as far as
> airframe structure is concerned by an almost obsession to utilize composite
> materials.?
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> I have one A310 vertical fin on the?premises from a demonstration I just?
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> performed.??It was pathetic to see the composite structure shatter as it did,
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> something a Boeing product will not do.
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> The vertical fin along with the composite hinges on rudder and elevators is
> the worst example of structural use of composites I have ever seen and I am
> not surprised by the current pictures of rescue crews recovering the
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> complete Vertical fin and rudder assembly at some distance from the crash
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> site.
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> The Airbus line has a history of both multiple rudder losses and a vertical
> fin and rudder separation from the airframe as was the case in NY with AA.
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> As an old non-radar equipped DC4 pilot who flew through many a thunderstorm
> in Africa along the equator, I am quite familiar with their ferocity.? It is
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> difficult to understand how?such a storm might have stressed an aircraft
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> structure to failure at its weakest point, and especially so in the presence
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> instrumentation problems.
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> I replied with this:
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> "I'm watching very carefully the orchestration of the inquiry by French
> officials and Airbus. I think I can smell a concerted effort to steer
> discussion away from structural issues and onto sensors, etc.? Now Air
> France, at the behest of their pilots' union, is replacing all the air data
> sensors on the Airbus fleet, which creates a distraction and shifts the
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> media's focus away from the real problem.
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> It's difficult to delve into the structural issue without wading into the
> Boeing vs. Airbus swamp, where any observation is instantly tainted by its
> origin. Americans noting any Airbus structural issues (A380 early failure
> of wing in static test; loss of vertical surfaces in Canadian fleet prior to
> AA A300, e.g.) will be attacked by the other side as partisan, biased, etc.?"
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> His follow-up:
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> One gets a really unique insight into structural issues when one has
> first-hand experience in the dismantling process.
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> I am an A&P, FEJ and an ATP with 7000 flight hours and I was absolutely
> stunned, flabbergasted when I realized that the majority of internal
> airframe structural supports on the A 310 which appear to be aluminum are
> actually rolled composite material with aluminum rod ends. They shattered.
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> Three years ago we had a storm come through, with gusts up to 60-70 kts.,
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> catching several A320s tied down on the line, out in the open.
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> The A320 elevators and rudder hinges whose actuators had been
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> removed shattered and the rudder and elevators came off.
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> Upon closer inspection I realized that not only were the rear spars
> composite but so were the hinges.??While Boeing also uses composite
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> material in its airfoil structures, the actual attach fittings for the
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> rudder, vertical and horizontal stabilizers are all of?machined aluminum."?
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> -----------------(end of narrative)---------------
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