Serious incident Airbus A319-133 B-6419,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 211013
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Monday 14 May 2018
Time:07:07
Type:Silhouette image of generic A319 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Airbus A319-133
Owner/operator:Sichuan Airlines
Registration: B-6419
MSN: 4660
Year of manufacture:2011
Engine model:IAE V2527M-A5
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 128
Aircraft damage: Minor
Category:Serious incident
Location:Over Baoxing County, Ya'an, Sichuan Province -   China
Phase: En route
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Chongqing-Jiangbei International Airport (CKG/ZUCK)
Destination airport:Lhasa Airport (LXA/ZULS)
Investigating agency: CAAC
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
At 06:27 hours local time (22:27 UTC), the A319 operating as Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633 took off from Chongqing Jiangbei Airport. The captain in the left-hand seat was Pilot Flying, the co-pilot in the right-hand seat served as the Pilot Monitoring. A second captain sat in the observer seat. After reaching cruising altitude of 9800 m (32100 feet), the second captain moved to the passenger cabin.
At 07:07:05, about 2.2NM west of MIKOS on the B213 airway, a muffled noise was heard in the cockpit and the crew found a radial mesh crack in the right windshield, which the crew described as "very bad ... it’s all cracked."
As the co-pilot grabbed his Electronic Flight Bag to check the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH), the captain requested a descent and a diversion to Chengdu as soon as possible. After permission was obtained from air traffic control, the captain immediately executed the descent procedure. During the descent, when the co-pilot searched for the QRH related program, the right windshield fell off and the cockpit explosively depressurized.
The co-pilot was blown from his seat by the strong decompression airflow. During this motion, co-pilot's body involuntarily touched the sidestick causing a large amount of forward and right input.
Thus the autopilot was disconnected and the aircraft's attitude suddenly changed. The captain immediately tranistioned to manual control of the aircraft.
The captain then experienced difficulty in retrieving his oxygen mask which was located on the left side of his seat and a bit to the rear. He used his right hand to reach across, because his left hand was used to control the sidestick. Meanwhile the aircraft was shaking violently and he was not able to get his oxygen mask.
The rate of descent then increased from 3000 ft/min to a maximum of 10,279 ft/min.
The crew knew that the runway 02L ILS was unavailable at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, so they opted for an ILS approach to runway 02R, and broadcasted their intentions during the approach. Because the aircraft landing weight exceeded the aircraft's maximum landing weight limit, the crew performed an overweight landing. After the aircraft stopped at about 07:41 hours, the crew communicated about the personal injury of the co-pilot, and informed the tower and dispatch of the relevant situation, and to send ambulances.

The final investigation report pointed out that the most likely cause of this incident was that the seal of the right-hand windshield had been damaged, causing external water vapor to enter.
The insulation of the power supply wire was reduced after being soaked for a long time, leading to a continuous arc discharge in a humid environment. The high temperature caused by the arc ruptured the double-deck glass, and the differential pressure inside and outside the cockpit finally caused the windshield to burst off the fuselage.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: CAAC
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years
Download report: Final report

Sources:

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2146003/chinese-airliner-makes-emergency-landing-after-cockpit-window
https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/995865217505652738
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-airplane/sichuan-airlines-jet-makes-emergency-landing-after-cockpit-windshield-breaks-off-idUSKCN1IF0DR

Images:


Photo: CAAC

Media:

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
14-May-2018 07:34 gerard57 Added
14-May-2018 08:19 gerard57 Updated [Aircraft type]
14-May-2018 08:31 gerard57 Updated [Total occupants]
14-May-2018 11:24 harro Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source, Narrative]
14-May-2018 12:53 Anon. Updated [Date]
14-May-2018 20:03 harro Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Embed code]
15-May-2018 03:53 harro Updated [Embed code]
15-May-2018 16:50 JerryC Updated [Narrative]
15-Jul-2018 16:34 Anon. Updated [Narrative]
02-Jun-2020 18:41 harro Updated [Time, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Photo, Accident report, ]
11-Sep-2021 07:36 Amclaussen Updated [Narrative]
11-Jun-2023 06:07 RDV Updated [[Narrative]]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org