Airlines play safe with A320Neo, lighten load

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:18.09.2019

The core problem that led to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft worldwide has surfaced on the Airbus 320Neo as well. Both these aircraft have a tendency to pitch the nose up excessively to an unsafe degree during certain stages of flight.

The big difference, though, is that unlike Boeing 737 MAX, A320Neo has never had an excessive pitch problem during flights. The problem came up recently only during laboratory testing carried out by the European aircraft manufacturer. But a wary European Union aviation regulator, which had certified the A320Neo safe to fly, has issued an interim directive asking airlines to load the A320Neo in such a manner that the tail-end stays comparatively lighter. This is why airlines such as Lufthansa and British Airways have recently begun to leave the last row of six seats vacant on their A320Neo.

IndiGo’s Istanbul flights drop baggage

IndiGo has, over the past few days, been leaving behind check-in bags of passengers booked on its Delhi-Istanbul flight so that its A320Neo aircraft can carry more fuel to fly against strong headwinds. Unless IndiGo makes certain operational changes, the problem is likely to stay through winter.

‘Pilots may face more workload due to high pitch altitude’

Unlike the European regulator, the Indian aviation regulator hasn’t put out a directive in public yet. But to comply with the European regulator’s directive, Indian carriers have begun to leave the cargo compartment closest to the tail empty, director general of civil aviation Arun Kumar told TOI on Tuesday.

On July 31, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an airworthiness directive, applicable to all A320Neo aircraft. Citing the problem, EASA said that an excessive pitch attitude or a “high nose” could result in increased workload for the pilots. “To address the potential unsafe condition, Airbus (the aircraft manufacturer) issued an aircraft flight manual temporary revision, limiting the centre of gravity envelope, which prevents the aforementioned condition,” said the EASA directive, which came into effect on August 14.

So, what is an aircraft’s centre of gravity and how can it help in preventing an excessive high nose-up pitch?

Centre of gravity is a point around which an aircraft balances itself. An aircraft balances like a see-saw, with its nose on one end and tail on the other. It is loaded with fuel, passengers and cargo in such a way that its centre of gravity remains within a prescribed area through all stages of flight like take-off, climb, descent, and so on.

“If the tail-end is lighter than the nose-end, the aircraft will be nose-heavy and it will tend to pitch downwards. A heavy nose will counteract the excessive nose-up tendency of the A320Neo,” said a senior commander.

India is one of the largest operators of A320Neos with over 100 aircraft in operation. Director-general Arun Kumar said, “On August 7, we held a meeting with airlines and stake holders and asked them to implement the EASA directive. Three out of four Indian carriers that operate the A320Neo have already complied with the directive. These include IndiGo and GoAir.”