A Qatar Airways flight from from New York’s JFK International Airport was forced to abandon its take-off after the aircraft applied the brakes of its own accord.
The entire incident was captured on video on board by Zach Honig, editor-in-chief of travel website The Points Guy. Honig was one of a number of invited journalists on the charter flight to celebrate the DOha carrier’s new Airbus 350 service between the Qatari capital and New York.
Writing on his blog, Honig said “… about 18 seconds after we began rolling down JFK’s runway 22R, the aircraft self-aborted, bringing us from more than 100 mph to a loud, screeching halt in roughly 15 seconds. For a plane of this size and weight, stopping that quickly required a lot of force.
“To give you another idea of how abruptly we stopped, as you can see in the picture below, nearly all of the 200+ pillows and blankets landed on the floor, having previously been neatly arranged on each seat in economy.
“Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but some passengers (including myself) were quite shaken.”
Terrified, Honig and another journalist asked to get off the flight, before they were told that the length of the runway caused the widebody aircraft to come to a sudden halt.
“Qatar’s Chief Commercial Officer, the highest ranking executive on the flight, came over to reassure us, explaining that an ‘indicator’ was responsible for the abrupt abort.
“As I understand it, for some reason the A350 decided that our 11,000-foot runway was too short to support the take-off, and the plane applied the brakes at full force — all on its own.
“I was told that we would be taxiing to a different (less glitchy) runway, and would attempt another take-off there. If that failed, we would be allowed to disembark. In other words, we were going to be taking off again whether we wanted to or not,” he said.
Just under two hours later, the flight took off from JFK from a different runway and completed its journey to Doha.
ArabianBusiness.com
Finnair gets first A350-941XWB
Finnair has taken delivery in Toulouse of the first of 19 A350 XWBs on order, thus becoming the first European operator and the third worldwide of the all-new airliner. The aircraft is configured in a premium three-class layout, with 297 seats, comprising 46 Business Class, 43 Economy Comfort and 208 Economy.
Finnair will commence commercial services with the A350 XWB later this week, with a European tour starting at Amsterdam and Oslo on October 9th. Furthermore, on the 21st of November 2015, non-stop long-haul A350 XWB flights will start from Helsinki to Shanghai. The aircraft will join the airline’s all-Airbus fleet of 45 aircraft in operation, today comprising 30 A320 Family aircraft and 15 A330/A340s.
“Finnair has enjoyed a long and prosperous working relationship with Airbus and the A350 takes our cooperation to another level. This aircraft is the future of flying and will give our passengers a completely new and enhanced travel experience,” says Finnair CEO, Pekka Vauramo.
“At Airbus, we’re proud and delighted to see Finnair, one of the world’s longest-standing and most respected airlines, become the first European carrier to fly the A350 XWB,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO. “The A350 XWB’s unrivalled fuel efficiency and passenger comfort make it the perfect aircraft to spearhead Finnair’s Asian expansion.”
Eric Schulz, President – Civil Large Engines, Rolls-Royce, said: “We are very proud to be with Finnair and Airbus today to mark another chapter in the A350 XWB story. The Trent XWB exemplifies how we take the best in technology to deliver new standards of excellence. Today marks the start of a new era in our relationship with Finnair and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.”
The world’s latest generation airliner, the A350 XWB, is the newest member of Airbus’ modern, comfortable & efficient wide-body product family. Offering customers a game-changing reduction in fuel-burn, the long-range A350 XWB features the most modern aerodynamic design, carbon fibre fuselage and wings, plus new fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Together, these cutting-edge technologies translate into unrivalled levels of operational efficiency, with a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and emissions, and significantly lower maintenance costs. For passengers, it brings new levels of in-flight comfort, with an extra-wide cabin offering more personal space in all classes, including 18 inch wide seats as standard in economy class.
To date, Airbus has recorded a total of 783 firm orders for the A350 XWB from 41 customers worldwide, already making it one of the most successful widebody aircraft ever.
Airbus