A333, en-route, west northwest of Sydney Australia, 2019

A333, en-route, west northwest of Sydney Australia, 2019

Summary

On 15 December 2019, an Airbus A330-200 turned back to Sydney shortly after departure when a major hydraulic system leak was annunciated. The return was uneventful until engine shutdown after clearing the runway following which APU use for air conditioning was followed by a gradual build up of hydraulic haze and fumes which eventually prompted an emergency evacuation. The Investigation found that fluid leaking from ruptured rudder servo hose had entered the APU air intake. The resulting evacuation was found to have been somewhat disorganised with this being attributed mainly to a combination of inadequate cabin crew procedures and training.

Description

On 15 December 2019, an Airbus A330-200 (VH-EBC) being operated by Qantas Airways on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Sydney to Perth as QF575 and climbing after takeoff in day VMC received indications of a partial hydraulic systems failure and made an initially uneventful return to land. Once on the ground, a smell of hydraulic fluid and signs of a related haze began to become apparent and shortly after the aircraft had been towed to the terminal for passenger disembarkation because of inoperable steering, both the smell and haze worsened and an emergency evacuation was ordered. This used a combination of the two already attached air bridges and emergency slides at three of the other six doors. During the evacuation, one of the 222 passengers sustained a serious injury and five others sustained minor injuries.

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