A320, en-route, east of Cork Ireland, 2017

A320, en-route, east of Cork Ireland, 2017

Summary

On 2 November 2017, the flight crew of an Airbus A320 climbing out of Cork detected a “strong and persistent” burning smell and after declaring a MAYDAY returned to Cork where confusing instructions from the crew resulted in a combination of the intended precautionary rapid disembarkation and an emergency evacuation using escape slides. The Investigation highlighted the necessity of clear and unambiguous communications with passengers which distinguish these two options and in particular noted the limitations in currently mandated pre flight briefings for passengers seated at over wing emergency exits.

Description

On 2 November 2017, an Airbus A320 (EI-GAL) being operated by Aer Lingus on a scheduled international passenger flight from Cork to London Heathrow declared a ‘MAYDAY’ and turned back to Cork after a “strong and persistent” burning smell became apparent in both the flight deck and the passenger cabin as the aircraft climbed through FL260. After stopping on the runway for an assessment of the situation, it was judged safe to taxi to stand and once there, a ‘Rapid Disembarkation’ was ordered which was misinterpreted by some of the 143 passengers as an emergency evacuation and resulted in the over wing exits being used by some.

Investigation

A Field Investigation was carried out by the AAIU Ireland. Some recorded data relevant to the event was successfully downloaded from the CVR (although only from the area microphone channel) and useful CCTV recordings of the evacuation were also available. However, data from the FDR was missing for the period during which the aircraft was in an emergency electrical configuration in accordance with the required response to the circumstances encountered since no recorder independent power supply (RIPS) was installed.

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