Frontier Airlines #9260 A320 Open Cowling in Flight

A detailed look at the A320 cowling design, and the potential hazards of having one open inflight.
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[keithsartain]

I was on the flight. The people started screaming when the plane was doing maybe 40 MPH, so there was plenty of runway to abort. The pilots, from what I can tell, were oblivious for 3-5 minutes and kept ascending. Smoke was reported by the passengers close to the engine, but in retrospect that may have been condensation or something else. At the time, the people closest to the engine were yelling about fire and engine coming apart.

[AnotherRM]

thank you for this. It reminded me of charter flight that I took ~ 50years ago as a very young consulting engineer. We took off in a Cessna SkyKnight (iirc) and headed north on a 600 km flight to a building site.

About 100 km out and at 6000' I looked out past the pilot to Saldahna Bay where I had been yachting the previous day. Mmm - surely we shouldn't have a streak of oil streaming back from the port engine? I glanced at the starboard engine - maybe it was normal! Nope - the starboard engine covers were white and shiny. Looked back at the port engine and noted that the streak was no longer lonely - it was now a number of streaks! Not wanting too be a worry-wart I pointed to the engine and casually asked the pilot if those oil streaks were normal?

He looked, said something predictably unprintable and a microsecond later had closed the throttle, feathered the prop, killed the engine and executed a sharp (very sharp) 180 degree turn. He looked quite worried all the way back to the aerodrome. I just sat there - quiet as a mouse.

We landed, taxied to the hangar apron where the maintenance guys were standing, looking a bit on the glum side. On opening the engine cover we found that the oil filler cap wasn't doing its job. Obviously someone was distracted at the wrong moment and failed to refit the cap.

After lots of compressed air to cool down the engine, pouring lashings of some or other solvent to wash off the oil on the outside of the engine, topping up of the sump, we took off again for places north.

Poor pilot for the entire trip there and back he kept glancing at the engine gauges and the port engine. If he thought that he was nervous - he should have found a second to look at his mechanical engineer passenger. I never took my eyes off those gauges for the whole trip.

cheers edi

[D]

So nice to hear a knowledgeable person tell about a cowling problem and not a "We are going to crash because the engine will fall off" story the TV News program issued.

[asiaexpat]

Old A&P/Com Pilot here, thanks for the detailed video. I was completely unaware of the extent of the incident.

[simonchaddock]

Now that is what I call informative and explained by someone who knows what they are talking about along with access to videos that show what the parts actually look like.
I bet you would not get this sort of thing on any news channels or even a documentary! Superb as always.

[National]

We had the cowlings open and separate on an AWA A-320 taking off from LAS in June 2000. There have been 45 instances of this occurring across the Airbus 319/320/321 fleet wide. Unfortunately in the AWA incident the cowling wrapped itself around the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer. Creating 3 3"x8" holes in the underside of the stabilizer. Also damaged the landing gear spar and doors. They came close to losing the airplane. The main spar in the horizontal stabilizer was also damaged. That spar is one piece all the way across both horizontal stabilizers. Airbus ended up flying a new horizontal stab spar in from France on the super guppy. It was repaired on the ramp in LAS. Tail number N655AW. Aircraft had completed a RON, and was taking off on the first flight of the day. A maint. tech. failed to properly latch the cowlings. And it was missed on the preflight. She is still flying today in her new American Airlines colors. In fact today awaiting take off in Los Cabos, Mexico to back to Phoenix, AZ! :)

[anthonycbrown]

Thank you for your YouTube channel and your great storytelling ability. I'm not sure how you find the time to create this well presented content on top of your work and family obligations but are appreciative nonetheless.

As a Northern Californian, your coverage during the Camp Fire event provided welcome perspective on the fire and those impacted (fighters, survivors, deceased).

Happy Holidays Juan to you and your extended family

[peterolsen]

Juan,
Once again you took the time to explain the event for us groundlings and the time taken was a couple of minutes longer than what the crew went through in the real world, (15 minutes). GREAT work for the reporting/host, don't quit your day job, but, IF the airlines say differently, you will find great success in the "real" not "fake" news department.

[swarfrat]

Juan. Thanks for your report. As others have mentioned, this is the first I heard of this incident. As always, you are on top of this and give an excellent report. Hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving and have a great Holiday Season!

[redjaden]

Love these videos! So much more info than any other news channel!

[renegade]

I learn so much from your channel. Thanks Juan.

[chriswikeen]

Great explanation of what went wrong during that flight. So glad no one was hurt or killed. Thanks for giving us an expert inside look at this incident.

[danielsteele]

I am very proud to know you, you have achieved much to be the pilot of air busses and your take on everything is always appreciated.I first met you when the oraville dam was failing, great coverage of that.Thankyou Juan for doing what you do

[chris__maltby]

We had one or two cowling loss incidents a few years back due to engineers not closing correctly. New procedure is that after closing, in addition to being signed off, a security seal is placed across the join next to the latch as extra visual confirmation. Quite an effective response.

[frantucker]

It's amazing that those stayed on! They definitely had a guardian angel!!

[bcrazyyeti]

Nothing like a thorough report from a knowledgable source. Keep up the good work Juan!.

[vernonbrechin]

Fine report. Looking forward to more details.

[ronm]

Thanks Juan for your expertise and knowledge.My family and I have enjoyed ever bit of your coverage and interviews from your Blancolirio and FB blog.We always appreciate the facts and the time, research, editing you do in posting videos.I told my wife, I wished that I could have ridden with you, on your flight over the Camp Fire.That footage has been the best yet!We thank you for your past and present services!Stay safe on your travels and kudos to the Browne family.Merry Christmas to all and have a safe holiday 🎅🙏🎄

[williameudy]

Frontier Airlines charges extra if you want the cowling latches secured.

[georgebrewer]

Excellent presentation. Never had to deal with the CFM-56, although I was trained as a 'production supervisor' for 'exceptional release' in the event we had a 'transient'.