The Air France A340-300 that overran the runway at Toronto Pearson airport on 2 August does not appear to have suffered any technical problems, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said last week in an update on its investigation.
This preliminary finding supports Airbus’s assertion in August that there was no indication that any aircraft systems or engine anomalies existed at the time of the accident.
The TSB investigators say a review of digital flight data recorder (DFDR) data has not revealed any system troubles or malfunctions. Additionally, based on a physical examination of the wreckage combined with a follow-up detailed DFDR review of parameters, “no problems were detected with the flight controls, spoilers, tyres and brakes, or thrust reversers”.
Brake assemblies were pressure tested, and more detailed teardown work was completed at the Messier-Bugatti-Goodrich facility in Ohio. “The main and alternate systems on brakes 2 to 8 were tested at the plant, and all passed the tests,” says the TSB. Brake 1 could not be tested because it was damaged in the post-crash fire.
Source: Flight International
