A Jetstar Airbus A320 from Auckland, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia was forced to turn around because a ground crew member forgot to remove his clipboard from the plane’s right engine.
Apparently, the ground worker was conducting a pre-flight check on the plane when he placed his clipboard in the plane’s engine cowling covering to protect the papers from the rain and wind. Before pushback, he forgot to retrieve them.
A dispatcher conducting a walk-through of the aircraft before takeoff saw the clipboard but then thought that it was going to be retrieved.
In the end, no one came to retrieve the clipboard before the plane took off.
As the plane was taxiing to the runway, ground crew members noticed scraps of paper littering the ground and alerted the flight crew of the situation. The captain decided to turn back to the gate for the safety of the passengers.
The engine’s fan blade an attrition liner (used to soften noise) suffered minor damages after the clipboard was “injested” by the engine.
How did Jetstar react to this situation?
Jetstar has updated its dispatch procedure guidelines and provided more detailed rules for aircraft checks from the ground crew.
What is my opinion on this situation?
In my opinion, I think the dispatcher who was conducting a walk-through of the aircraft should’ve picked up the clipboard and ask who it belongs to. Even though it was raining or windy, the papers would have to be submitted anyway. Least he can do is to alert everyone else for a walkie (I wonder if they have walkies XD) or with any other form of a communication system to let them know that the plane can’t depart yet.
Credits go to Fox News where I got this information from.
This is my first news article for IFC. Feel free to leave any feedback below. Your criticism is welcome. If this is a duplicate, feel free to close, but be sure to leave a link to the original topic.
This is an interesting one sounds to me like someone realizes they left there coffee on a car after they start driving. Glad to hear they returned safely this is a prime example how such small things involving aircraft need to be taken care of as soon a possible
Just when you think possibly nothing else could cause a plane crash, there’s always something that could go wrong. (even though this plane didn’t crash, just an example)
