Henry Boyd
Well-Known Member
- Apr 24, 2007
- 6,014
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- ‘09 Sabre 38 Hardtop Express “Serenity”
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A friend living in Hong Kong sent me this from today's South China Morning Post. I wasn't sure whether this deserved its own thread, or might be better suited to the 'Unions are Good' thread.
Henry
SCMP: Toilet troubles plague Cathay's Airbus fleet
Simon Parry
Updated on Nov 25, 2009
Cathay Pacific flights are being plagued by mysterious toilet blockages on its Airbus fleet, with one packed passenger plane forced to make an unscheduled landing in India because it had no working lavatories on board.
Toilets on Airbus A330 and A340 planes have been blocking up, with three incidents occurring in 10 days, leaving some flights unable to take off with a full complement of passengers because all toilets on one side of the plane were out of service.
In the worst case, a flight from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong on November 17 carrying 278 passengers was forced to divert to Mumbai when flight attendants discovered shortly after take-off that none of the plane's 10 toilets was working.
The plane had taken off with only the toilets on one side of the aircraft working and when those packed in, the crew had to divert to India to fix the problem, causing an 18-hour delay to what should have been an eight-hour flight.
Two other flights were affected by blocked toilets - one from Rome to Hong Kong on November 9 and one from Dubai to Hong Kong on November 19.
In both cases, the number of passengers had to be restricted to less than 240 when it was discovered before take-off that only the toilets on one side of the plane were working. Cathay Pacific and Airbus both said last night they were unsure about the exact cause of the spate of blockages - which occurred mostly on the right side of the aircraft - but an airline spokeswoman insisted the problem was being tackled with a maintenance operation for the fleet.
Passengers might be partly to blame, she suggested. "You would be amazed at what we find in the pipes when we clean the system - not just face towels but medicine bottles, socks, items of clothing and even children's stuffed toys," she said.
The spokeswoman stressed that the Riyadh flight was diverted purely to avoid discomfort to passengers who would have had to wait seven hours to go to the toilet. In all cases, the toilets were blocked with the flushing system inoperable but there was no overflowing in the cubicles.
Aircraft toilets use a high-speed pipe mechanism that carries waste at up to 110 km/h into a holding tank that is emptied between flights. Two vacuum systems operate separately down each side of the plane, meaning a blockage usually affects all toilets on one side of the aircraft.
There are usually five toilets on each side of an Airbus A330 or A340 and Cathay Pacific's internal guidelines state the minimum toilet-to-passenger ratio in economy class should be one to 80. "On most flights the number is less," the spokeswoman said.
But the ratio guidelines mean that if some toilets are out of action the planes cannot carry a full complement of passengers.
Cathay Pacific has consulted Airbus about the problem and its engineers are now fitting new pipes and carrying out deep-cleaning treatment on the toilets of its entire fleet.
In a memo to staff, flight operations director Nick Rhodes said: "It is hard to say why we are seeing so many incidents in such a short space of time but it is possibly due to a change in the cleaning procedure introduced ... six months ago."
Rhodes said the engineering department had reviewed the process. "They claim, however, that even though the cleaning method has been changed, many aircraft in the Cathay fleet and the Dragonair Airbuses are operating normally with clean pipes."
He said of the maintenance operation: "Hopefully this strategy will successfully put an end to the problem. We have taken the extra precaution of removing the cloth towels from the toilets, as they often get flushed down the toilets and contribute to the blockage."
Sean Lee, Singapore-based Asia communications director for Airbus, said Airbus was working with Cathay engineers to try to find out the cause of the blockages. "We appreciate that it is very inconvenient for passengers and we are looking into it."
Toilet blockages occurred on airlines from time to time but three in 10 days was unusual, he said, adding there had been no reports of similar spates of incidents on other airlines.
Henry
SCMP: Toilet troubles plague Cathay's Airbus fleet
Simon Parry
Updated on Nov 25, 2009
Cathay Pacific flights are being plagued by mysterious toilet blockages on its Airbus fleet, with one packed passenger plane forced to make an unscheduled landing in India because it had no working lavatories on board.
Toilets on Airbus A330 and A340 planes have been blocking up, with three incidents occurring in 10 days, leaving some flights unable to take off with a full complement of passengers because all toilets on one side of the plane were out of service.
In the worst case, a flight from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong on November 17 carrying 278 passengers was forced to divert to Mumbai when flight attendants discovered shortly after take-off that none of the plane's 10 toilets was working.
The plane had taken off with only the toilets on one side of the aircraft working and when those packed in, the crew had to divert to India to fix the problem, causing an 18-hour delay to what should have been an eight-hour flight.
Two other flights were affected by blocked toilets - one from Rome to Hong Kong on November 9 and one from Dubai to Hong Kong on November 19.
In both cases, the number of passengers had to be restricted to less than 240 when it was discovered before take-off that only the toilets on one side of the plane were working. Cathay Pacific and Airbus both said last night they were unsure about the exact cause of the spate of blockages - which occurred mostly on the right side of the aircraft - but an airline spokeswoman insisted the problem was being tackled with a maintenance operation for the fleet.
Passengers might be partly to blame, she suggested. "You would be amazed at what we find in the pipes when we clean the system - not just face towels but medicine bottles, socks, items of clothing and even children's stuffed toys," she said.
The spokeswoman stressed that the Riyadh flight was diverted purely to avoid discomfort to passengers who would have had to wait seven hours to go to the toilet. In all cases, the toilets were blocked with the flushing system inoperable but there was no overflowing in the cubicles.
Aircraft toilets use a high-speed pipe mechanism that carries waste at up to 110 km/h into a holding tank that is emptied between flights. Two vacuum systems operate separately down each side of the plane, meaning a blockage usually affects all toilets on one side of the aircraft.
There are usually five toilets on each side of an Airbus A330 or A340 and Cathay Pacific's internal guidelines state the minimum toilet-to-passenger ratio in economy class should be one to 80. "On most flights the number is less," the spokeswoman said.
But the ratio guidelines mean that if some toilets are out of action the planes cannot carry a full complement of passengers.
Cathay Pacific has consulted Airbus about the problem and its engineers are now fitting new pipes and carrying out deep-cleaning treatment on the toilets of its entire fleet.
In a memo to staff, flight operations director Nick Rhodes said: "It is hard to say why we are seeing so many incidents in such a short space of time but it is possibly due to a change in the cleaning procedure introduced ... six months ago."
Rhodes said the engineering department had reviewed the process. "They claim, however, that even though the cleaning method has been changed, many aircraft in the Cathay fleet and the Dragonair Airbuses are operating normally with clean pipes."
He said of the maintenance operation: "Hopefully this strategy will successfully put an end to the problem. We have taken the extra precaution of removing the cloth towels from the toilets, as they often get flushed down the toilets and contribute to the blockage."
Sean Lee, Singapore-based Asia communications director for Airbus, said Airbus was working with Cathay engineers to try to find out the cause of the blockages. "We appreciate that it is very inconvenient for passengers and we are looking into it."
Toilet blockages occurred on airlines from time to time but three in 10 days was unusual, he said, adding there had been no reports of similar spates of incidents on other airlines.
