24/06/2021
On the 9th November 2020 an incident occurred with an Embraer 190 E2 aircraft operated by Air Astana en route from Aktau (SCO) to Nursultan (NQZ). During the descent phase of the flight to Nur Sultan a warning message was displayed to the crew and this event rapidly cascaded into a serious event resulting in the loss of many of the aircraft control systems.
The aircraft was safely bought down with its passengers by the diligent handling of its crew, and an investigation was started. The aircraft was crewed by seven Kazakh Nationals with 102 passengers on board. The aircraft landed safely at Nur Sultan airport and all passengers disembarked normally.
Following the initial investigation as an ‘occurrence’ report this incident was downgraded by the national Investigation Agency and referred back to the airline. The occurrence was graded as serious by the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK) and the entire Embraer fleet of aircraft removed from service with Air Astana on the 10th December 2020. This action was initiated by the airline after consideration in its safety Management system and AAK was informed.
Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan working with the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC), supported by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) The UK Civil Aviation Authority (UKCAA), the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) of the United States all contributed to understanding of the root causes of the incident and all helped develop responses to the identified concerns.
ANAC as the design authority issued Airworthiness Directives on changes required to the life limit of the hydraulic pumps to Embraer and operators, The aircraft flight manual was reviewed and changes were considered and approved by ANAC The aircraft will return to service with updated operational procedures which should prevent re occurrence of this problem.
AAK applying British Model processes adapted to meet Kazakh legislation was used to form a Commission to review the report submitted by Air Astana. The recommendations were reviewed in meetings held with observers invited from the airline and the manufacturer as well as the supporting states. A very comprehensive discussion was carried out over three weeks looking at the solutions and the entry back into service requirements. The Commission wishes to acknowledge the participation of ANAC as the State of Design who worked with AAK if a very open and cooperative in assessing the needs for change and mandating it though established processes as well as the opinions and understanding freely given by all observers.
The conclusion endorsed by the commission members was that:
ANAC will issue an airworthiness directive which reduces the life of the system three pump.
There will be changes made to the Aircraft flight Manual and checklists.
There will be ongoing work between the operator and manufacturer to assess future events to ascertain if cascades can occur.
The Manufacturer will continue to assess alternative possibilities to the current pump design and may submit an upgraded specification for a change to the current pump.
A full copy of the investigation report considered by the AAK Commission is attached for information of interested parties.