I got this from a friend in my email, I can't figure out how to get the attached photo's to this site, but the text pretty much tells the story. Just picture the largest, most luxurious airplane in the world, 00 TT S/N, the interior shots are amazing. The last pic's show it totaled up against the crash barrier.
It was the first I'd heard about this...what a shame, and in a weird way I can totally relate to the poor pilots who screwed the pooch!

DISCLAIMER: No offense intended towards any of you politically correct leftest "Girly Men" out there about the reference of Camels.









-----Original
This brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, the largest passenger airplane ever built, sits just outside its hangar in Toulouse , France without a single hour of airtime.



Enter the Arab flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT)
to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine run-ups
prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi . The ADAT crew
taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area.





Then they took all Four engines to takeoff power with a
virtually empty aircraft. Not having Read the run-up manuals,
they had no clue just how light an empty A340-600 Really is.




The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit because
they had All 4 engines at full power. The aircraft computers
thought they were trying to take off but it had not been configured
properly (flaps/slats, etc..)



Then one of the ADAT crew decided to pull the circuit breaker
on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm. This
fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the air.



The computers automatically released all the Brakes and set
the aircraft rocketing forward. The ADAT crew had no idea that
this is a safety feature so that pilots can't land with the brakes on.




Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was smart enough
to throttle back the engines from their max power setting, so the
$200 million brand-new Aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it!



The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown due to the
news blackout in the major media in France and elsewhere.


Coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Muslim Arabs.




Finally, the photos are starting to leak out



A French Airbus $200 million dollars
Untrained Arab Flight Crew $300,000 Yearly Salary
Unread Operating Manual... $300

AIRCRAFT MEETS RETAINING WALL -- WALL WINS!

PRICELESS!

"That's why God gave them camels"!







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"That's why God gave them camels"!

Now that is funny.

You infidel.

I'll check Snopes.

Cheers....Rob

RobBurson wrote:"That's why God gave them camels"!

Now that is funny.

You infidel.

Cheers....Rob

Not my quote, the camel part, it came with the email, ain't going there....I actually tried to delete that part, but couldn't for some reason. I was more interested in the pilot screw up part, regardless of nationality. Pilot screws up...I wonder how you say "Oh sh*t", in Arabic?

The email is not really correct. Check Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/etihad.asp

That was a couple of years ago.

The A-340...

...isn't even close to being the largest passenger aircraft ever built. This happened at least 2+ years ago and didn't occur in the manner described.

Bob

z3skybolt wrote:The A-340...

...isn't even close to being the largest passenger aircraft ever built. This happened at least 2+ years ago and didn't occur in the manner described.

Bob

I wanted to believe cus I do believe in Hope

Tim

The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit...

Is there really such a thing as a takeoff warning horn? That would really be a PITA in a small GA-type plane.

denalipilot wrote:

The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit...

Is there really such a thing as a takeoff warning horn? That would really be a PITA in a small GA-type plane.

Yes, transport category airplanes all have them. It yells at you when the airplane is on the ground, has full power and things like flaps, trim, spoilers are not set for takeoff.

A guy in my squadron did a tour in Qatar reaching them how to fly their new C-17s, and from what he said about their attitude and approach to flying, this is in no way surprising. Perhaps it is a cultural thing, but according to him, they have very little real airmanship. Basically, if it isn't in the manual or checklist, it would never occur to them. Very by the book, no outside the box thinking, and in an emergency, if the solution isn't explicitly spelled out, they really couldn't hack it. Having said what I did about checklists, he also stated that in normal operations, they had little or no checklist discipline, and for the heavy drivers out there, we know this is vital. Important details, things as vital as extending the slats and lowering flaps for takeoff, were neglected, and even as the warnings were sounding on takeoff roll, the Qatari pilots would keep on trucking. The Afghans are better pilots than Middle Eastern pilots. I never plan on flying on an airliner in the Middle East, and I'm glad I fly myself around that part of the world.