American Airlines Flight 268 9/22/08

[AA717driver]

You can pull up battery voltage via a button on the accessory panel. It displays on the lower EICAS.

I'm not sure you can do it in flight but they are coming out with a procedure to check battery volts after the failure of the APU to start (different issue) so that's the only way to check volts.

Up till now, AA forbade you to use those buttons on the acc. panel. Guess you have to call a mech. anytime the APU won't start on the first go... TC

 

[Poahi]

I find it hard to believe that a major airline would continue a long distance flight relying on a battery charger - especially one that flies ETOPS. We are missing some key facts here.

 

[bubbers44]

I find it hard to believe that a major airline would continue a long distance flight relying on a battery charger - especially one that flies ETOPS. We are missing some key facts here.

The only time during ETOPS there is any drain on the battery is if standby power is placed in bat position. You would have to lose both generators plus the hydraulic driven generator to degrade to that point or have the K106 relay fail as happened to AA last month.

 

[goodgig]

So cliff notes for someone who has 0.0 time in a Boeing.

Do you think the crew KNEW that they were using only batteries to power these buses? As in we are on battery power up here?

 

[AA717driver]

So cliff notes for someone who has 0.0 time in a Boeing.

Do you think the crew KNEW that they were using only batteries to power these buses? As in we are on battery power up here?

Knowing the crew, I'm guessing they knew the battery was discharging but at a very slow (but unknown) rate. The busses that didn't fail were still being powered off the engine generators.

All conjecture on my part, though. TC

 

[jmreii]

As I understand it, it was a contactor failure. I think the generators were fine. It sounded like they lost critical busses. That's why I say it was unlikely they would have continued the flight under a total AC power loss. The preliminary report was cryptic on what power they really had after they decided to continue.

There maybe something else going on with this equipment; it is the contactors throughout any electrical sytem that give the various components their warning or disagreement lights. I have not heard what type of lights were on the panels.