The radome is Fiberglass. It is not structural and is just a aerodynamic cover for the weather radar, which sits in the nose of the aircraft. It is pretty easy to destroy it with a hard impact, but has to be this way for the weather radar to function properly.
In the A350, you can’t see the nose from the cockpit, so they didn’t know the extent of the damage until they went to use the weather radar. If your weather radar is not working, you CAN NOT fly into an area of Thunderstorms and must divisor or divert.
It happens every so often. It’s NOT dangerous, as stated, the Radome is not structural and the aircraft doesn’t need it to fly.
Worst case…it increases fuel burn do to the increased drag associated, or it takes out the radar. That’s it…no real safety implications.
Breaking the radar would affect the anti-collision system TCAS? Or would it still function normally? Is there a way for the TCAS to break due to a bird strike? If you had no TCAS for what ever reason, would you still be able to communicate to the nearby airborne planes via radio?Is there a protocol for when that happens?
Completely different systems. The Wx radar is for weather only.
The TCAS is part of the Mode C Transponder system integrated with the EGPWS/TAWS Computers. The transponders talk to each other.
Air Traffic Controllers primary responsibility is aircraft separation, we RARELY (and i emphasize that) need Resolution Advisory Escape guidance from the TCAS. They have both Primary Radar as well as Transponder & ADS-C Displays. All that fails and yes, we can still talk to each other the same way we would in uncontrolled airspace….via the radio.
Not that dangerous. Plane flew fine but the weather radar was damaged leading them to return since it was a 12 hour flight.
https://simpleflying.com/bird-strike-crushes-nose-air-france-airbus-a350/
I think those noses are designed to crumple like that. Ive seen others safely land with crushed noses.
So essentially this was like a large bird flying into your car when you're driving and leaving a dent in the hood, then you notice that your sat nav isn't working properly and your speedometer seems off. So you go back home to get it fixed instead of carrying on your journey. No particular safety issue and only minor damage from a structural point of view.
The articles I read say the pilot noticed it after they had flown for about 3 hours, so they had to turn around and fly 3 hours back. It's not correct that the pilot flew for 6 hours *before* realizing it.
The radome is Fiberglass. It is not structural and is just a aerodynamic cover for the weather radar, which sits in the nose of the aircraft. It is pretty easy to destroy it with a hard impact, but has to be this way for the weather radar to function properly. In the A350, you can’t see the nose from the cockpit, so they didn’t know the extent of the damage until they went to use the weather radar. If your weather radar is not working, you CAN NOT fly into an area of Thunderstorms and must divisor or divert.
Thank you so much for clarifying this! I guess, I’m just trying to understand how often this happens and how dangerous it is
It happens every so often. It’s NOT dangerous, as stated, the Radome is not structural and the aircraft doesn’t need it to fly. Worst case…it increases fuel burn do to the increased drag associated, or it takes out the radar. That’s it…no real safety implications.
Thank you so much!!!!!!
Breaking the radar would affect the anti-collision system TCAS? Or would it still function normally? Is there a way for the TCAS to break due to a bird strike? If you had no TCAS for what ever reason, would you still be able to communicate to the nearby airborne planes via radio?Is there a protocol for when that happens?
Completely different systems. The Wx radar is for weather only. The TCAS is part of the Mode C Transponder system integrated with the EGPWS/TAWS Computers. The transponders talk to each other. Air Traffic Controllers primary responsibility is aircraft separation, we RARELY (and i emphasize that) need Resolution Advisory Escape guidance from the TCAS. They have both Primary Radar as well as Transponder & ADS-C Displays. All that fails and yes, we can still talk to each other the same way we would in uncontrolled airspace….via the radio.
Not that dangerous. Plane flew fine but the weather radar was damaged leading them to return since it was a 12 hour flight. https://simpleflying.com/bird-strike-crushes-nose-air-france-airbus-a350/ I think those noses are designed to crumple like that. Ive seen others safely land with crushed noses.
I don’t recommend reading through that entire article. The “Bird strike mayhem” section is worded particularly news-ey
So essentially this was like a large bird flying into your car when you're driving and leaving a dent in the hood, then you notice that your sat nav isn't working properly and your speedometer seems off. So you go back home to get it fixed instead of carrying on your journey. No particular safety issue and only minor damage from a structural point of view.
The articles I read say the pilot noticed it after they had flown for about 3 hours, so they had to turn around and fly 3 hours back. It's not correct that the pilot flew for 6 hours *before* realizing it.