dailynewsnblog
An 
American Airlines narrowbody aircraft experienced a hydraulic issue shortly after departing from Aruba earlier this week. The flight crew opted to return to Aruba, after spending some time in the air to burn off fuel, to bring the aircraft’s weight within an acceptable and safe range. At the time of writing, the aircraft still remains grounded at Aruba, indicating that it is still waiting or undergoing maintenance before it can fly back home.
While the airline does not have a base at the airport, due to its operational presence, the aircraft could potentially have access to the required maintenance support to be airworthy and back in the air soon.
Hydraulic Issue Grounds Aircraft
The incident occurred on Thursday, March 12, when an Airbus A321, operated by American Airlines, experienced a hydraulic issue shortly after departing from Queen Biatrix International Airport (AUA) in Aruba to 
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). Considering modern jets use hydraulic actuation for various operations, including those of aircraft control surfaces, it is a critical system of the aircraft. This resulted in the aircraft returning to Aruba.
While certain sources online cite this as a tail strike incident, American Airlines has confirmed to Simple Flying that the aircraft returned to Aruba due to a hydraulic-related issue.
While modern jets have multiple hydraulic lines, in this instance, with safety as a key objective, the flight crew decided to return to Aruba, instead of continuing the flight to Philadelphia. However, considering this occurred as the aircraft was departing, the aircraft’s weight exceeded the maximum landing weight due to the fuel present onboard. Therefore, the aircraft remained airborne for over two hours before safely landing back at Runway 11 in Aruba.
Data from FlightRadar24 indicates that the aircraft remained at low altitudes of around 4,000 feet and spent most of its time airborne circling around the west of Aruba, over the Caribbean Sea. During this time, the airport reportedly put some inbound traffic on hold while safety inspections were carried out on the runway to make sure it was still safe to use and there were no signs of Foreign Object Debris (FOD).
Still On Ground, Nearly 72 Hours Later
As per the aircraft data, the airframe involved in this incident is an 11-year-old A321, registered N120EE, and the data indicates that the aircraft has been grounded in Aruba since it landed almost three days ago. This could potentially be an indication of the level of maintenance work that might be required on the aircraft to return it to an airworthy state.
Considering the aircraft is grounded at an outstation, there is also the matter of the airline’s access to technical support at the airport. However, American Airlines does maintain a considerable presence in Aruba by operating to the destination from a number of its bases, such as 
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), 
Miami International Airport (MIA), 
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), and more. This would mean that, even though Aruba is not a base for the airline, the carrier would be able to provide the required workforce and technical support to ensure the aircraft becomes airworthy.
Between Philadelphia and Aruba itself, the airline operates a daily service (AA-870), with the frequency increasing to two on Saturdays (AA-622 only in one direction).
|
Route Data |
PHL – AUA |
AUA – PHL |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Departure |
Arrival |
Departure |
Arrival |
|
|
AA-870 |
08:09 AM |
12:46 PM |
01:46 PM |
06:38 PM |
|
AA-622 |
N/A Operates DFW – AUA as AA-1131 |
04:59 PM |
09:51 PM |
|
How Are Flight Controls Moved?
In this piece, we will focus on how the flight controls are moved, how the hinge moments can be reduced, and how trimming of flight controls works.
Burning Fuel Is Equal To Losing Weight
As mentioned above, in this instance, the aircraft had to spend over two hours flying around, burning fuel, before it could return to Aruba and land safely. This is because the aircraft had to lose weight to be below the maximum landing weight prescribed by the manufacturer for the aircraft.
Considering the average flight duration on the AUA – PHL route exceeds four hours, on an A321, this would mean the aircraft is departing with a considerable amount of fuel. The fuel would generally include the forecasted fuel for the flight, the regulatory-mandated fuel reserves, and any additional fuel the commanding officer for the flight might decide to carry. Therefore, the aircraft would be significantly heavy at the time of departure.
As such, in this case, the aircraft would have been too heavy to return immediately to Aruba, thus requiring the aircraft to spend a few hours burning excess fuel. While some of the larger jets are equipped with fuel jettison systems to dump fuel if required, the A321 does not have this system. Hopefully, the aircraft can be brought back to service soon and flying again.
