Earlier this week, an Iberia Airbus A330 operating a flight to Miami had to return to Madrid due to a hydraulic problem.
The aircraft didn’t make it to the Atlantic crossing before the U-turn occurred, as we will come to explore in this piece.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
IB6123 – Madrid-Miami…
Iberia flight IB6123 is a routine scheduled flight between Madrid and Miami.
The affected rotation involved with the hydraulic issue was operated by EC-LZX.
As per data from Planespotters.net, EC-LZX is a 10.1 year old Airbus A330-300 that was delivered to the Spanish airline in March 2014.
Of the A330-300 variant, Iberia has eight of them in the fleet, of which seven are in active service.
Average age within the fleet variant is at 10.6 years.
IB6123 departed Madrid at 1158 local time on March 12 and initially proceeded westbound to Miami.
Upon reaching the northern border with Portugal, the aircraft made a u-turn back to MAD.
From there, the aircraft entered into a series of holds to the south of the airport before landing safely after over two hours in flight.
Furthermore, The Aviation Herald marked this return as a hydraulic related issue onboard the flight bound for Miami from Madrid.
Why Is It Unsafe to Continue With This Issue?
For IB6123 between Madrid and Miami, it was the correct decision to return back to the origin airfield.
A problem with hydraulics could result in a full loss, where some primary or secondary control surfaces may be affected.
Such an issue therefore would result in a potential loss of the autopilot systems too.
It is then a priority to get back to the airport as safely and as quickly as possible as a result of this.
In the case of Iberia, they also have a maintenance facility there due to being based in Madrid itself.
From there, the issue can then be rectified a lot quicker than if they diverted to an airfield with limited facilities.
In conclusion, the pilots made the correct decision and managed to get everyone down safely.
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