Last week, a JetBlue Airbus A320 declared an emergency shortly after taking off from Barbados. While emergencies happen all the time, there are a few things that make this incident noteworthy.
In this post:
JetBlue A320 has “all the lights flashing” after takeoff
This incident happened on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, and involves JetBlue flight B61844, scheduled to operate the 2,132-mile flight from Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI), to Boston (BOS). The flight was operated by a 20-year-old Airbus A320 with the registration code N586JB.
The first thing that stood out to me about this incident is that there were only 47 people onboard, including the crew (meaning there were 41 passengers). Gosh, I thought JetBlue was trying to cut its unprofitable flying? 😉
VASAviation has an excellent video with the air traffic control audio plus a visualization of what happened during the incident, so I’d recommend watching it.
To summarize, as soon as the jet takes off from runway 9, the JetBlue pilots contact air traffic control, stating that they have an emergency, and intend to return to the airport. Here are a few of the ways the pilots describe the situation:
- “We don’t know what we got going on. There’s so many faults going on with the airplane, we’re unable to tell.”
- “We’ve got so many lights going off, we’ve got an engine showing shutdown or failed, but it seems to be working, and then too many other lights to count, so unable to give you any information.”
- “We need a minute just to set up everything, sir, cause we’re trying to work through all the lights flashing, cause the checklists and everything is cutting out, so not sure what all we got going on.”
The plane ended up landing back on runway 9 around 17 minutes after its initial departure. The flight ended up being canceled. The aircraft was ferried back to Boston on June 7 (three days later), and then returned to service on June 8.
Someone commenting at The Aviation Herald claims that an internal JetBlue report explained that there were spurious ECAM reports, which triggered this incident (ECAM stands for Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor). So basically the computer was sending wrong warnings, even though the plane was flying fine.
Huge kudos to the pilots for how professionally they handled this situation. I can only imagine how stressful it is to fly a plane and stay focused when you have all kinds of alarms and flashing lights going off.
What’s going on with the air traffic controllers?
Okay, here’s the part of the incident that I find the most bizarre. What the heck is going on with the air traffic controllers here? Not only were the JetBlue pilots having to deal with their own emergency, but they were basically having to “coach” the air traffic controllers on how to do their job.
I’m not sure if they’re just not used to emergencies, or what, but it seems like the air traffic controllers are more frantic and confused than the pilots:
- The tower controller just seems very confused, and first tells the pilots to stand by, then tells them to make a right turn (without giving vectors), and then tells them to contact approach (without giving the frequency), and then tells them to stand by again
- The pilots then ask for an altitude and direction, and the controller simply clears them for a right downwind
- The pilots have to ask if they’re supposed to stay with tower or contact another frequency, which the controller ignores, until they request the approach they need, and then she sends them over to another frequency
- The approach controller seemingly forgets to hand the JetBlue plane back to the tower frequency, so the pilots follow up, at which point they’re switched over
It’s possible that I’m reading too much into this, but usually air traffic controllers are calm in these situations, and are very quick to give pilots what they need, given what pilots deal with in an emergency. But in this situation, I get the sense that wasn’t happening.
Bottom line
A JetBlue Airbus A320 had an emergency last week after taking off from Barbados. It seems like the plane actually flew just fine, while the computer went a bit crazy, and indicated that basically everything was broken. Fortunately the pilots handled the situation professionally, and the plane landed safely back in Barbados minutes after its departure. While the pilots did a great job, I’m a bit confused by the performance of air traffic controllers here…
What do you make of this JetBlue emergency?
Did the passengers have to wait the three days or how did they handle it?
what a mess.
I don't intend in any way for this to be based on race or creed or whatever, but I once flew JetBlue and most of the passengers smelled like they hadn't washed in weeks. I don't know if it's a cultural thing or not, but when you don't brush your teeth there is this weird sort of cavity decay you can smell even if you're not actively sniffing a person's breath. As I settled into...
I don't intend in any way for this to be based on race or creed or whatever, but I once flew JetBlue and most of the passengers smelled like they hadn't washed in weeks. I don't know if it's a cultural thing or not, but when you don't brush your teeth there is this weird sort of cavity decay you can smell even if you're not actively sniffing a person's breath. As I settled into my seat on the flight to Barbados, I immediately noticed something off. A faint, unpleasant odor lingered in the air, gradually growing stronger with each passing minute. Wrinkling my nose, I scanned the cabin, trying to pinpoint the source of the offensive smell. It didn't take long to realize that it was the unmistakable scent of unwashed people. Discreetly covering my nose with my hand, I observed my fellow passengers. Some seemed unfazed, immersed in their books or movies, while others surreptitiously attempted to mask the smell with scarves or magazines. I exchanged incredulous glances with a few nearby travelers, silently acknowledging the uncomfortable truth we all shared. Throughout the flight, the odor persisted, stubbornly refusing to dissipate despite the crew's efforts to improve ventilation. I couldn't understand how so many people could neglect basic hygiene, especially on a long-haul flight like this. As the hours dragged on, I found it increasingly difficult to ignore the unpleasant scent that hung in the air. I tried to distract myself with a book, but it was futile. The smell seemed to permeate every corner of the aircraft, making it impossible to escape. When the pilot finally announced our descent into Barbados, I breathed my own sigh of relief. Stepping off the plane, I eagerly relished the fresh air of the jet bridge, grateful to be free from the suffocating odor that had plagued our journey. As I made my way through the bustling beaches of Barbados, I couldn't help but reflect on the ordeal I had just endured. Despite the discomfort, I realized that even the most memorable journeys could be marred by unpleasant experiences. However, I also found solace in the knowledge that adversity often provided valuable lessons.
With a newfound appreciation for the simple pleasures of cleanliness and fresh air, I vowed never to take them for granted again. Exploring the vibrant islands of Barbados, I carried that gratitude with me, cherishing every breath of clean, untainted air. Even my flight on Frontier the previous year smelled better, which was honestly a really big surprise to me.
You really wrote *that* much to complain about smelly people?
There are places where YOU as the pilot tell ATC what you're going to do. Out of inexperience in emergencies, ATC was probably attempting to defer to the pilots.
To be fair, ATC in Barbados probably doesn't have the same background as someone in ORD or ATL...
Way too many incidents like this happening all over the place. I suggest might be computer hacking and/or something more sinister like sabotage.
I am a nervous flier and hearing stories like this make it way more likely I won't be flying unless I absolutely must.
Hacking..? No. Just, no.
Very convenient tech problem with only 41pax on board, only saying
It would be helpful to know time of day (I had to check FlightAware to see if the plane had stayed overnight in Barbados) and where the plane had originated (came from Boston, apparently without incident).
We need to check out an official FAA NTSB website to see if this is actually true. Maybe Boeing wants to write-up Airbus.
In terms of if this route is profitable, I live in Boston and this route is heavily advertised. I think the government of Barbados is unwriting this route to some degree.
Definitely think they are. Both the JetBlue route and just Barbados tourism in general are heavily advertised in the NY/Westchester area as well. Ads and events.
This brings back memories of the QF A330 that had a massive computer meltdown that didn't just send bad alerts but the computers kept trying to put the aircraft into a dangerous situation.
Airbus and regulators learned alot in that situation and I believe it is now much easier to disconnect the computers and manually fly an Airbus aircraft if necessary.
In this case, it appeared to be all about warnings and alerts...
This brings back memories of the QF A330 that had a massive computer meltdown that didn't just send bad alerts but the computers kept trying to put the aircraft into a dangerous situation.
Airbus and regulators learned alot in that situation and I believe it is now much easier to disconnect the computers and manually fly an Airbus aircraft if necessary.
In this case, it appeared to be all about warnings and alerts which makes it very different from the QF situation.
The pilots did handle it well but I would bet that Airbus pilots are trained on systems failures specific to their aircraft just as Boeing pilots would be on their aircraft - which are not near as similar as Airbuses.
Anything can break. The real question is whether this was just a "worn out" part or whether something systemic happened which could happen on other aircraft. And there should be questions about whether there were or should be fault signals that the aircraft computers provide before it fails to take action at an earlier stage.
This wouldn't happen on Delta.
Of course not...because they are the galaxy's #1 PREMIUM airline and NEVER do anything wrong!
will you freaks please stop? the one time he doesnt flood the thread with delta stuff, you go and do it
you two shouldn't happen on OMAAT or anywhere on the web - but you prove day after day that the only way for you to participate in any discussion is to mock those that meaningfully do contribute.
This mocking wouldn't happen on Delta.
If it was a Boeing plane, the media would be all over it!