Airbus CHANGED THE ENGINE START SOP | What's NEW and WHY was it necessary? | Real Airbus Pilot

[@LB8KG]

A huge thank you for teaching me everything I need to learn about aviation. You really dive deep into the systems and explain things well. I watch your videos every week. Have a safe flight next time you are working.

[@wyntje83]

I've been starting ENG 1 first ever since V1 simulations explained why his airline does it like this. Guess nothing changes, except now Airbus agrees for ground crew safety reasons.

[@davidmogollon2772]

What were the reasons?

[@wyntje83]

@davidmogollon2772 he has a video called single engine taxi in his airbus training series on YT. start that video a 5 minutes if you're short on time.

[@jeffg7]

Been flying A320s for over 20 years and we have never started engine 2 first unless it's an external air start.

[@cjmillsnun]

Do you fly for EZY?

[@jeffg7]

@cjmillsnun Oh God, no. US based.

[@aviationknowledge8596]

@@jeffg7 did you do Single engine at departure? My Airline does not implement the new procedure because single engine at departure is not authorized. At least for now.Other than that it doesn´t really make a difference if ENG2 is startet first. Maybe like he said for the ground crew, but I think the most Boeings start ENG2 first as well

[@jeffg7]

@@aviationknowledge8596 One engine taxi is at captain's discretion unless the surface is contaminated. If the right engine is started first with external air then at least a short taxi on one engine is likely required until you reach a safe location to cross bleed start the left engine.

[@TimAyro]

European airlines do things different for...reasons?

[@HotelBravo-Tim]

Thanks a lot for informing us, Emanuel! We really appreciate it.

[@tomstravels520]

Makes sense really. Partly because if you decided to do a single engine taxi and then accidentally started engine 2 first you’d presumably have to continue with 2 engines. And if you start engine 1 first you could maybe leave it a bit later to decide if to start engine 2 straight away or wait a bit. On a recent easyJet flight they started engine 1 first and only 2 minutes after starting taxiing they started engine 2

[@isacjohnson8891]

ezy sop has been start eng 1 for a while now

[@tomstravels520]

@@isacjohnson8891 yeah it was just weird how they started engine 2 only 2 minutes into taxiing and we really hadn't got far from the gate.

[@isacjohnson8891]

@ yea no idea why. Might be that single engine taxi weren’t their intention. Probably just got going to save time and started the engine once moved

[@goldenstateaviation2861]

As someone in the US I’ve been used to engine 1 being started first and used for single engine taxi. Didn’t realize people did it differently

[@jakestechiah]

Love vids like this bc I’ve never piloted anything (apart from a C172 once) IRL and just fly the sim for fun, but love to follow real world SOPs. Appreciate the info! Side note I never realized the brake accum. system was part of the backup; I just thought is was inline and part of the primary. 🙈

[@DNModels]

Nearly 4 decades of ops and someone decided he miraculously came up with something smarter.

[@michaelchenal5288]

sometimes it's because "I've a job and I have to prove I do it" only

[@hepphepps8356]

Took humanity several hundred thousand years to get to the Airbus aircraft to begin with, so I am not sure why you think things wouldn’t continue to evolve? How many billions of man hours did it take until someone came up with using their fingers like Jimi Hendrix?

[@richardvaasone5658]

What a stupid comment. If you actually watch the video, you'll hear Emmanuel say that some airlines already realized the possible danger and updated their procedures. Airbus now made it mandatory for every operator. Or would you have preferred to wait for someone to get sucked into the engine before airbus did anything? Then you could've commented: "nearly 4 decades of ops and nobody thought of this danger?"

[@cjmillsnun]

The whole point is continuous improvement. easyJet have done this for years. I never understood why until now.

[@Jannik_Stein]

Ezy has SETO as SOP anyway

[@parklane3612]

hi there, just watched your Paro approach, thank you for pointing it out to me, I also saw the Kai Tak approach which was a bonus. Thanks again for the great content in your videos 👍

[@yohannessulistyo4025]

V1 simulations discussed this in great detail and create a meme out of "which Airbus engine is started first" I ride with a lot of Indonesian low cost carriers that fly A320s, Citilink (CTV), AirAsia Indonesia (AWQ), TransNusa (TNU), and Batik Air (BTK) - they really do 1 engine taxi out most of the time, and start with engine no.2. PTUs are barking all the way until we are near the holdshort point, making people chuckle. They don't do that with the A320neo, as they always start both engines after pushback. The last time I flew old A320ceo was Thai's IAE-powered one, HS-TXC - from Bangkok VTBS to Hanoi VVNB they also do the one engine taxi-out, but for some reason they start with engine no. 1. This was back in May 2024. Of course the PTU barked all the way.

[@tomstravels520]

That seems pretty dumb and annoying for the pax instead of just turning on the Yellow electric pump

[@sdhiuzhgwin3904]

On NEO with LEAP you simply don't know how long the Bowed Rotor Motoring will take 😀😀

[@tiagowrec]

Maybe because the neo takes ages to start the engine that’d be why they don’t do it on the neo I guess

[@gwalker3092]

All my Airbus SOPs have "check cats are not being naughty" randomly inserted in them 😂. Joking aside thx for providing latest RL information.

[@daver7465]

Ditto 😀

[@Jannik_Stein]

Isn’t it more dangerous to ground staff now? Before they used to be cautious and now the rely on the pilots starting Eng1 and then comes either some airline that doesn’t adapt the SOP or some pilots that just do it like they did for the last 40 years

[@animaxima8302]

I thought the same thing. What I'd figure is that Ground mgmt. should be even stricter to clear BOTH engines as soon the beacon is lit

[@diogom612]

Yeah I know aviation is about creating multiple layers of safety, but should ground crew be near any engine at all once they're cleared to start? Shouldn't matter which one you're expecting first, just clear both of them.

[@Djnffnoeosmfasjjd]

easyJet have done this for years lmao

[@uy_spotter]

apart from that, I thought it was standardized to say the sequence of engine start to the ground crew on every airline. I never saw this hazard here, interesting!

[@Djnffnoeosmfasjjd]

@ it is. The crew will say “we will start engine x and then engine x afterwards” beforehand

[@dolf1010]

Thank you Emanuel for the new instructions . So interesting . 👍

[@felipeturbayr]

thanks for the update !i will be adjusting my worflow in the sim :-)

[@swiftbird4846]

Interesting analysis. Excellent change.

[@chris22capt]

sounds like ultra lcc problem to me... this new sop probably won't be adopted by local airlines in our country since single engine taxi out is never used anyway as majority airports in our country don't have much complexity in the design so short taxi time and they're not that strict about the fuel savings. it's always number 2 first so there is almost zero chance the ground crew will make that kind of mistake here...

[@sidv4615]

who cares about your small ahh airlines

[@chris22capt]

@sidv4615 i do. I don't know who you are and i definitely don't expect that kind of comment of yours. If you have nothing to add into this discusion, better don't leave comment at all i guess...

[@aahph]

​@@chris22captI think that comment somewhat just reflected Airbus' view

[@Cat10980]

The exception is on the Neo if you use the Air Conditioning During Automatic Engine Start (FCOM-NOR-SUP-ENG) where Engine 2 still needs to be started first. Of course the opportunities for this procedure only really exist on Neos in extremely high OAT, so it’s a minority of times.

[@tomstravels520]

How do you use the air conditioning system during engine start? Putting the switch to IGN shuts off the packs automatically as bleed air is needed for the start

[@DonalMartinplus]

Love the videos you do, very informative. Have you ever considered using beyond atc in your videos for a bit more realism?

[@A330Driver]

Thank you! I have considered it, but decided against it. It's no realism for me.

[@martialandforbearance]

Why are the PFDs showing a slight pitch up at 7:37 but not at 1:40

[@DarkOrbiterAerospace]

I'd imagine that even if the engines are at idle, they still produce enough trust to push the plane forward and because the parking brake is on, only the nose lifts a little. Kinda like when you try to start a manual car in a slope; power on, you lift the clutch slowly with the parking brake on and you only let go of the parking break when the front of the car starts to lift up (indicating enough forward mementum in the wheels to go up without going down first) Not a IRL pilot tho so feel free to correct if i'm wrong.

[@martialandforbearance]

@@DarkOrbiterAerospace Very interesting, thanks!

[@sofloemir]

Delta has been starting engine 1. because of this reason. I think frontier too

[@manuelkauffmann1845]

thx for teaching

[@daver7465]

Interesting…I have a flight coming up on an Air Canada A321 so I’ll pay attention to see if they’ve switched to starting engine one first.

[@saytoga]

How to get an update on airbus SPO? is there a website where you can register your email and receive the updated or changed SOP?

[@tomstravels520]

He’s an Airbus pilot so probably found out through Airbus documentation to the company

[@flaviuss9305]

AVIBOSS you made me a 738 FO

[@oldRighty1]

Simple question as a non-aviator: Once there is any possibility of engine start (beacon light?) then assume both engines are running. Wouldn't that solve the problem?

[@A330Driver]

That's what you'd think. But complacency is a huge issue.

[@burntmacaroni8989]

pretty sure us americans have always started #1 first on any airbus series. just makes more logical sense because you can elect to go single or normal taxi from there rather than having to remember to do it differently every time you do a single eng taxi. im glad there no more argument on this 😂

[@rezaomar3397]

does this also apply to the a330? or has it just been changed for the 320 series?

[@AirportEntertainment]

You always started ENG 1 first then ENG 2 in the A330.

[@A330Driver]

As @AirportEntertainment said, on the A330 ENG1 is always started first. That's because in the A330 the BLUE hydraulic system powers the alternate brakes and ENG 1 powers both the green and blue systems.

[@rezaomar3397]

@@A330Driver oh I see thanks, learn something new everyday

[@umi3017]

It's actually a nice change even if it's just for commonality between A330 and A320s along.

[@axelkark]

I am not very experienced with the topic of single engine taxi. However, what I am wondering is: doesn't engine 1 wear out more over time than engine 2? Or is engine 2 then used as the single engine when taxiing to the parking position?

[@tomstravels520]

Engine 2 isn't normally used to single engine taxi in unless engine 1 failed

[@BKGBlueface]

I don’t understand why starting engine two was standard operating procedure in the first place-especially now, knowing that you’re limiting yourself on hydraulics. It would make more sense to just start engine one and perform a normal single-engine taxi instead.

[@zimbabouer656]

I know it's not the subject of the video, lol but did you retry the md-11 ?

[@rafapiloto195]

Some airlines already use this procedure for some time

[@fsclips]

My company got round of all of this very easily by simply disallowing single engine taxi to the RWY.

[@A330Driver]

That's certainly a way to do it - but at the price of using quite some additional fuel. Every airline will make their own decisions if that's worth it for them or not.

[@evaz9606]

Safety first, should be mandatory for both pilots to be looking outisde

[@alje311]

@@A330Driver my airline requires dual engine taxi if it's the first flight of the day or the taxi time will be less than 10 minutes to ensure the engines will get proper warm up time, especially in the winter.

[@rangerrick8220]

I thought Boeing's SOP was to start #2 first as well? Do you happen to know if this has also changed?

[@tomstravels520]

I have never found a solid answer as to first engine start for a 737. Some say 2 because you can have the air conditioning pack 2 run off engine 2 and isolate so APU runs pack 1 which is useful on hot days. Others say engine 1 first because interphone for ground is plugged in on right side so more dangerous to start right first

[@rangerrick8220]

@@tomstravels520 My understanding has always been that #2 starts for Boeing... haven't heard that that has changed.

[@burntmacaroni8989]

engine 2 is hyd system B which powers normal brakes. the parking brake generally uses normal brakes, so its associated with system B (right). in terms of single engine taxi, boeings hydraulic systems work differently so for example in the 737 you can do a single engine taxi off of engine 2 unlike the bus.

[@rangerrick8220]

@ Thanks!

[@StefBelgium]

Fantastic. Now we have Boeing always starting No. 2 first and Airbus always starting No. 1 first 😂😂😂

[@captainl3on]

Thanks for this video, now my question is why do we have to turn on the Yellow elec pump when doing single engine taxi? since the brakes are working.

[@A330Driver]

Yes, you do. Otherwise, if the green hydraulic system (or primary brake system) would fail you'd be left only with the accumulator.

[@captainl3on]

@@A330Driver Understood, Danke dir ;D

[@tomstravels520]

@@captainl3onyou’d also need it for nose wheel steering for those aircraft that have the NWS operated by yellow system. And you don’t want the PTU barking the whole time

[@EternalDetracting]

Can I find these SOP changes online? Like a website or something?

[@danielpike3778]

When will the new SOPs be officially released?

[@A330Driver]

It was already officially "released". But it's not like Airbus makes any of that available for flight simmers.

[@piotrbienkowski9019]

I found this on Wizz air forum “It was discovered (by WizzAir probably) that starting engine number 1 first lowers the usage cycle of PTU which reduces maintenance costs significantly. Long story short - on Airbus aircrafts engine no. 1 powers green hydraulic system which has no electric pump. This system powers parking brake and nose wheel steering, what obviously are quite good things to have. When you are starting engine number 2 and powers yellow hydraulic system first the green system is powered by the PTU. Yellow system as you might be aware has own electrical pump, which provides the pressure for the PTU (also drives cargo doors for example) so it has to be used anyway.”

[@tomstravels520]

NWS can be on green or yellow system. It depends how old the aircraft is. Newer ones have it on Yellow. Also no matter which engine you start first, when you star the 2nd the PTU runs a self test.

[@geoffrey_goodman]

Very interesting, will the PTU still perform a self-test with this new procedure?

[@tomstravels520]

Yes

[@A330Driver]

Yes it will.

[@str-edds-nico]

Ok that is a little bit confusing because on the 2 Engine are the Brake Hydraulics...

[@tomstravels520]

As explained din the video, there are different braking systems operating on different hydraulic systems

[@Kaipeternicolas]

Yeah I also don't get it. I don't see the "problem" with starting number 1 first if you're not going to single engine taxi anyways. The brake accumulator has enough pressure to set the parking brake regardless so I am very confused.

[@benairbus3309]

Hello i have question. Witch hydrlics circuit powr the nose wheel strering?

[@tomstravels520]

Depends on the age of the aircraft. Older ones it’s the green system, newer ones (estimate around 2012 but might be wrong) are Yellow System

[@jasonthompson101]

Emi, Are these changes from recent accidents that happened? I recall one in US Airport?

[@A330Driver]

Probably some of them played a factor as well, indeed.

[@feurum3275]

Which ones are you talking about?

[@jasonthompson101]

@@feurum3275 There was a baggage handler got sucked into a engine over in American Airport.

[@venmal1805]

If you ever worked on the ramp and can’t tell which engine is being started maybe you shouldn’t be on the ramp cause your just too slow in the head. I always know when and which engine is running at all times

[@A330Driver]

That's how it should be! Unfortunately though it isn't how it always is as accidents and incidents have shown.

[@venmal1805]

@@A330Driver good thing I left the ramp and tow planes now but the highest competence should be expected in the airline industry on all levels. Airlines keep hiring dumb ass and wonder why so much aircraft damage happens and people getting hurt or killed happens so often but they never hire people who can do the job safely and be mindful of surroundings

[@athgt6630]

or maybe you are working in bad and windy weather and shit happens. accidents happen not just because people are idiots. nuff with this attitude

[@faithfulnate8227]

Good at knowing what engine is spooling up on an airbus but bad at English.

[@jashan0417_]

Why not than st eng 2 should be proprietary for all

[@dronesim]

Noob question: wouldn’t single engine taxi out introduce fuel imbalances?

[@tomstravels520]

Not by a huge amount unless you were stuck for well over an hour. But minor differences don’t matter

[@DanielDuhon]

Why not just use engine 2 for single engine taxi? Should be the same.

[@burntmacaroni8989]

because it powers the yellow hyd pump, which doesnt cover things necessary for taxi such as nosewheel steering, brakes, etc. Those are all included in the green hyd pump from engine 1.

[@Jannik_Stein]

…and therefore you’d need the PTU to transfer pressure from the right to the left system- and that sound can be quite annoying for the passengers. So you start engine 1 and pressurize the right system with the elec pump which is much less annoying

[@tomstravels520]

@@burntmacaroni8989NWS can be on the yellow system for newer models (including newer CEO)

[@GhostSheep96]

Thanks for the Video. Does this only affect the A320 Family, or the A300 / 310 / 330 / 350 as well?

[@tomstravels520]

A330 you always start Eng 1 first. A350 I don’t think it matters as one engine can pressurise both hydraulic systems

[@GhostSheep96]

@ thanks a lot! ^-^

[@climbto370]

At AA we start #1. Nothing new for us. Oh I forgot we don’t use Airbus SOP. We have our own flows and procedure. A bit of an oddity as an Airbus Operator!

[@FirstOfficerSimon]

Can Airlines still change the SOP or is this a guideline for everyone?

[@ilarikousa1500]

Airlines can and do override the manufacturer SOP sometimes

[@A330Driver]

Airlines can change their SOPs, however Airbus is really enforcing their SOP onto airlines these days.

[@bauk477]

for what is that, to relief the ptu?

[@tomstravels520]

Not really as PTU will auto test anyway and you wouldn’t have the PTU running during single engine taxi

[@bauk477]

@@tomstravels520 i mean if you start eng 2 first you have also green hyd via the ptu during single eng taxi

[@tomstravels520]

@@bauk477 no airlines does that. Passengers don’t want to hear the PTU running that whole time

[@bauk477]

@@tomstravels520 most people are used to dog barking :-) but technically its possible

[@tomstravels520]

@ technically you could apply reverse thrust at the gate and push yourself back.....but it isn't safe and would risk breaking something or someone. And people are used to hearing PTU for a few seconds, nobody want to hear it say at Chicago where you can be taxiing for 15-20 minutes

[@tvflight7858]

So the Americans were right the whole time! 😂

[@tomstravels520]

Other airlines outside of US have been doing it for a while as well.

[@tvflight7858]

​@@tomstravels520 ik ik but it's kind of a niche meme amongst yt a320 streamers that in the US you start N1 first and in Europe you start with N2, predominantly V1 likes to joke like "time to make Europeans angry" or something idk lol

[@burntmacaroni8989]

weve been sayin it 🤣

[@tvflight7858]

My reply got removed. I said that it's a niche joke amongst yt a320 streamers , predominantly V1 likes to joke like "time to make Europeans angry" or something when starting N1 first idk it's stupid but I find it funny lol

[@sdhiuzhgwin3904]

This is not a clever decision. For decades every airliner was starting #2 first. Airbus and Boeing. Everybody on the ground is used to it. I am not talking about quad jets, that can be different story but twin-engine jets. Now imagine the confusion as the tired ramp worker must realize "Ah, that's an Airbus, he is gonna start the left one." That deviation from well known rule to start 2nd engine first is something to be considered very dangerous in my eyes. No matter how the aircraft was designed and that starting #1 comes with advantage to hydraulic systems logic, Airbus knew very well how things were done by Boeing while A320 came and they should have designed the aircraft in a way starting #2 was no issue at all. I can tell for sure now there will be many atempts to start #2 just because of the muscle memory of pilots to put their hand on the right engine master switch.

[@evaz9606]

Bs sop to cater for airlines and their stupid cost saving, every time a minnumbing sop cost saving capt makes me do the one engine taxi and how much safety is lostdue to me digging myself inside the cockpit instead of looking outside i cringe

[@mannyrivera6990]

Start the engine with most people around it first.... this way you can quickly clear the gate and expedite the push !!! 🤣🤣😉 ....follow me for more tips !!!

[@notleks2411]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm almost certain this has always been the case with the A320 family? With the exception of the A320neo.

[@tomstravels520]

Every airline was different

[@A330Driver]

Previously it was Airbus SOP to start ENG 2 first. Some airlines had changed their SOP to start #1 first since they wanted it common with the SETO SOPs, like Airbus has decided for as well now.

[@elite76]

Do you have a reference for this change in procedure?

[@A330Driver]

Yes. In my company manuals ;-)

[@elite76]

@A330Driver Airbus manuals or your airlines? I can't anything about this change from any Airbus publication. My airline knows nothing about it. What can I show them?

[@almuric1baggins337]

Not going to make blind bit of difference to me. I am NOT a pilot and I fully understand that this is a game/simulator; I will do things my own way and still have fun doing them, no matter what the purists, or Airbus says!

[@747simmer4]

cool story bro

[@athgt6630]

then why are you here, and most importantly, why are you spamming the comment section ?

[@JebediahFeed]

Ok then don’t watch the video lol. No one is forcing you to do things like in real life

[@woos297]

It’s just an informative video, no one is forcing you to do anything.

[@merseymikey20]

Take up golf or something then you obviously have no real interest in flight simming.