Faulty jet kept flying
22.05.09
A plane continued flying for 11 days after it stalled attempting to land at Bournemouth Airport, because the seriousness of the incident was not realised. During the 11 days the plane was not subjected to an engineering examination to ensure its continued airworthiness and remained in service.
The Thomsonfly Boeing 737, carrying 132 passengers, stalled on a flight from Faro on 23 September 2007. An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report released yesterday said the captain did not depict the event accurately in his post-flight air safety report, and its ‘seriousness’ was not appreciated until an investigation on 4 October.
Describing the incident as ‘serious’, the report said the auto-throttle had disengaged as the plane approached Bournemouth Airport - something that had not been commanded by the crew, but which they did not recognise had happened. With the thrust levers in the idle position, the aircraft's speed ‘decayed rapidly’ and the captain decided to initiate a ‘go around’, where the crew pull back from landing and make a fresh approach.
During the fresh approach, the aircraft pitched nose-up by as much as 44 degrees and air speed reduced to 82 knots (about 9 4mph) - below the speed required for landing. The crew were, however, able to recover control and landed the plane safely.
The AAIB said: ‘Despite the application of full thrust, the aircraft stalled, after which the appropriate recovery actions were not followed. Although the commander [captain] reported the event to the operator the following morning, his initial air safety report contained limited information and the seriousness of the event was not appreciated until the quick access recorder data was inspected on October 4, 2007.’
Three safety recommendations were made designed to ensure such an incident is not repeated. Thomsonfly has undertaken significant changes to its flight data monitoring and safety management systems since the incident.
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