Cargo plane crash pilots sacked
30.07.06
A team of pilots who crash landed a cargo plane at East Midlands Airport, causing its runway to be closed for several hours, have been sacked. Thousands of passengers had to be moved to other airports after the cargo plane landed on its nose at Birmingham Airport on 15 June after first landing on the grass at East Midlands.
Cargo company TNT said despite the Belgian pilot showing skill in his handling of the situation, the incident was down to human error. The automatic pilot system was disengaged due to a 'momentary lapse', and this lead to the accident.
The aeroplane remained on the runway, causing all take-offs to be cancelled for six hours and arrivals only resuming in the afternoon. More than 200 flights had to be diverted or were delayed.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch is investigating but TNT said it operated a 'zero accident tolerance level'.
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