Grieving relatives are
calling for swift action after it emerged three British Airways flights
have suffered the same fault that led to a crash claiming 228 lives.
Two BA pilots had to make
emergency landings after systems were sent haywire in a chilling echo
of an Air France crash four years ago.
The 2009 flight was
brought down by a technical fault and relatives of UK victims have been
stunned to learn the same suspect device can still be found on Airbus
jets flying today.
The suspect pitot sensors
rely on small metal tubes to feed vital air speed and other data to the
cockpit and to the plane’s computers.
If they freeze up,
computers shut down the autopilot, forcing the crew to regain control of
the aircraft, often in hazardous weather conditions.
After the crash,
replacement of French-made pitot tubes with newer American ones was
speeded up in larger Airbuses. But an aviation dossier reveals the same
tubes used in the doomed jet also disrupted three British Airways
flights last year.
Accident investigation bodies overseas have also raised concerns about the devices.
In the first BA incident,
on April 20, 12.30pm, a BA Airbus 321 carrying 183 passengers from
Stockholm was battling through storms near London to land at Heathrow
when its instruments went haywire after a lightening flash, leading the
pilot to signal a PAN (Possible Assistance Needed and Pay Attention Now
alert) and divert to Stansted.
Jumping the queue of air
traffic and with no instruments to tell him his speed, he touched down
safely using skills taught in a simulator.
The second incident was
on June 16 when the same BA Airbus 321 was flying 183 passengers from
Edinburgh to Heathrow. It was climbing through cloud when all its speed
readings dropped to zero, jumped back to normal, then fell again.
Again the auto pilot shut
down and the crew took the controls to exit the cloud, allowing the
instruments to stabilise so they could land safely at Stansted.
Both incidents were
flagged up at the inquest into the Air France crash death of Arthur
Coakley, 61 from Sandsend, North Yorkshire, and Londoner Neil Warrior,
48, last week.
But there was also third
event, on August 20, 2012 when a similar British Airways Airbus hit a
minus 23C air pocket at 26,800ft sending its readings awry but this time
they took longer to recover.
In 2009 the Air France
Rio to Paris flight crashed with no survivors because the co-pilots were
not trained to fly the jet manually at high altitude.
Six Britons died
including Mr Coakley. The inquest was told an international
investigation is under way into pitot tubes and the European Air Safety
Authority and Airbus say the rules are not strict enough.
Arthur’s widow Pat said: “I’m not an engineer – just a victim. But it is quite a shock the problems are still going on.”
Victims’ solicitor James Healy-Pratt said: “We still don’t understand how ice crystals can form in the sensors.
“It’s not clear why the
smaller Airbuses – of which there are many more than bigger ones – don’t
have the American probes. It’s a real hole in air safety.”
The Air Accident
Investigation Branch report will be forwarded to the French judge
investigating whether corporate manslaughter charges should be brought.
Aviation expert Adrian
Gjertsen said: “Ice and aeroplanes do not work very well. Aeroplanes are
designed to pass through it but not remain in it.
“One thing that came out
in Air France is if you have thunderstorm activity you are more likely
to get ice – but it is not something you can always fly around.”
British Airways said: “We train our pilots to the very highest standards including how to respond to these type of events.”
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
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