Pilot mistakes led to plane’s flight emergency
17.04.08
A Belfast bound plane had to make an emergency descent of 8000 feet after crew did not turn on anti-icing switches, an official report said. An Air Accident Investigation Branch report also questioned if the crew had carried out a full pre-flight check.
71 people were on board the Flybe service from Edinburgh to Belfast City Airport in December 2006 when several cockpit instruments failed. No one was injured. According to investigators, the crew of the Dash 8 had to take emergency action to get the plane to a lower level after several cockpit instruments failed. The display relies on readings from instruments outside the aircraft, however, these stop working if they become iced up and pilots need to switch on heaters to ensure that this does not happen.
The official report said that one of the heaters was definitely not turned on and, ‘in all probability’ the crew had failed to turn on two others. This was only done after the pilots had taken the plane from 16,000 to 8000 feet to reduce the threat of ice, it found.
The report said the crew's pre-flight checks may not have been done properly and that they may have become distracted before take off. Flybe said that it has now made changes to its training procedures.
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