D Tel: 'Pilotless' jumbo seconds from disaster

'Pilotless' jumbo seconds from disaster
By Paul Marston, Transport Correspondent

Daily Telegraph
(Filed: 14/10/2004)

A Jumbo Jet carrying more than 350 people from London came close to crashing
near Hong Kong after the pilots failed to realise that the autopilot was
disconnected.

The aircraft flew uncontrolled for three minutes, veering almost 180 degrees
off course toward mountains and coming within seconds of a catastrophic
stall.

No one in the four-person crew took any intervening action because they
believed the Boeing 747-400 was being directed by the autopilot. They
assumed the aircraft's unusual movements resulted from a local windshear
effect, which their weather radar had warned them about.

The airline involved, Cathay Pacific, is conducting an inquiry into the
incident, rumours of which have caused alarm and concern among long-haul
pilots.

Aviation authorities have ordered Cathay to remind all its flight crew of
the correct autopilot procedures when making an approach in windshear
conditions.

The flight, packed with British business travellers and holidaymakers, left
Heathrow under the control of a captain, first officer, second officer and
relief pilot. The 11-hour flight passed uneventfully until the pilots
received the windshear warning, four miles from landing.

A windshear is a sudden violent down-draught that can destabilise aircraft
at low altitudes, so the crew chose to abandon the initial approach and go
around in preparation for a second attempt.

A normal go-around would involve a climb to 3,000ft and a long right turn to
take the aircraft back to begin another approach. But with no one
controlling the aircraft, it failed to make the right turn, drifted to the
left and ended up perilously close to a 3,100ft peak on the island of
Lantau.

The jumbo then carried on climbing above its authorised altitude to 6,000ft,
bringing it into potential conflict with other traffic.

Despite its steep rate of ascent, the uncommanded 240-ton aircraft was
travelling at the dangerously low speed of 130 mph. It was saved from a
stall, which analysts believe could have been fatal, because the left wing
had dropped by 30 degrees - just enough to bring the nose down fractionally
and enable a recovery. Worried air traffic controllers issued urgent
instructions to bring the jet back on course.

But this had no immediate effect, as the crew - still under the impression
that the autopilot was working - were not attempting to fly manually and
simply keyed the navigation commands into the lifeless machine.

Industry sources say it is not clear what made the crew realise that the
autopilot had disconnected. But eventually the Boeing levelled out and
followed a series of turns dictated by air traffic control to make a
successful landing.

Most passengers disembarked without realising they had been so near to
disaster.

Investigators will be anxious to establish why the crew did not react to the
aural warning that should accompany an autopilot disconnection. One theory
is that it could have been drowned out by the windshear warning if they
occurred simultaneously.

Once the assumed go-around began, the crew's attention would have been
focused on gaining maximum power, raising the landing gear, adjusting the
wing flaps and talking to air traffic control.

The aircraft's failure to comply with instructions may have been viewed by
the crew as confirmation of the windshear warning's accuracy. Senior 747
pilots have been angered by what they regard as the low-key attitude taken
to the incident by Cathay Pacific executives. In response to inquiries, the
airline initially said only that a windshear event had taken place.

It was not until after Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department last week told
the airline to issue a safety notice to all its pilots that Cathay officials
admitted that "use of the autopilot" had been a problem.

One pilot said: "This was an extremely serious incident. Yet flight crew
need to learn the lessons in case a similar situation arose. The fact we
don't know exactly what happened makes it more likely that a repeat could
occur."


http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...14/wplane14.xm
l

Scary, so is something like that typically a career-ender for the pilots?

Matt

Scary, so is something like that typically a career-ender for the pilots?

Matt

On 14-Oct-2004, "Matt" wrote:

Scary, so is something like that typically a career-ender for the pilots?

Matt

....if they had hit the mountain, definitely!

Another more salient reason to avoid CX Cathay...


"Sufaud" wrote in message
...
'Pilotless' jumbo seconds from disaster
By Paul Marston, Transport Correspondent

Daily Telegraph
(Filed: 14/10/2004)

A Jumbo Jet carrying more than 350 people from London came close to
crashing
near Hong Kong after the pilots failed to realise that the autopilot was
disconnected.

The aircraft flew uncontrolled for three minutes, veering almost 180
degrees
off course toward mountains and coming within seconds of a catastrophic
stall.

No one in the four-person crew took any intervening action because they
believed the Boeing 747-400 was being directed by the autopilot. They
assumed the aircraft's unusual movements resulted from a local windshear
effect, which their weather radar had warned them about.

The airline involved, Cathay Pacific, is conducting an inquiry into the
incident, rumours of which have caused alarm and concern among long-haul
pilots.

Aviation authorities have ordered Cathay to remind all its flight crew of
the correct autopilot procedures when making an approach in windshear
conditions.

The flight, packed with British business travellers and holidaymakers,
left
Heathrow under the control of a captain, first officer, second officer and
relief pilot. The 11-hour flight passed uneventfully until the pilots
received the windshear warning, four miles from landing.

A windshear is a sudden violent down-draught that can destabilise aircraft
at low altitudes, so the crew chose to abandon the initial approach and go
around in preparation for a second attempt.

A normal go-around would involve a climb to 3,000ft and a long right turn
to
take the aircraft back to begin another approach. But with no one
controlling the aircraft, it failed to make the right turn, drifted to the
left and ended up perilously close to a 3,100ft peak on the island of
Lantau.

The jumbo then carried on climbing above its authorised altitude to
6,000ft,
bringing it into potential conflict with other traffic.

Despite its steep rate of ascent, the uncommanded 240-ton aircraft was
travelling at the dangerously low speed of 130 mph. It was saved from a
stall, which analysts believe could have been fatal, because the left wing
had dropped by 30 degrees - just enough to bring the nose down
fractionally
and enable a recovery. Worried air traffic controllers issued urgent
instructions to bring the jet back on course.

But this had no immediate effect, as the crew - still under the impression
that the autopilot was working - were not attempting to fly manually and
simply keyed the navigation commands into the lifeless machine.

Industry sources say it is not clear what made the crew realise that the
autopilot had disconnected. But eventually the Boeing levelled out and
followed a series of turns dictated by air traffic control to make a
successful landing.

Most passengers disembarked without realising they had been so near to
disaster.

Investigators will be anxious to establish why the crew did not react to
the
aural warning that should accompany an autopilot disconnection. One theory
is that it could have been drowned out by the windshear warning if they
occurred simultaneously.

Once the assumed go-around began, the crew's attention would have been
focused on gaining maximum power, raising the landing gear, adjusting the
wing flaps and talking to air traffic control.

The aircraft's failure to comply with instructions may have been viewed by
the crew as confirmation of the windshear warning's accuracy. Senior 747
pilots have been angered by what they regard as the low-key attitude taken
to the incident by Cathay Pacific executives. In response to inquiries,
the
airline initially said only that a windshear event had taken place.

It was not until after Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department last week told
the airline to issue a safety notice to all its pilots that Cathay
officials
admitted that "use of the autopilot" had been a problem.

One pilot said: "This was an extremely serious incident. Yet flight crew
need to learn the lessons in case a similar situation arose. The fact we
don't know exactly what happened makes it more likely that a repeat could
occur."



http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...14/wplane14.xm
l



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