The fact that every accident has many precursor incidents in which luck intervened to prevent disaster is frequently quoted by industrial safety experts, including those in aviation. The theory is that if the message transmitted by these events is heeded and corrective strategies implemented, there would be fewer accidents. Here are some of the more strident examples this year so far, and one from late 2004
- A China Eastern Airlines Airbus A340-300 suffered a major tailstrike on take-off from London Heathrow airport, UK (7 April). Despite being advised by air traffic control of the event, the crew pressurised the hull and continued to Shanghai, China. The Civil Aviation Authority of China has declined to comment on whether or not action will be taken. By contrast, the crew of a Continental Airlines Boeing 777 that suffered a tailstrike at New York Newark airport applied the recommended subsequent procedures, did not pressurise the aircraft and landed back at Newark, where the rear pressure bulkhead was found to have been damaged.
- Runway incursion: a Japan Airlines (JAL) 777-200 at Sapporo airport (22 January) began its take-off run without clearance. Air traffic control ordered the crew to abort the take-off. The pilot failed to report the incident to the airline and has been reprimanded for not doing so. JAL has since been reprimanded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for this event and some maintenance-related failures that did not cause incidents, but indicated a failure to maintain its previously scrupulous approach to an internal safety culture.
- An Atlas Air Boeing 747-200 freighter carried out a poorly managed descent into London Stansted airport, UK (7 December 2004) during which it travelled some distance well below the instrument landing system (ILS) glideslope. After local residents reported how low the aircraft was, the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch investigated the event (Flight International, 12-18 July), retrieving the secondary radar record of its approach trajectory. The three crew admitted that during the descent they had become fixated on “troubleshooting” the appearance of warning flags for the ILS, and it was only when the aircraft emerged from the cloudbase that the captain realised how low they were. The captain had not reported the event because the subsequent landing was safe, but the aircraft was not stabilised on the ILS glideslope until closer than 3km to the runway end.
- A Cargo Plus Boeing 707 suffered a non-fatal CFIT accident (19 March) on approach to Entebbe, Uganda, when it hit a low rocky outcrop in Lake Victoria and came down in the lake 400m (1,310ft) short of the runway.
- In what may be one of the closest near-collisions during take-off, an Airbus A330-300 and a Boeing 737-300 together carrying 381 passengers and crew were cleared for take-off from General Edward Lawrence Logan International airport in Boston, Massachusetts, almost simultaneously on crossing runways (9 June) by different controllers in the same tower. The A330 took off just before the intersection and climbed above the 737 which had passed V1, but was being held on the runway by its crew who saw – at the last moment – what was happening.
Source: Flight International
