Several final accident reports were issued during 2007.
Following recommendations by Irish, Italian and UK air accident investigators, the European Aviation Safety Agency is examining the possibility of requiring low-fuel warning systems on board aircraft.
In August 2003, an Aer Arann ATR 42 suffered power failure of one of its engines as a result of a refuelling error that left one wing tank virtually empty. The crew believed the fuel gauge was faulty.
In August 2005, a Tuninter ATR 72 had erronously been fitted with an ATR 42 fuel gauge which made it show more fuel than it was actually carrying. The aircraft ran out of fuel and ditched north of Sicily.
A Virgin Atlantic A340 incident in February 2002 involved fuel control computer failure, and two fuel tanks became empty with no warning to the crew. The UK investigator said fuel warning systems should be independent of the normal fuel quantity indication and management system.
A Kato Airlines Dornier 228-200 which landed heavily at Bodo, Norway, during a storm in December 2003 was severely damaged by a lightning strike to the nose that temporarily blinded the pilots and destroyed elevator control. The report says the strike travelled aft and severed the central elevator control rod. The crew performed a forced landing using elevator trim.
A MyTravel Airways Airbus A320 which veered off the runway at Evenes Harstad/Narvik airport during the take-off roll in November 2004 was suffering from fan-blade icing, according to Norwegian accident investigators. When the crew advanced the power levers, a marked thrust asymmetry caused the aircraft to yaw 40 degrees left and depart the runway. The investigators said the probable cause was fan-blade ice accretion during taxi and pre-take-off holding, and the crew had not carried out any partial engine run-ups to cause ice-shedding from the blades.
The Canadian inquiry into the August 2005 Air France Airbus A340-300 overrun at Toronto Pearson airport says the accident was caused by rapidly changing stormy weather conditions and insufficient real-time information to the crew to allow them to make a safe decision about whether to land or go around.
Swedish investigators say the near loss of control involving an SAS Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 landing at Kalmar, Sweden, on 6 April 2006 was caused by the crew's decision to reduce the power of the No 2 engine to idle when the propeller overspeeded, whereas they should have shut it down to cut propeller drag.
The report commented that the crew had received no simulator training in the procedure for dealing with propeller system malfunction.
Source: Flight International
