SAD TO SAY, ‘UNBELIEVABLE INCOMPETENCE’ OF MAS CREW ENDANGERED THE LIVES OF ALL ON BRISBANE FLIGHT

THE failure and incompetence of all crew members to follow mandatory pre-departure checks had endangered the lives of everyone on board the Malaysia Airlines aircraft which was forced to return to Brisbane Airport last month after it had taken off, said an article in The Australian.

Flight MH134 was forced to return to Brisbane soon after takeoff on July 18 when the Airbus A330-300’s airspeed indication failed. The plane then had to be towed from the main runway due to minor damage to the main landing gear doors.

A report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau yesterday found that the reason for the loss of airspeed indication was that the pitot probes, which provide air data computers and flight instruments with airspeed information, were covered and therefore rendered ineffective.

However, apart from the failure of the crew to remove the covers, the fact that the plane could take off without having airspeed readings was “unbelievable” and had endangered the lives of everyone on board, said the report.

“The key things are, how they came to leave with the pitot covers still on, and what was seen (in the cockpit) at the 100-knot call,” said Australian and International Pilots Association technical and safety manager Shane Loney.

“I would not have expected the airspeed indications to be accurate at that point but the report suggests the 100-knot-speed call was made. I wonder what the crew were looking at?”

Former airline captain Byron Bailey said it was unclear from the report whether the co-pilot called “check” in response to the captain’s call of 100 knots.

“It is unbelievable that a professional airline crew could sit on the takeoff roll for 42 seconds and not notice they had no airspeed,” Bailey said.

“These calls are mandatory checks. The incompetence of this crew endangered the lives of all on board because flying around with no airspeed indication is hazardous in the extreme,” he said.

The report said the flight crew and engineer were not in the habit of using pitot covers on turnarounds and did not normally fly to airports where the use of covers was standard. The covers were used at Brisbane due to a wasp problem, and was meant to ensure that the insects did not nest in the instruments.

ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood said it was a serious incident and the investigation was continuing.

“We will be focusing specifically on the procedures for flight crew and ground crew in relation to the pre-flight checks for the aircraft, and also the cockpit warning systems received by the flight crew as they accelerated down Runway 01,” Hood was quoted as saying in the paper.

The Malaysian Insight has contacted Malaysia Airlines and is waiting for a response.

the malaysian insight