Malaysia Airlines flight emergency

[Downunder]

Pretty bad pilot error....

 

Malaysia Airlines flight emergency caused by plastic covers left on gauges

 

An emergency involving a Malaysia Airlines flight forced to return to Brisbane last week appears to have been caused by a pre-flight inspection failure.

 

PM understands four plastic covers placed on vital gauges that should have been removed were mistakenly left in place.

 

After take-off the covers melted and blocked the pitot tubes that are used to calculate airspeed and altitude for the cockpit crew.

 

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation is now trying to establish the cause of the error.

 

It was 11:18 pm on July 18 when MH134 departed Brisbane.

 

As the plane climbed, the cockpit crew found they had no indication of how high they were, or how fast they were flying.

 

The crew issued a pan alert, one step below a mayday call, and headed back to Brisbane.

 

One week later, the plane is still in Brisbane.

 

Malaysia Airlines in a statement tonight says the A330 is undergoing a pre-flight inspection.

 

 

 

 

Full story..... Malaysia Airlines flight emergency caused by plastic covers left on gauges

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

I would have thought you would have been looking for an airspeed indication long before getting airborne. Usually 100 knots has a call and that's way before V1.. Nev

 

 

[KRviator]

That's what no one can understand - How did they announce V1/Rotate?!?... My usual patter on brakes release in the RV is Power set, (oil) Pressure checked, Speed reads.

 

 

[OZJohn]

MH134 took off with 3 pilots up front, they must have taken off when the far fence appeared.

 

Four pitot covers were left on. Three for air speed and one for altitude. Thet also did a heavy landing and the A330 was not moved for some time.

 

Pitot covers have been mandatory in Brisbane because of a wasp problem.

 

In the case of qantas the ground engineers remove the covers with a long pole then take them up to the cockpit where they are signed for before take off.

 

John.

 

 

[planedriver]

That's a very serious breach, hope they adopt the Qantas way of doing things.

 

The Air France A330 which came down in the Atlantic due to ice crystals in the pitot tubes thus disconnecting the auto-pilot, indicates what catastrophic conditions can arise if they are not working correctly.

 

Not sure how they even managed to get it airborne, yet alone land it in one piece.(maybe Lady Luck was on board?)

 

 

[facthunter]

You use GNSS for taxy speed and it works in the air without pitot working.. RPT jets do fly to one knot (believe it or knot). There will be a few questions to answer there.. (and so there should). Nev

 

 

[Birdseye]

The report make a comment about the covers melting, it may suggest that they were not therefore tightly sealed prior to that point and some sort of ASI readings were available during take off.

 

 

[facthunter]

They melt ( Plastic) because of the Pitot heat and no or less airflow. Any readings could be all over the place most unlikely to be near accurate with any kind of cover on same as when wasps block or partly block one with mud. I've had that happen a few times. Mud, not leave the cover on.. At West Maitland that was a common occurrence and doing a circuit without airspeed was expected to be able to be done safely. I'm talking about the early 60's But I suspect the wasps are still there. They are the cause of the leaving the covers on till just before moving in BNE. I believe. It would be unlikely to block more than one, but the procedure is as it is for a reason, except the safety action became the CAUSE of a bigger problem as it might be unique to BNE and missed.. Nev

 

 

[boleropilot]

I was checking out a Jabiru in a hangar the other day and noticed a little bit of mud near the propellor hub - had a closer look and discovered a HUGE mud wasp nest, hidden very carefully in and around the hub.

 

if it were missed during pre-flight I reckon it would have caused massive imbalance, hopefully it would have been felt as soon as the motor started

 

the Jabiru obviously hadn't been flown in some time - I left a note on the dash advising the pilot and suggesting he check the rest of the aircraft before slipping any surly bonds....

 

BP

 

 

[bexrbetter]

I'm talking about the early 60's But I suspect the wasps are still there.

i dont think they live that long.

 

 

[boleropilot]

I saw a doco about an aircraft that crashed after takeoff when the flightcrew lost control of the aircraft due to multiple 'instrument failures'

 

it was a classic Swiss cheese accident - they took off at night and flew out to sea, so no horizon or lights on the ground to help them

 

a 'new' ground worker had covered the pitot ports before the aircraft was pressure washed

 

he didn't know he was supposed to use orange sticky tape only, not silver (the same colour as the fuselage)

 

his supervisor called in sick and there was nobody to replace him, so the new aircraft washer didn't have anyone to check his work

 

the first officer did a walk around with a torch before the flight but didn't notice the covered pitot port due to the silver tape

 

no survivors

 

BP