BA Boeing 777 Crash Report Highlights Pilots’ Actions
An investigation carried out by British Airways into the crash of one of its Boeing 777 airliners at Heathrow Airport in January this year has revealed that the aircraft’s captain, as well as its first officer, acted to avert a much more serious accident from taking place than actually happened.
Engine Power Drop
The report says that, after a drop in engine power, both airmen attempted to keep the Boeing airborne.
Emergency Evacuation Alarm
The same document intimates also that an emergency evacuation alarm on board the aircraft was not sufficiently loud to be heard by a number of the Boeing’s cabin crew.
The BA investigation is one that was carried out internally and, therefore, it will not be released into the public domain.
However, it states that Peter Burkill, flight captain, altered the position of the -777’s flaps, thus reducing drag and helping the aircraft maintain speed.
John Coward, the First Officer, was responsible, meanwhile, for pushing the -777’s nose ground-wards to build speed up, then correcting its flight path immediately before impact.
AAIB Crash Report
A previous report - issued by the AAIB (Air Accident Investigation Branch) - said that the aircraft’s engines did not respond when the pilots selected additional thrust.
Attention, it added, had now turned to the Boeing’s fuel system.
Another report is set for issue on completion of a more detailed inquiry.
The Boeing 777 crashed after having flown from Beijing. While it suffered extensive damage, of the 136 passengers and 16 crew members on board, only one of these received serious injuries.
Source – Airport International’s London Reporter
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