Did they or didn’t they…..laptops may have caused QF72 near disaster,….or did they?
In an interesting twist to the ongoing Qantas safety saga, media around the world are reporting that laptops might have caused this week’s Qantas Airbus plunge near Perth.
Reports say that Australian air safety officials have said that they believe laptops could have caused QF72 to suddenly gain and lose altitude, quickly climbing 300 feet and then plunging back down.
Dozens of passengers were injured as they slammed their heads into the ceiling and the pilot had to divert to a nearby air force base for an emergency landing.
Flight QF72 was cruising at 37000 feet and passengers report that the flight was initially quite smooth, but at 1:00pm they were thrown around the cabin.
The seatbelt sign wasn’t lit at the time and passengers were free to walk about the cabin.
One passenger said he slammed into the ceiling and then hung there for about two seconds before slamming back down into the floor, with such a report consistent with a sudden altitude change rather than turbulence as originally reported.
QF72 landed at Learmonth Air Force base in Western Australia and 40 people were transported to local hospitals, with 14 with serious spinal and bone injuries.
Safety investigators have traced the problem to a malfunction in the autopilot’s elevator control system and believe laptop signals might have fed incorrect information to the computers.
The ATSB is now asking passengers if they were using any electronic devices during the incident.
This isn’t the first time in flight electronics have been claimed to have caused problems on a Qantas aircraft, with in July, Qantas and the ATSB blamed a wireless mouse for throwing another aircraft jet off course.
There have also been anecdotal reports from airline pilots in the United States of handheld game consoles causing malfunctions in the navigation system, but most of these problems have been difficult to replicate.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald today though says that there is no evidence to suggest the use of mobile phones or laptops was the cause of the latest Qantas safety incident, investigators say, with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau discounting suggestions the use of mobile phones and laptops interfered with the plane’s onboard computer equipment.
“There is no evidence, at this stage, to indicate that the use of portable electronic devices by passengers contributed to the event,” bureau spokesman Julian Walsh told reporters in Canberra on Friday.
Qantas has apologised to passengers and has refunded the airfare along with giving an additional round trip voucher.
In addition, Qantas is facing very significant workers compensation claims from injured crew, but these will be covered by insuranc, in addition to tens of millions of dollars of claims from passengers and it is not clear whether these will also be covered by insurance.
A Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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