Jetstar near miss
A report by Stephen Moynihan in The Age says that on a Jetstar flight that came within moments of landing on a runway its crew could not see had its engine throttles in the wrong setting, according to an investigation released yesterday.
On the morning of July 21, the Jetstar A320 from Christchurch with 138 passengers made two attempts to land at a fog-bound Melbourne Airport.
So heavy was the fog that the pilot made the decision to keep the plane on autopilot and land using instruments.
Earlier flights had aborted their landings because of poor visibility.
When the fog proved too thick for the Jetstar crew to see the runway lights, the pilot decided to abort the landing.
Engine power was increased for the plane to climb, but instead it continued to descend with wheels lowered.
At its lowest point, the jet was approximately 15 metres from the ground.
The pilot switched to manual control and reached higher altitude, and after permission from air traffic control attempted to land again.
After the second attempt was aborted, the plane touched down safely at Avalon.
Yesterday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its preliminary report on the incident.
The report said the flight data recorder showed engine throttles were in the wrong setting during the first aborted landing.
The bureau did not suggest pilot error was to blame and continues its investigation.
Jetstar began its own investigation more than 10 days after the incident.
Chief executive Alan Joyce welcomed the bureau’s initial findings, saying the carrier had changed some of its reporting procedures.
“Jetstar … has established procedures for the handling, notification and reporting of safety occurrences underpinned by a proactive safety culture,” Mr Joyce said.
“Jetstar has undertaken a number of immediate safety actions which have included the clarification of and revision of procedures … and continues to co-operate fully with the ATSB investigation.”
A Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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