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Amsterdam Plane Crash: Dutch Explanations Raise More Questions Than Answers |
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Friday, 6 March 2009Turkish aviation experts have said a recent explanation by Dutch authorities, who announced that the crash of a Turkish Airlines (THY) passenger jet near Amsterdam last week was most likely caused by a faulty altimeter, is based on a preliminary investigation and is far from satisfactory to dissipate the shroud of mist hanging over the tragic accident.
"Experts will continue to investigate the crash. All factors that may have led to the accident, including air traffic control, pilot error, failure of technical equipment and weather conditions at the time of the crash, will continue to be investigated. A report that will give us the exact cause of the accident will be prepared afterwards," stated Turkish Airline Pilots Association (TALPA) Vice Chairman Savas Sen yesterday.
The head of the Dutch Safety Authority, Pieter van Vollenhoven, announced on Wednesday that the plane was on automatic pilot and that its systems believed the plane was already touching down. The automatic throttle controlling the two engines was closed and they powered down, leading to the plane losing speed and stalling.
Five Turks and four Americans were killed when the Boeing 737-800 plunged into a muddy field short of the runway at Schiphol Airport last Wednesday. Among the dead were three pilots and a flight attendant. Releasing the initial results of an investigation launched into the incident at a press conference in The Hague, Vollenhoven said the plane had been at an altitude of 595 meters when making its final approach to Schiphol, although the altimeter recorded an altitude of around ground level.
The pilots realized the failure in the altitude indicator but did not give much heed to it, Vollenhoven said, adding that the Dutch Safety Authority has been conducting two separate investigations into the accident. The Boeing 737-800's flight recorders showed false readings from the same altimeter on two flights before the crash.
The explanation, however, was not found satisfactory by Turkish aviation experts, who said it was still too early to point to any factor as the exact cause of the crash, based on the initial findings of the investigation into the accident.
TALPA's Ten went on to say that it would be unjust to blame the pilots for not recognizing the failure in the altitude indicator.
"The altimeter is not in an immediately accessible place in the pilot's cockpit. Comments such as the pilots did not see the failure in the altimeter or that they only realized the problem several minutes later are wrong. The altimeter just shows numbers; it doesn't give a color or sound signal. We shouldn't be unfair to the pilots," Ten stated.
Ten added it is too early to point to a factor as the exact cause of the crash. "I don't rule out the possibility of pilot error as the cause of the accident. But, it is too early to blame the pilots for the crash. The conversations between the pilots before the accident have not yet been deciphered. Thus, it wouldn't be right to say that the pilots were late to show a reaction to the altimeter failure," he noted.
The explanation of Dutch authorities as to the most likely cause of the crash was far from revealing the exact cause of the crash, read a statement from Turkey's Civilian Aviation Authority.
"The explanation by the Dutch authorities seems to be an interpretation of a number of factors that may have played a role in the crash, including air traffic services, the airport, weather conditions, the pilots and technical equipment of the airplane," read the statement of Turkey's Civilian Aviation Authority.
THY executive board director Candan Karlıtekin said the THY administration would not make a statement as to the cause of the crash before the investigation reaches a conclusion. "Experts are investigating the issue. We will do what is necessary after the investigation is completed," he noted.
In the meantime, Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said his ministry would issue a comprehensive statement on the crash in the coming days. The minister said it would not be right to comment on the explanations made by aviation experts, adding that people should not seek to put the blame on others as the crash seems to have numerous causes. Yildirim added that the group of experts investigating the crash sent a written notice to Boeing officials to warn them to take additional measures in their jets against any failure in altitude indicators.
"Boeing is a company that is sensitive to the security of people. We are contributing to efforts to investigate the exact cause of the crash. Boeing warns its 737 pilots to carefully monitor primary flight instruments during critical phases of flight," read the statement.
The statement also said wrong data in the altitude indicator was sent to the automatic pilot, which led the airplane to stop its engines long before it was supposed to. "The plane glided for around 100 seconds with its engines off and the altitude of the plane was lower than it should have been," continued the statement.
Dutch newspapers place the blame of the crash on the pilots, saying the technical problem in the plane led to a tragedy because it was accompanied by pilot error.
"Human error," read the upper headline of the De Telegraaf daily, which said the pilots were late to realize the failure in the altitude indicator. A news report appearing on De Volkskrant daily repeated the information that the flight recorders of the plane showed false readings from the same altimeter on two flights before the crash.
Het Parool daily said "Pilots responded to failure late," and Algemeen Dagblad daily said "Pilots were late to realize the failure."
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Friday, 6 March 2009
Also See: "Dutch Official Claims Faulty Altimeter Likely Cause of Amsterdam Plane Accident"
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