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Human error, not equipment failure, cause of Spanair crash
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by Tina Kells | September 3, 2008 at 09:44 pm
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MADRID PLANE CRASH Aeropuerto Barajas accidente T2 vuelo Spanair JK 5022 a Canarias AL MENOS 153 MUERTOS At least 154 killed in
sourced by dunkelberg
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The investigation into the August 20 Spanair tragedy in Madrid has determined that human error, not faulty equipment, caused the fatal crash. Earlier reports stated that wing flaps on the plane failed to open during takeoff but the cause of the malfunction remained unknown.
An anonymous source has revealed that after reviewing the black box data investigators have determined that pilot error caused the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 jet to crash. Alarms should have sounded when the wing flaps had not been extended warning the pilots to abort takeoff. Black box data tracks all activity in the cockpit and if the alarms did go off they would be heard in the recording. No official statement has been released.
Investigations like the one in Spain often rely heavily on data recorded by so-called black boxes. A flight data recorder can reconstruct what was happening to the plane's mechanical systems, while a voice recorder captures cockpit conversations and other sounds that sometimes point toward the cause of an accident.
The Journal said the data recorder confirmed that the flaps weren't extended.
Spanair Flight JK5022 was bound for the Canary Islands when it crashed during takeoff at the Madrid airport on Aug. 20. The plane was making its second takeoff attempt after what the airline called a minor glitch with an air temperature gauge near the cockpit.
The plane rose slightly off the runway before dropping and skidding off the runway, then breaking up and catching fire.
Spanair flight JK5022 crashed on its second takeoff attempt. It was bound for the Canary Islands. Only 18 people survived the crash that killed 154. Last week the badly burned remains of some of the passengers were identified by Spanish officials and returned to their families.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 22:08 on September 3rd, 2008
Tina Kells, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 22:23 on September 3rd, 2008
Flaps should have been deployed to give it enough lift to get off the runway. The flaps allow more lift, which allows the aircraft to get airborne more quickly at a slower speed with little danger of stalling and losing lift.
It seems odd or just plain careless. There should have been checklists, warning lights, the sound of deploying flaps or a warning horn as they started to take off to tell them there were no flaps, unless the aircraft, as well as the pilots, thought they were down.
Source: nzherald.co.nz
Those guys thought they were going flying. They weren't aborting anything.
[science guys are welcome to attack my attempt to explain]
at 05:43 on September 4th, 2008
I always find it very sad when events like this are found to be caused by human error, we all make errors but luckily with most of us it does not cause the deaths of others.
at 13:55 on September 4th, 2008
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Like always. Pilot error...
But nobody really says anything about why Pilots error (Human Error).
Think about this:
1) Airplane delayed due to a malfunction
2) First Take Off attempt aborted due to another malfunction
3) All the things that happened during this period of time:
a. Crew coordination with different company areas
b. Maintenance procedures that must comply with approved certified procedures.
c. Pilots responsibility to verify that all procedures are conducted accordingly
d. Peer pressure
e. Pressure to try to depart as soon as possible (comply with a schedule)
f. Passengers pressure
g. Company policies. Very often behind revenue.
h. Very competitive environment where key factors are: Be punctual and save fuel to survive.
i. Spainair Financial crisis
j. Intrinsical amount of company pressure to compete
4) Good weather (Who would think that something is going to be wrong)
5) Failure to set the flaps in the corresponding position.
6) Pilots failure to recognize the wrong configuration for Take Off.
7) Pilots could be tired or distracted with other duties, thoughts or feelings.
8) Failure of the system to trigger the alarm of wrong configuration (The alarm must have sounded. The alarm was invented and placed there because of previous accidents)
THE SYSTEM IS GUILTY - PILOTS ARE NOT GUILTY
at 05:03 on September 5th, 2008
Pilots or mechanics may have previously pulled the alarm breaker to silence annoying sound while troubleshooting or taxiing aircraft.