Flight Crew Failure Slammed

Nervous flyers won't be reassured that 'a distraction' is likely to have prevented the captain and flight crew on a Belfast-bound passenger flight from completing all the required pre-flight checks - which later forced an emergency descent through 8,000 - because essential equipment had been frozen.

The crew apparently did not turn on anti-icing switches, a report said.

Seventy-one people were on board the Flybe flight from Edinburgh to Belfast City Airport in December 2006 when several cockpit instruments failed.

An Air Accident Investigation Branch report questioned if the crew had carried out a full pre-flight check and while no one was injured, Flybe has now made changes to its training procedures.

According to Air Accident investigators, the crew of the Dash 8 had to take emergency action to get the plane to a lower level after several cockpit instruments failed.

The cockpit display relied on readings from instruments outside the aircraft.

However, these stop working if they become iced up and pilots need to switch on heaters to ensure this does not happen.

The report said that one of the heaters was definitely not turned on and, "in all probability" the crew had failed to turn on two others.

This was only done after the pilots had taken the plane from 16,000 to 8,000 feet to reduce the threat of ice, it found.

The report said the crew's pre-flight checks may not have been done properly and that they may have 'become distracted' before take off.

(BMcC)