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Slashdot Log InCreate AccountSubscribeFirehose Why Log In?Why Subscribe? Sections Main Apple AskSlashdot Backslash Books Developers Games Hardware Interviews IT Linux Mobile Politics Science YRO Help FAQ Bugs Stories Old Stories Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1430224 (1 of 12)24.1.2008 9:13:47 Firehose:Failed Avionics a possible cause of BA038 crash by Muhammar (659468) Posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 20, @10:50AM from the we-will-be-landing-shortly dept. bug, software, !fuelexhaustion, !mostlikely, divisionbyzero (tagging beta) [ Create a new account ] Related Links Muhammar writes Related Stories Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash "As you may have heard by now, both engines of the Boeing 777 aircraft flight BA038 suddenly cut off without warning at very low altitude and low speed during autopilot-assisted landing at Heathrow. A prompt reaction of the pilots prevented the stall and saved all lives aboard. The crash landing short of the runway tore off the landing gear on impact, and the fuselage plowed a long, deep gouge in the grass. With the investigation ongoing, the available information points to an electronic control problem as the most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss." [+] Nickname Password Public Terminal Compare prices on Software Compare prices on Bug Tracking Muhammar electronic control problem most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss More Bug stories More Software stories

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Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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FirehoseFailed Avionics a possible cause of BA038 crash by Muhammar (659468)

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 20 1050AM from the we-will-be-landing-shortly dept

bug software fuelexhaustion mostlikely divisionbyzero (tagging beta)

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Muhammar writes

Related Stories

Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

As you may have heard by now both engines of the Boeing 777 aircraft

flight BA038 suddenly cut off without warning at very low altitude and low

speed during autopilot-assisted landing at Heathrow A prompt reaction of

the pilots prevented the stall and saved all lives aboard The crash landing

short of the runway tore off the landing gear on impact and the fuselage

plowed a long deep gouge in the grass With the investigation ongoing

the available information points to an electronic control problem as the

most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss

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The Fine Print The following comments are owned by whoever posted them We are not responsible for them in any way

[ Reply to This ]

by Deekin_Scalesinger (755062) on Sunday January 20 1057AM (22117042)

A bit of FUD here I think - unless I read TFA wrong the entire thing is under investigation and no one is saying anything for at least a month The autopilot

apparently sensed the need for more thrust and warned the pilots of this It might be premature to say that a software problem is the likely cause of failure

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Alien54 (180860) on Sunday January 20 1109AM (22117100) Journal

It might be premature to say that a software problem is the likely cause of failure Unless it was running on an OS like Windows for Aircraft now with fewer crashes Yes I know its all custom designed But thinking about the infamous Windows for Warships [theregistercouk] I couldnt resist

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

Errrrr (Score5 Insightful)

by jorghis (1000092) on Sunday January 20 1202PM (22117462)

These OSes typically are not custom designed (although a few in older aircraft are) There are a few commercial rtoses that are commonly used they are

specially marketed to the avionics industry as conforming the DO-178B standard The most common would probably be Integrity-178B sold by Green Hills

Software and VxWorks 653 Platform sold by Wind River

Airplane Operating Systems (Score5 Funny)

ReAirplane Operating Systems (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (3 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Malevolent Tester (1201209) on Sunday January 20 1104AM (22117074) Journal

They actually have a decent excuse for lost luggage for once

by einhverfr (238914) ltctraversieeeorggt on Sunday January 20 1208PM (22117518) Homepage Journal

Not so sure I read a number of articles on it and 1) Avionics resulted in a near miss relating to a 777 a few months ago operated by Malaysian Airlines The problem was a combination of a software bug and a

dead sensor (ie the software didnt properly handle sensor errors and a sensor went dead)

2) Despite this problem the 777 still has an impressive safety record Only one crash in the history of operating that aircraft and that didnt result in fatalities In a plain like the 777 basically you have three possibilities human error electronics failure or mechanical failures I think this case seems unlikely to be the

result of other human or mechanical failures so we are left with electronics issues and the primary suspect I am guessing that the real lesson here is that nothing is infallible but that the 777 is pretty-darn good My suspicion is that we will eventually find that the 777 needs regular maintenance to portions of it which have not received as much attention in the past It

could be a similar issue to the MA failure-- a dead sensor sending information the software was not prepared to handle it could be an electrical short circuit (for

example caused by water corrosian or even condensation) as we saw recently with the ISS The point is that only now thirteen years after the planes entered

operation we are running into these problems I dont think that software alone could have caused the problem More likely it is a combination ofhardware failure

triggering bugs in software

by jhines (82154) ltjohnjhinesorggt on Sunday January 20 1211PM (22117534) Homepage

Given that the plane is heavily instrumented available and didnt burn this should be a simpler case to examine Hopefully a lot can be learned At least more

than if it crashed and burned in a jungle or into the ocean

BA are extremely happy about the crash (Score5 Funny)

ReErrrrr (Score5 Insightful)

Good case to examine (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1104AM (22117078) Homepage

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The pilots then manually increased throttle - to no avail

For both engines to malfunction like this at the same time greatly seems to point to a fuel delivery problem

This does not necessarily mean running out of gas - as a plane like this has multiple tanks valves and pumps all of which can be configured multiple different

ways - which change during the flight

A simplistic example they could have been running both engines off one tank - which went dry - though another was full - or both engines were being fed from a

common fuel pump which failed etc These things shouldnt happen - but the investigation will tell

by s20451 (410424) on Sunday January 20 1113AM (22117138) Journal

In two other instances in large jets of engine failure by fuel starvation (Air Transat 236 and Air Canada 143) the failure of the engines was not simultaneous one

engine kept working for a few minutes longer than the other The fact that the engines responded the same way at the same time strongly suggests a single point of failure in an electronic flight control system

by DaveAtFraud (460127) on Sunday January 20 1123AM (22117206) Homepage

No not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

Just because the indicators in the cockpit show that the autothrusters were to provide more power doesnt mean the signal gets to the engines There is a lot of

wiring and other systems between the cockpit and the engine On a fly-by-wire plane like the 777 even moving the throttle levers just sends a signal to a

system that eventually gets to the engines Bottom line is there are lots of lower level avionics systems that could have failed and the pilots would only see that

the autothruster was supposed to provide more power and didnt

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The question is which on the various boxes along the way had a BSOD

Cheers

Dave

by hughk (248126) on Sunday January 20 1124AM (22117216) Journal

Flight systems (hydraulics power and controls) are triplicated to give the appropriate security for fly-by-wire Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different

processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem would not occur on two out of three computers

Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

by Mike1024 (184871) on Sunday January 20 1259PM (22117882)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

I think we will find that there was a coding error that caused the engines not to respond to controls with this one

They probably do This is the time to whip out An experimental evaluation of the assumption of independence in multiversion programming [googlecouk] by

Knight and Leveson Its a 47-page paper but heres the summary

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem

would not occur on two out of three computers Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

N-version programming has been proposed as a method of incorporating fault tolerance into software Multiple versions of a program (ie N) are prepared

and executed in parallel Their outputs are collected and examined by a voter and if theyare not identical it is assumed that the majority is correct This

method depends for its reliability improvement on the assumption that programs that have been developed independently will fail independently In this paper

an experiment is described in which the fundamental axiom is tested A total of twenty seven versions of a program were prepared independently from

the same specification at two universities and then subjected to one million tests The results of the tests revealed that the programs were individually

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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by bananaendian (928499) on Sunday January 20 1116AM (22117152) Homepage Journal

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with

FADEC and fuel It all points to the auto-throttle Autopilot tells where it wants the plane to go and autothrottle calculates how much throttle is needed It then

commands both engines FADECs via the bus system which is doubly redundant What Im thinking is that auto-throttle is supposed to be backed up bypassed

by a manual direct control to the engine FADECs from the cockpit throttle control

Any B777 avionics mechanics around - I only know military jets

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by timthorn (690924) on Sunday January 20 1158AM (22117426)

No this happened at the worst possible point Over the middle of the ocean the aircraft will have been at perhaps 38000 feet and in a flight configuration giving

time to attempt various restart procedures declare an emergency and glide to an airfield - a transatlantic flight is rarely out of gliding distance to a landing strip

and a flight from China likewise

Possible autothrottle problem (Score5 Interesting)

With the investigation ongoing the available information points to an electronic control problem as the most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss

Of course one would think there would be two types of redundancy The software would be N-version programmed and there would be separate systems for

each engine The chances of two independent N-version-programmed programs failing at the same instant seems particularly low Its easy to jump to the it-must-be-the-computers conclusion because PCs are unreliable in everyday use compared to washing machines cars or compact disk

players But until the accident investigators report comes out there really isnt much evidence to base speculations upon the problem could have been anything Just my $002

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

extremely reliable but that the number of tests in which more than one program failed was substantially more than expected The results of these tests

are presented along with an analysis of some of the faults that were found in the programs Background information on the programmers used is also

summarized The conclusion from this experiment is that N-version programming must be used with care and that analysis of its reliability must include the

effect of dependent errors

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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[ Reply to This ]

by BlueStrat (756137) on Sunday January 20 1206PM (22117494)

Not a commercial aircraft airframe and powerplant mechanic but I was a senior avionics technician for many years dealing with corporate and private jets What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines Interesting Do you have a link to the source for that Not that I doubt you just curious to parse it myself This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with FADEC and fuel FADEC possibly but fuel Its quite possible there was either water or crud in the fuel especially since the aircraft almost certainly took on fuel in China and

China seems to have had problems of late with products being adulterated in some form The crud could cause blockages in the filters from the tank(s) The

water would cause an increasingly-diluted fuel mixture to enter the engines as the level dropped which might also cause the gradual loss of power The two most-likely culprits I would examine first are the discrete devices at either end of the control path that send the data and receive it at the other end and

the cables and connectors used to transmit the data The next point Id check would be the power supply that powers the electrical actuators that physically move the actual throttles in each engine This supply

would be separate from the power used for the electronics as it would be a relatively high-current source This might also be caused by cablingconnector

problems Aircraft tend to have many problems with cabling due to high vibration and multiple pinch-points and stress and vibrationabrasion at support points as well as

contact problems at connectors Another very major problem is human error In many cases the turn-to-lock type connectors are in very tight spaces sometimes so much so that it may only be

visible by a small mirror and flashlight held by the tech while he may be laying on his back or nearly standing on his head I had a whole set of strange-looking

pliers of different lengths and weird angles with curved padded jaws for just this purpose in my tool box along with small hand-held extend-able flexible-tubing-

mounted inspection mirrors and flashlights with the head on flexible tubing as well It can be very hard to tell given the above circumstances if the locking sleeve on these aircraft instrumentation connectors had been twisted far enough to

complete the lock It doesnt take much imagination to see what could happen given time vibration and G-forces Of course these are just my rough guesses and I dont have enough information to really make any informed statements Cheers Strat

RePossible autothrottle problem (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

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Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Privacy statement | Terms of serviceCopyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

UK News World News Politics Environment Weather Tech amp Web News Related Reports Topics

Sponsored by

Where am I Home News UK News

SHOP My ProfileSitemap

From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Page 2: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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The Fine Print The following comments are owned by whoever posted them We are not responsible for them in any way

[ Reply to This ]

by Deekin_Scalesinger (755062) on Sunday January 20 1057AM (22117042)

A bit of FUD here I think - unless I read TFA wrong the entire thing is under investigation and no one is saying anything for at least a month The autopilot

apparently sensed the need for more thrust and warned the pilots of this It might be premature to say that a software problem is the likely cause of failure

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Alien54 (180860) on Sunday January 20 1109AM (22117100) Journal

It might be premature to say that a software problem is the likely cause of failure Unless it was running on an OS like Windows for Aircraft now with fewer crashes Yes I know its all custom designed But thinking about the infamous Windows for Warships [theregistercouk] I couldnt resist

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

Errrrr (Score5 Insightful)

by jorghis (1000092) on Sunday January 20 1202PM (22117462)

These OSes typically are not custom designed (although a few in older aircraft are) There are a few commercial rtoses that are commonly used they are

specially marketed to the avionics industry as conforming the DO-178B standard The most common would probably be Integrity-178B sold by Green Hills

Software and VxWorks 653 Platform sold by Wind River

Airplane Operating Systems (Score5 Funny)

ReAirplane Operating Systems (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (3 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Malevolent Tester (1201209) on Sunday January 20 1104AM (22117074) Journal

They actually have a decent excuse for lost luggage for once

by einhverfr (238914) ltctraversieeeorggt on Sunday January 20 1208PM (22117518) Homepage Journal

Not so sure I read a number of articles on it and 1) Avionics resulted in a near miss relating to a 777 a few months ago operated by Malaysian Airlines The problem was a combination of a software bug and a

dead sensor (ie the software didnt properly handle sensor errors and a sensor went dead)

2) Despite this problem the 777 still has an impressive safety record Only one crash in the history of operating that aircraft and that didnt result in fatalities In a plain like the 777 basically you have three possibilities human error electronics failure or mechanical failures I think this case seems unlikely to be the

result of other human or mechanical failures so we are left with electronics issues and the primary suspect I am guessing that the real lesson here is that nothing is infallible but that the 777 is pretty-darn good My suspicion is that we will eventually find that the 777 needs regular maintenance to portions of it which have not received as much attention in the past It

could be a similar issue to the MA failure-- a dead sensor sending information the software was not prepared to handle it could be an electrical short circuit (for

example caused by water corrosian or even condensation) as we saw recently with the ISS The point is that only now thirteen years after the planes entered

operation we are running into these problems I dont think that software alone could have caused the problem More likely it is a combination ofhardware failure

triggering bugs in software

by jhines (82154) ltjohnjhinesorggt on Sunday January 20 1211PM (22117534) Homepage

Given that the plane is heavily instrumented available and didnt burn this should be a simpler case to examine Hopefully a lot can be learned At least more

than if it crashed and burned in a jungle or into the ocean

BA are extremely happy about the crash (Score5 Funny)

ReErrrrr (Score5 Insightful)

Good case to examine (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (4 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1104AM (22117078) Homepage

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The pilots then manually increased throttle - to no avail

For both engines to malfunction like this at the same time greatly seems to point to a fuel delivery problem

This does not necessarily mean running out of gas - as a plane like this has multiple tanks valves and pumps all of which can be configured multiple different

ways - which change during the flight

A simplistic example they could have been running both engines off one tank - which went dry - though another was full - or both engines were being fed from a

common fuel pump which failed etc These things shouldnt happen - but the investigation will tell

by s20451 (410424) on Sunday January 20 1113AM (22117138) Journal

In two other instances in large jets of engine failure by fuel starvation (Air Transat 236 and Air Canada 143) the failure of the engines was not simultaneous one

engine kept working for a few minutes longer than the other The fact that the engines responded the same way at the same time strongly suggests a single point of failure in an electronic flight control system

by DaveAtFraud (460127) on Sunday January 20 1123AM (22117206) Homepage

No not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

Just because the indicators in the cockpit show that the autothrusters were to provide more power doesnt mean the signal gets to the engines There is a lot of

wiring and other systems between the cockpit and the engine On a fly-by-wire plane like the 777 even moving the throttle levers just sends a signal to a

system that eventually gets to the engines Bottom line is there are lots of lower level avionics systems that could have failed and the pilots would only see that

the autothruster was supposed to provide more power and didnt

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (5 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The question is which on the various boxes along the way had a BSOD

Cheers

Dave

by hughk (248126) on Sunday January 20 1124AM (22117216) Journal

Flight systems (hydraulics power and controls) are triplicated to give the appropriate security for fly-by-wire Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different

processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem would not occur on two out of three computers

Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

by Mike1024 (184871) on Sunday January 20 1259PM (22117882)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

I think we will find that there was a coding error that caused the engines not to respond to controls with this one

They probably do This is the time to whip out An experimental evaluation of the assumption of independence in multiversion programming [googlecouk] by

Knight and Leveson Its a 47-page paper but heres the summary

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem

would not occur on two out of three computers Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

N-version programming has been proposed as a method of incorporating fault tolerance into software Multiple versions of a program (ie N) are prepared

and executed in parallel Their outputs are collected and examined by a voter and if theyare not identical it is assumed that the majority is correct This

method depends for its reliability improvement on the assumption that programs that have been developed independently will fail independently In this paper

an experiment is described in which the fundamental axiom is tested A total of twenty seven versions of a program were prepared independently from

the same specification at two universities and then subjected to one million tests The results of the tests revealed that the programs were individually

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (6 of 12)2412008 91347

by bananaendian (928499) on Sunday January 20 1116AM (22117152) Homepage Journal

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with

FADEC and fuel It all points to the auto-throttle Autopilot tells where it wants the plane to go and autothrottle calculates how much throttle is needed It then

commands both engines FADECs via the bus system which is doubly redundant What Im thinking is that auto-throttle is supposed to be backed up bypassed

by a manual direct control to the engine FADECs from the cockpit throttle control

Any B777 avionics mechanics around - I only know military jets

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by timthorn (690924) on Sunday January 20 1158AM (22117426)

No this happened at the worst possible point Over the middle of the ocean the aircraft will have been at perhaps 38000 feet and in a flight configuration giving

time to attempt various restart procedures declare an emergency and glide to an airfield - a transatlantic flight is rarely out of gliding distance to a landing strip

and a flight from China likewise

Possible autothrottle problem (Score5 Interesting)

With the investigation ongoing the available information points to an electronic control problem as the most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss

Of course one would think there would be two types of redundancy The software would be N-version programmed and there would be separate systems for

each engine The chances of two independent N-version-programmed programs failing at the same instant seems particularly low Its easy to jump to the it-must-be-the-computers conclusion because PCs are unreliable in everyday use compared to washing machines cars or compact disk

players But until the accident investigators report comes out there really isnt much evidence to base speculations upon the problem could have been anything Just my $002

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

extremely reliable but that the number of tests in which more than one program failed was substantially more than expected The results of these tests

are presented along with an analysis of some of the faults that were found in the programs Background information on the programmers used is also

summarized The conclusion from this experiment is that N-version programming must be used with care and that analysis of its reliability must include the

effect of dependent errors

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (7 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by BlueStrat (756137) on Sunday January 20 1206PM (22117494)

Not a commercial aircraft airframe and powerplant mechanic but I was a senior avionics technician for many years dealing with corporate and private jets What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines Interesting Do you have a link to the source for that Not that I doubt you just curious to parse it myself This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with FADEC and fuel FADEC possibly but fuel Its quite possible there was either water or crud in the fuel especially since the aircraft almost certainly took on fuel in China and

China seems to have had problems of late with products being adulterated in some form The crud could cause blockages in the filters from the tank(s) The

water would cause an increasingly-diluted fuel mixture to enter the engines as the level dropped which might also cause the gradual loss of power The two most-likely culprits I would examine first are the discrete devices at either end of the control path that send the data and receive it at the other end and

the cables and connectors used to transmit the data The next point Id check would be the power supply that powers the electrical actuators that physically move the actual throttles in each engine This supply

would be separate from the power used for the electronics as it would be a relatively high-current source This might also be caused by cablingconnector

problems Aircraft tend to have many problems with cabling due to high vibration and multiple pinch-points and stress and vibrationabrasion at support points as well as

contact problems at connectors Another very major problem is human error In many cases the turn-to-lock type connectors are in very tight spaces sometimes so much so that it may only be

visible by a small mirror and flashlight held by the tech while he may be laying on his back or nearly standing on his head I had a whole set of strange-looking

pliers of different lengths and weird angles with curved padded jaws for just this purpose in my tool box along with small hand-held extend-able flexible-tubing-

mounted inspection mirrors and flashlights with the head on flexible tubing as well It can be very hard to tell given the above circumstances if the locking sleeve on these aircraft instrumentation connectors had been twisted far enough to

complete the lock It doesnt take much imagination to see what could happen given time vibration and G-forces Of course these are just my rough guesses and I dont have enough information to really make any informed statements Cheers Strat

RePossible autothrottle problem (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (8 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Life is a concentration camp Youre stuck here and theres no way out and you can only rage impotently against your persecutors -- Woody Allen

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners Comments are owned by the Poster The Rest copy 1997-2008 SourceForge Inc

homeawardscontribute storyolder articlessourceforge incadvertiseaboutterms of serviceprivacyfaqrss

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (12 of 12)2412008 91347

| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

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>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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Page 3: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (3 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Malevolent Tester (1201209) on Sunday January 20 1104AM (22117074) Journal

They actually have a decent excuse for lost luggage for once

by einhverfr (238914) ltctraversieeeorggt on Sunday January 20 1208PM (22117518) Homepage Journal

Not so sure I read a number of articles on it and 1) Avionics resulted in a near miss relating to a 777 a few months ago operated by Malaysian Airlines The problem was a combination of a software bug and a

dead sensor (ie the software didnt properly handle sensor errors and a sensor went dead)

2) Despite this problem the 777 still has an impressive safety record Only one crash in the history of operating that aircraft and that didnt result in fatalities In a plain like the 777 basically you have three possibilities human error electronics failure or mechanical failures I think this case seems unlikely to be the

result of other human or mechanical failures so we are left with electronics issues and the primary suspect I am guessing that the real lesson here is that nothing is infallible but that the 777 is pretty-darn good My suspicion is that we will eventually find that the 777 needs regular maintenance to portions of it which have not received as much attention in the past It

could be a similar issue to the MA failure-- a dead sensor sending information the software was not prepared to handle it could be an electrical short circuit (for

example caused by water corrosian or even condensation) as we saw recently with the ISS The point is that only now thirteen years after the planes entered

operation we are running into these problems I dont think that software alone could have caused the problem More likely it is a combination ofhardware failure

triggering bugs in software

by jhines (82154) ltjohnjhinesorggt on Sunday January 20 1211PM (22117534) Homepage

Given that the plane is heavily instrumented available and didnt burn this should be a simpler case to examine Hopefully a lot can be learned At least more

than if it crashed and burned in a jungle or into the ocean

BA are extremely happy about the crash (Score5 Funny)

ReErrrrr (Score5 Insightful)

Good case to examine (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (4 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1104AM (22117078) Homepage

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The pilots then manually increased throttle - to no avail

For both engines to malfunction like this at the same time greatly seems to point to a fuel delivery problem

This does not necessarily mean running out of gas - as a plane like this has multiple tanks valves and pumps all of which can be configured multiple different

ways - which change during the flight

A simplistic example they could have been running both engines off one tank - which went dry - though another was full - or both engines were being fed from a

common fuel pump which failed etc These things shouldnt happen - but the investigation will tell

by s20451 (410424) on Sunday January 20 1113AM (22117138) Journal

In two other instances in large jets of engine failure by fuel starvation (Air Transat 236 and Air Canada 143) the failure of the engines was not simultaneous one

engine kept working for a few minutes longer than the other The fact that the engines responded the same way at the same time strongly suggests a single point of failure in an electronic flight control system

by DaveAtFraud (460127) on Sunday January 20 1123AM (22117206) Homepage

No not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

Just because the indicators in the cockpit show that the autothrusters were to provide more power doesnt mean the signal gets to the engines There is a lot of

wiring and other systems between the cockpit and the engine On a fly-by-wire plane like the 777 even moving the throttle levers just sends a signal to a

system that eventually gets to the engines Bottom line is there are lots of lower level avionics systems that could have failed and the pilots would only see that

the autothruster was supposed to provide more power and didnt

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (5 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The question is which on the various boxes along the way had a BSOD

Cheers

Dave

by hughk (248126) on Sunday January 20 1124AM (22117216) Journal

Flight systems (hydraulics power and controls) are triplicated to give the appropriate security for fly-by-wire Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different

processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem would not occur on two out of three computers

Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

by Mike1024 (184871) on Sunday January 20 1259PM (22117882)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

I think we will find that there was a coding error that caused the engines not to respond to controls with this one

They probably do This is the time to whip out An experimental evaluation of the assumption of independence in multiversion programming [googlecouk] by

Knight and Leveson Its a 47-page paper but heres the summary

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem

would not occur on two out of three computers Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

N-version programming has been proposed as a method of incorporating fault tolerance into software Multiple versions of a program (ie N) are prepared

and executed in parallel Their outputs are collected and examined by a voter and if theyare not identical it is assumed that the majority is correct This

method depends for its reliability improvement on the assumption that programs that have been developed independently will fail independently In this paper

an experiment is described in which the fundamental axiom is tested A total of twenty seven versions of a program were prepared independently from

the same specification at two universities and then subjected to one million tests The results of the tests revealed that the programs were individually

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (6 of 12)2412008 91347

by bananaendian (928499) on Sunday January 20 1116AM (22117152) Homepage Journal

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with

FADEC and fuel It all points to the auto-throttle Autopilot tells where it wants the plane to go and autothrottle calculates how much throttle is needed It then

commands both engines FADECs via the bus system which is doubly redundant What Im thinking is that auto-throttle is supposed to be backed up bypassed

by a manual direct control to the engine FADECs from the cockpit throttle control

Any B777 avionics mechanics around - I only know military jets

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by timthorn (690924) on Sunday January 20 1158AM (22117426)

No this happened at the worst possible point Over the middle of the ocean the aircraft will have been at perhaps 38000 feet and in a flight configuration giving

time to attempt various restart procedures declare an emergency and glide to an airfield - a transatlantic flight is rarely out of gliding distance to a landing strip

and a flight from China likewise

Possible autothrottle problem (Score5 Interesting)

With the investigation ongoing the available information points to an electronic control problem as the most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss

Of course one would think there would be two types of redundancy The software would be N-version programmed and there would be separate systems for

each engine The chances of two independent N-version-programmed programs failing at the same instant seems particularly low Its easy to jump to the it-must-be-the-computers conclusion because PCs are unreliable in everyday use compared to washing machines cars or compact disk

players But until the accident investigators report comes out there really isnt much evidence to base speculations upon the problem could have been anything Just my $002

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

extremely reliable but that the number of tests in which more than one program failed was substantially more than expected The results of these tests

are presented along with an analysis of some of the faults that were found in the programs Background information on the programmers used is also

summarized The conclusion from this experiment is that N-version programming must be used with care and that analysis of its reliability must include the

effect of dependent errors

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (7 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by BlueStrat (756137) on Sunday January 20 1206PM (22117494)

Not a commercial aircraft airframe and powerplant mechanic but I was a senior avionics technician for many years dealing with corporate and private jets What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines Interesting Do you have a link to the source for that Not that I doubt you just curious to parse it myself This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with FADEC and fuel FADEC possibly but fuel Its quite possible there was either water or crud in the fuel especially since the aircraft almost certainly took on fuel in China and

China seems to have had problems of late with products being adulterated in some form The crud could cause blockages in the filters from the tank(s) The

water would cause an increasingly-diluted fuel mixture to enter the engines as the level dropped which might also cause the gradual loss of power The two most-likely culprits I would examine first are the discrete devices at either end of the control path that send the data and receive it at the other end and

the cables and connectors used to transmit the data The next point Id check would be the power supply that powers the electrical actuators that physically move the actual throttles in each engine This supply

would be separate from the power used for the electronics as it would be a relatively high-current source This might also be caused by cablingconnector

problems Aircraft tend to have many problems with cabling due to high vibration and multiple pinch-points and stress and vibrationabrasion at support points as well as

contact problems at connectors Another very major problem is human error In many cases the turn-to-lock type connectors are in very tight spaces sometimes so much so that it may only be

visible by a small mirror and flashlight held by the tech while he may be laying on his back or nearly standing on his head I had a whole set of strange-looking

pliers of different lengths and weird angles with curved padded jaws for just this purpose in my tool box along with small hand-held extend-able flexible-tubing-

mounted inspection mirrors and flashlights with the head on flexible tubing as well It can be very hard to tell given the above circumstances if the locking sleeve on these aircraft instrumentation connectors had been twisted far enough to

complete the lock It doesnt take much imagination to see what could happen given time vibration and G-forces Of course these are just my rough guesses and I dont have enough information to really make any informed statements Cheers Strat

RePossible autothrottle problem (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (8 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Life is a concentration camp Youre stuck here and theres no way out and you can only rage impotently against your persecutors -- Woody Allen

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners Comments are owned by the Poster The Rest copy 1997-2008 SourceForge Inc

homeawardscontribute storyolder articlessourceforge incadvertiseaboutterms of serviceprivacyfaqrss

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (12 of 12)2412008 91347

| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The Seattle Times Company NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWapartments | NWsource | Classifieds | seattletimescom

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (1 of 5)2412008 91409

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

1 Heath Ledger dies at 28 in NYC

2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

3 Starbucks testing $1 coffees with free refills

4 4-year-old Cle Elum boy killed in sledding accident

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6 UW Basketball | Huskies will see what they missed vs ASU

7 Angry homebuyers turn on their agent

8 Mother of slain girl sues state in Everett

9 Heath Ledger autopsy inconclusive

10 WaMu leaders to profit even if stock stays low

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

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Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

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Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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Page 4: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (4 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1104AM (22117078) Homepage

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The pilots then manually increased throttle - to no avail

For both engines to malfunction like this at the same time greatly seems to point to a fuel delivery problem

This does not necessarily mean running out of gas - as a plane like this has multiple tanks valves and pumps all of which can be configured multiple different

ways - which change during the flight

A simplistic example they could have been running both engines off one tank - which went dry - though another was full - or both engines were being fed from a

common fuel pump which failed etc These things shouldnt happen - but the investigation will tell

by s20451 (410424) on Sunday January 20 1113AM (22117138) Journal

In two other instances in large jets of engine failure by fuel starvation (Air Transat 236 and Air Canada 143) the failure of the engines was not simultaneous one

engine kept working for a few minutes longer than the other The fact that the engines responded the same way at the same time strongly suggests a single point of failure in an electronic flight control system

by DaveAtFraud (460127) on Sunday January 20 1123AM (22117206) Homepage

No not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

Just because the indicators in the cockpit show that the autothrusters were to provide more power doesnt mean the signal gets to the engines There is a lot of

wiring and other systems between the cockpit and the engine On a fly-by-wire plane like the 777 even moving the throttle levers just sends a signal to a

system that eventually gets to the engines Bottom line is there are lots of lower level avionics systems that could have failed and the pilots would only see that

the autothruster was supposed to provide more power and didnt

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

No - I dont think so The autothrusters responded properly but they literally just move the throttle levers to which the engines didnt respond

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (5 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The question is which on the various boxes along the way had a BSOD

Cheers

Dave

by hughk (248126) on Sunday January 20 1124AM (22117216) Journal

Flight systems (hydraulics power and controls) are triplicated to give the appropriate security for fly-by-wire Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different

processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem would not occur on two out of three computers

Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

by Mike1024 (184871) on Sunday January 20 1259PM (22117882)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

I think we will find that there was a coding error that caused the engines not to respond to controls with this one

They probably do This is the time to whip out An experimental evaluation of the assumption of independence in multiversion programming [googlecouk] by

Knight and Leveson Its a 47-page paper but heres the summary

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem

would not occur on two out of three computers Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

N-version programming has been proposed as a method of incorporating fault tolerance into software Multiple versions of a program (ie N) are prepared

and executed in parallel Their outputs are collected and examined by a voter and if theyare not identical it is assumed that the majority is correct This

method depends for its reliability improvement on the assumption that programs that have been developed independently will fail independently In this paper

an experiment is described in which the fundamental axiom is tested A total of twenty seven versions of a program were prepared independently from

the same specification at two universities and then subjected to one million tests The results of the tests revealed that the programs were individually

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (6 of 12)2412008 91347

by bananaendian (928499) on Sunday January 20 1116AM (22117152) Homepage Journal

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with

FADEC and fuel It all points to the auto-throttle Autopilot tells where it wants the plane to go and autothrottle calculates how much throttle is needed It then

commands both engines FADECs via the bus system which is doubly redundant What Im thinking is that auto-throttle is supposed to be backed up bypassed

by a manual direct control to the engine FADECs from the cockpit throttle control

Any B777 avionics mechanics around - I only know military jets

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by timthorn (690924) on Sunday January 20 1158AM (22117426)

No this happened at the worst possible point Over the middle of the ocean the aircraft will have been at perhaps 38000 feet and in a flight configuration giving

time to attempt various restart procedures declare an emergency and glide to an airfield - a transatlantic flight is rarely out of gliding distance to a landing strip

and a flight from China likewise

Possible autothrottle problem (Score5 Interesting)

With the investigation ongoing the available information points to an electronic control problem as the most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss

Of course one would think there would be two types of redundancy The software would be N-version programmed and there would be separate systems for

each engine The chances of two independent N-version-programmed programs failing at the same instant seems particularly low Its easy to jump to the it-must-be-the-computers conclusion because PCs are unreliable in everyday use compared to washing machines cars or compact disk

players But until the accident investigators report comes out there really isnt much evidence to base speculations upon the problem could have been anything Just my $002

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

extremely reliable but that the number of tests in which more than one program failed was substantially more than expected The results of these tests

are presented along with an analysis of some of the faults that were found in the programs Background information on the programmers used is also

summarized The conclusion from this experiment is that N-version programming must be used with care and that analysis of its reliability must include the

effect of dependent errors

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (7 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by BlueStrat (756137) on Sunday January 20 1206PM (22117494)

Not a commercial aircraft airframe and powerplant mechanic but I was a senior avionics technician for many years dealing with corporate and private jets What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines Interesting Do you have a link to the source for that Not that I doubt you just curious to parse it myself This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with FADEC and fuel FADEC possibly but fuel Its quite possible there was either water or crud in the fuel especially since the aircraft almost certainly took on fuel in China and

China seems to have had problems of late with products being adulterated in some form The crud could cause blockages in the filters from the tank(s) The

water would cause an increasingly-diluted fuel mixture to enter the engines as the level dropped which might also cause the gradual loss of power The two most-likely culprits I would examine first are the discrete devices at either end of the control path that send the data and receive it at the other end and

the cables and connectors used to transmit the data The next point Id check would be the power supply that powers the electrical actuators that physically move the actual throttles in each engine This supply

would be separate from the power used for the electronics as it would be a relatively high-current source This might also be caused by cablingconnector

problems Aircraft tend to have many problems with cabling due to high vibration and multiple pinch-points and stress and vibrationabrasion at support points as well as

contact problems at connectors Another very major problem is human error In many cases the turn-to-lock type connectors are in very tight spaces sometimes so much so that it may only be

visible by a small mirror and flashlight held by the tech while he may be laying on his back or nearly standing on his head I had a whole set of strange-looking

pliers of different lengths and weird angles with curved padded jaws for just this purpose in my tool box along with small hand-held extend-able flexible-tubing-

mounted inspection mirrors and flashlights with the head on flexible tubing as well It can be very hard to tell given the above circumstances if the locking sleeve on these aircraft instrumentation connectors had been twisted far enough to

complete the lock It doesnt take much imagination to see what could happen given time vibration and G-forces Of course these are just my rough guesses and I dont have enough information to really make any informed statements Cheers Strat

RePossible autothrottle problem (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (8 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The Seattle Times Company NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWapartments | NWsource | Classifieds | seattletimescom

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (1 of 5)2412008 91409

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

1 Heath Ledger dies at 28 in NYC

2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

3 Starbucks testing $1 coffees with free refills

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6 UW Basketball | Huskies will see what they missed vs ASU

7 Angry homebuyers turn on their agent

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

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Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Page 5: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (5 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

The question is which on the various boxes along the way had a BSOD

Cheers

Dave

by hughk (248126) on Sunday January 20 1124AM (22117216) Journal

Flight systems (hydraulics power and controls) are triplicated to give the appropriate security for fly-by-wire Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different

processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem would not occur on two out of three computers

Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

by Mike1024 (184871) on Sunday January 20 1259PM (22117882)

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

I think we will find that there was a coding error that caused the engines not to respond to controls with this one

They probably do This is the time to whip out An experimental evaluation of the assumption of independence in multiversion programming [googlecouk] by

Knight and Leveson Its a 47-page paper but heres the summary

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Informative)

Airbus Industrie on the 320 used two different processor architectures and three separate teams working on flight software to ensure that the same problem

would not occur on two out of three computers Does anyone know if Boeing used the same practice for their flight systems

N-version programming has been proposed as a method of incorporating fault tolerance into software Multiple versions of a program (ie N) are prepared

and executed in parallel Their outputs are collected and examined by a voter and if theyare not identical it is assumed that the majority is correct This

method depends for its reliability improvement on the assumption that programs that have been developed independently will fail independently In this paper

an experiment is described in which the fundamental axiom is tested A total of twenty seven versions of a program were prepared independently from

the same specification at two universities and then subjected to one million tests The results of the tests revealed that the programs were individually

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (6 of 12)2412008 91347

by bananaendian (928499) on Sunday January 20 1116AM (22117152) Homepage Journal

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with

FADEC and fuel It all points to the auto-throttle Autopilot tells where it wants the plane to go and autothrottle calculates how much throttle is needed It then

commands both engines FADECs via the bus system which is doubly redundant What Im thinking is that auto-throttle is supposed to be backed up bypassed

by a manual direct control to the engine FADECs from the cockpit throttle control

Any B777 avionics mechanics around - I only know military jets

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by timthorn (690924) on Sunday January 20 1158AM (22117426)

No this happened at the worst possible point Over the middle of the ocean the aircraft will have been at perhaps 38000 feet and in a flight configuration giving

time to attempt various restart procedures declare an emergency and glide to an airfield - a transatlantic flight is rarely out of gliding distance to a landing strip

and a flight from China likewise

Possible autothrottle problem (Score5 Interesting)

With the investigation ongoing the available information points to an electronic control problem as the most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss

Of course one would think there would be two types of redundancy The software would be N-version programmed and there would be separate systems for

each engine The chances of two independent N-version-programmed programs failing at the same instant seems particularly low Its easy to jump to the it-must-be-the-computers conclusion because PCs are unreliable in everyday use compared to washing machines cars or compact disk

players But until the accident investigators report comes out there really isnt much evidence to base speculations upon the problem could have been anything Just my $002

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

extremely reliable but that the number of tests in which more than one program failed was substantially more than expected The results of these tests

are presented along with an analysis of some of the faults that were found in the programs Background information on the programmers used is also

summarized The conclusion from this experiment is that N-version programming must be used with care and that analysis of its reliability must include the

effect of dependent errors

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (7 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by BlueStrat (756137) on Sunday January 20 1206PM (22117494)

Not a commercial aircraft airframe and powerplant mechanic but I was a senior avionics technician for many years dealing with corporate and private jets What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines Interesting Do you have a link to the source for that Not that I doubt you just curious to parse it myself This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with FADEC and fuel FADEC possibly but fuel Its quite possible there was either water or crud in the fuel especially since the aircraft almost certainly took on fuel in China and

China seems to have had problems of late with products being adulterated in some form The crud could cause blockages in the filters from the tank(s) The

water would cause an increasingly-diluted fuel mixture to enter the engines as the level dropped which might also cause the gradual loss of power The two most-likely culprits I would examine first are the discrete devices at either end of the control path that send the data and receive it at the other end and

the cables and connectors used to transmit the data The next point Id check would be the power supply that powers the electrical actuators that physically move the actual throttles in each engine This supply

would be separate from the power used for the electronics as it would be a relatively high-current source This might also be caused by cablingconnector

problems Aircraft tend to have many problems with cabling due to high vibration and multiple pinch-points and stress and vibrationabrasion at support points as well as

contact problems at connectors Another very major problem is human error In many cases the turn-to-lock type connectors are in very tight spaces sometimes so much so that it may only be

visible by a small mirror and flashlight held by the tech while he may be laying on his back or nearly standing on his head I had a whole set of strange-looking

pliers of different lengths and weird angles with curved padded jaws for just this purpose in my tool box along with small hand-held extend-able flexible-tubing-

mounted inspection mirrors and flashlights with the head on flexible tubing as well It can be very hard to tell given the above circumstances if the locking sleeve on these aircraft instrumentation connectors had been twisted far enough to

complete the lock It doesnt take much imagination to see what could happen given time vibration and G-forces Of course these are just my rough guesses and I dont have enough information to really make any informed statements Cheers Strat

RePossible autothrottle problem (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (8 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Life is a concentration camp Youre stuck here and theres no way out and you can only rage impotently against your persecutors -- Woody Allen

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners Comments are owned by the Poster The Rest copy 1997-2008 SourceForge Inc

homeawardscontribute storyolder articlessourceforge incadvertiseaboutterms of serviceprivacyfaqrss

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (12 of 12)2412008 91347

| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The Seattle Times Company NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWapartments | NWsource | Classifieds | seattletimescom

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (1 of 5)2412008 91409

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

1 Heath Ledger dies at 28 in NYC

2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

3 Starbucks testing $1 coffees with free refills

4 4-year-old Cle Elum boy killed in sledding accident

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6 UW Basketball | Huskies will see what they missed vs ASU

7 Angry homebuyers turn on their agent

8 Mother of slain girl sues state in Everett

9 Heath Ledger autopsy inconclusive

10 WaMu leaders to profit even if stock stays low

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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Page 6: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (6 of 12)2412008 91347

by bananaendian (928499) on Sunday January 20 1116AM (22117152) Homepage Journal

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with

FADEC and fuel It all points to the auto-throttle Autopilot tells where it wants the plane to go and autothrottle calculates how much throttle is needed It then

commands both engines FADECs via the bus system which is doubly redundant What Im thinking is that auto-throttle is supposed to be backed up bypassed

by a manual direct control to the engine FADECs from the cockpit throttle control

Any B777 avionics mechanics around - I only know military jets

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by timthorn (690924) on Sunday January 20 1158AM (22117426)

No this happened at the worst possible point Over the middle of the ocean the aircraft will have been at perhaps 38000 feet and in a flight configuration giving

time to attempt various restart procedures declare an emergency and glide to an airfield - a transatlantic flight is rarely out of gliding distance to a landing strip

and a flight from China likewise

Possible autothrottle problem (Score5 Interesting)

With the investigation ongoing the available information points to an electronic control problem as the most likely cause of the sudden engine power loss

Of course one would think there would be two types of redundancy The software would be N-version programmed and there would be separate systems for

each engine The chances of two independent N-version-programmed programs failing at the same instant seems particularly low Its easy to jump to the it-must-be-the-computers conclusion because PCs are unreliable in everyday use compared to washing machines cars or compact disk

players But until the accident investigators report comes out there really isnt much evidence to base speculations upon the problem could have been anything Just my $002

ReNo not the Avionics (Score5 Insightful)

extremely reliable but that the number of tests in which more than one program failed was substantially more than expected The results of these tests

are presented along with an analysis of some of the faults that were found in the programs Background information on the programmers used is also

summarized The conclusion from this experiment is that N-version programming must be used with care and that analysis of its reliability must include the

effect of dependent errors

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (7 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by BlueStrat (756137) on Sunday January 20 1206PM (22117494)

Not a commercial aircraft airframe and powerplant mechanic but I was a senior avionics technician for many years dealing with corporate and private jets What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines Interesting Do you have a link to the source for that Not that I doubt you just curious to parse it myself This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with FADEC and fuel FADEC possibly but fuel Its quite possible there was either water or crud in the fuel especially since the aircraft almost certainly took on fuel in China and

China seems to have had problems of late with products being adulterated in some form The crud could cause blockages in the filters from the tank(s) The

water would cause an increasingly-diluted fuel mixture to enter the engines as the level dropped which might also cause the gradual loss of power The two most-likely culprits I would examine first are the discrete devices at either end of the control path that send the data and receive it at the other end and

the cables and connectors used to transmit the data The next point Id check would be the power supply that powers the electrical actuators that physically move the actual throttles in each engine This supply

would be separate from the power used for the electronics as it would be a relatively high-current source This might also be caused by cablingconnector

problems Aircraft tend to have many problems with cabling due to high vibration and multiple pinch-points and stress and vibrationabrasion at support points as well as

contact problems at connectors Another very major problem is human error In many cases the turn-to-lock type connectors are in very tight spaces sometimes so much so that it may only be

visible by a small mirror and flashlight held by the tech while he may be laying on his back or nearly standing on his head I had a whole set of strange-looking

pliers of different lengths and weird angles with curved padded jaws for just this purpose in my tool box along with small hand-held extend-able flexible-tubing-

mounted inspection mirrors and flashlights with the head on flexible tubing as well It can be very hard to tell given the above circumstances if the locking sleeve on these aircraft instrumentation connectors had been twisted far enough to

complete the lock It doesnt take much imagination to see what could happen given time vibration and G-forces Of course these are just my rough guesses and I dont have enough information to really make any informed statements Cheers Strat

RePossible autothrottle problem (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (8 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Life is a concentration camp Youre stuck here and theres no way out and you can only rage impotently against your persecutors -- Woody Allen

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners Comments are owned by the Poster The Rest copy 1997-2008 SourceForge Inc

homeawardscontribute storyolder articlessourceforge incadvertiseaboutterms of serviceprivacyfaqrss

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (12 of 12)2412008 91347

| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The Seattle Times Company NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWapartments | NWsource | Classifieds | seattletimescom

29degFWeather | Traffic

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Movies | Restaurants | Todays events Your account | Log in | Contact us

Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (1 of 5)2412008 91409

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

1 Heath Ledger dies at 28 in NYC

2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

3 Starbucks testing $1 coffees with free refills

4 4-year-old Cle Elum boy killed in sledding accident

5 Man charged with raping girl coercing her into prostitution

6 UW Basketball | Huskies will see what they missed vs ASU

7 Angry homebuyers turn on their agent

8 Mother of slain girl sues state in Everett

9 Heath Ledger autopsy inconclusive

10 WaMu leaders to profit even if stock stays low

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

UK News World News Politics Environment Weather Tech amp Web News Related Reports Topics

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 7: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (7 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by BlueStrat (756137) on Sunday January 20 1206PM (22117494)

Not a commercial aircraft airframe and powerplant mechanic but I was a senior avionics technician for many years dealing with corporate and private jets What Ive read is that the pilots observed a relatively gradual loss of power symmetrically on both engines Interesting Do you have a link to the source for that Not that I doubt you just curious to parse it myself This tells me that I can rule out engine problems with FADEC and fuel FADEC possibly but fuel Its quite possible there was either water or crud in the fuel especially since the aircraft almost certainly took on fuel in China and

China seems to have had problems of late with products being adulterated in some form The crud could cause blockages in the filters from the tank(s) The

water would cause an increasingly-diluted fuel mixture to enter the engines as the level dropped which might also cause the gradual loss of power The two most-likely culprits I would examine first are the discrete devices at either end of the control path that send the data and receive it at the other end and

the cables and connectors used to transmit the data The next point Id check would be the power supply that powers the electrical actuators that physically move the actual throttles in each engine This supply

would be separate from the power used for the electronics as it would be a relatively high-current source This might also be caused by cablingconnector

problems Aircraft tend to have many problems with cabling due to high vibration and multiple pinch-points and stress and vibrationabrasion at support points as well as

contact problems at connectors Another very major problem is human error In many cases the turn-to-lock type connectors are in very tight spaces sometimes so much so that it may only be

visible by a small mirror and flashlight held by the tech while he may be laying on his back or nearly standing on his head I had a whole set of strange-looking

pliers of different lengths and weird angles with curved padded jaws for just this purpose in my tool box along with small hand-held extend-able flexible-tubing-

mounted inspection mirrors and flashlights with the head on flexible tubing as well It can be very hard to tell given the above circumstances if the locking sleeve on these aircraft instrumentation connectors had been twisted far enough to

complete the lock It doesnt take much imagination to see what could happen given time vibration and G-forces Of course these are just my rough guesses and I dont have enough information to really make any informed statements Cheers Strat

RePossible autothrottle problem (Score5 Insightful)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (8 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Life is a concentration camp Youre stuck here and theres no way out and you can only rage impotently against your persecutors -- Woody Allen

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners Comments are owned by the Poster The Rest copy 1997-2008 SourceForge Inc

homeawardscontribute storyolder articlessourceforge incadvertiseaboutterms of serviceprivacyfaqrss

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (12 of 12)2412008 91347

| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

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Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (1 of 5)2412008 91409

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

1 Heath Ledger dies at 28 in NYC

2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

3 Starbucks testing $1 coffees with free refills

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

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>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 8: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (8 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Linker3000 (626634) on Sunday January 20 1128AM (22117238)

Lets just wait for the official forensics rather than patched together rumours shall we

by pyrrhonist (701154) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117270)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 1221PM (22117608)

A comment on airlinersnets forums is very appropriate for us slashdotters I think

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would

say Decide

Its uncanny how they made the flight control system sound just like my wife

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust

Thats a feature that is sadly lacking though

Patience (Score5 Insightful)

Typical (Score5 Funny)

Pointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Insightful)

A BA 772 landed short of the runway Initially speculation was entirely wild ranging from random double engine failure to fuel contamination to one engine

being actually working Some witnesses said the plane came in high and fast others said low and slow others mixed the two together all agree it was nose-

high A few helpful posters who actually knew something contributed Some posters asked why the tires were brownafter the plane had skidded through a

wet grassy area on collapsed landing gear A few posters got into pedantic discussions on various features of the 772 or its operational history as compared

to the 340 Others took great pains to demonstrate to the world their lack of basic knowledge of unpowered flight Few seemed familiar with the notion that fan

blades windmill even when no power is applied to the engine Most all were engaged in a game of nerdy one-upmanship in which they vigorously tried to

validate their lofty views of themselves based on their aeronautical knowledge In sum we know about as much now as we did when the plane went down

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Privacy statement | Terms of serviceCopyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

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Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Page 9: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (9 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This ]

by bradgoodman (964302) on Sunday January 20 1133AM (22117274) Homepage

the plane turned onto final engines did not respond to power inputs plane landed short of runway slides deployed people all survived plane almost certainly

a WO Shockingly neither BA nor Boeing has decided to keep the 15-year-old speculation artists abreast of the situation

The word hero is thrown around a lot these days

I believe what they meant was that the pilots realized that things were going wrong and the normal reaction would be to add thrust When they realized that

they couldnt add thrust that this would result in loosing airspeed entering a stall and crashing

So they realized that an alternative was to lower their angle-of-attack preventing the stall and maintaining a bit of airspeed This would have the unfortunate

side affect of landing well-short of the runway (and perhaps airport) and destroying the aircraft - but given the information available - was a bad - but the best

alternative

So they implicitly decided the best course of action was to glide the airplane and ditch it in a field - not a decision that would have exactly won them any praise

had they read the situation wrong - but it saved everyone

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

by caseih (160668) on Sunday January 20 0151PM (22118386)

Obviously you didnt check the website either or youd know that the site doesnt indicate whether the plane was a 772 or 773 only that it was a 777 of which

there are several different types Other places on the net including the news sites say it was a 777-236ER which is definitely a 772 In case people are confused by people talking about a BA772 or a 773 these are standard designations a Boeing 777-200 is referred to as a 772 the 777-300

is a 773 etc Other common ones youll find are things like 742 and 744 which designate 747-200s and 747-400s respectively Airbus planes also have similar

designations

RePointless speculation by we who know nothing (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Life is a concentration camp Youre stuck here and theres no way out and you can only rage impotently against your persecutors -- Woody Allen

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners Comments are owned by the Poster The Rest copy 1997-2008 SourceForge Inc

homeawardscontribute storyolder articlessourceforge incadvertiseaboutterms of serviceprivacyfaqrss

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (12 of 12)2412008 91347

| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The Seattle Times Company NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWapartments | NWsource | Classifieds | seattletimescom

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (1 of 5)2412008 91409

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

1 Heath Ledger dies at 28 in NYC

2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

3 Starbucks testing $1 coffees with free refills

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6 UW Basketball | Huskies will see what they missed vs ASU

7 Angry homebuyers turn on their agent

8 Mother of slain girl sues state in Everett

9 Heath Ledger autopsy inconclusive

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

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Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 10: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (10 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by u38cg (607297) on Sunday January 20 1147AM (22117366) Homepage

To my mind if you manage to get 300 tonnes of falling metal out of the sky and on the deck with nothing worse than a broken leg youve done something right

by Deadstick (535032) on Sunday January 20 1227PM (22117664)

Good airmanship would be more apropos They recognized the problem in time to take over from the autopilot and had the skill to pull off a deadstick landing

with a survivable impact

by mpe (36238) on Sunday January 20 0123PM (22118082)

In principle the airplane could have been landed on the runway without damage if the right variables had come together -- but low and slow in a big heavy

airplane with full flaps and no power youre pretty well boxed in I dont think they could have done better

rj

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

Maybe thats your current thinking but it doesnt necessarily reflect reality Turbine engines dont switch into reverse They do have thrust reversers but thats a

mechanical device that redirects the exhaust flow Theyre typically activated in the last stages of landing ie after the plane is fully on the ground There are a set of interlocks involving both weight being present of the landing gear and the wheels rotating to prevent the reversers deploying

ReAre the pilots heros (Score5 Insightful)

ReSummary Correction (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Life is a concentration camp Youre stuck here and theres no way out and you can only rage impotently against your persecutors -- Woody Allen

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners Comments are owned by the Poster The Rest copy 1997-2008 SourceForge Inc

homeawardscontribute storyolder articlessourceforge incadvertiseaboutterms of serviceprivacyfaqrss

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (12 of 12)2412008 91347

| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The Seattle Times Company NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWapartments | NWsource | Classifieds | seattletimescom

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

More Nation amp World

New Iraqi flag addresses old dispute

Thompsons exit may lift Huckabee

Army proposal would cut war tours from 15 months to 12 months

Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (1 of 5)2412008 91409

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

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Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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Page 11: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

httpitslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224 (11 of 12)2412008 91347

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 0133PM (22118196)

If a cell phone can do this much damage why the hell am I allowed to bring one (several even) on a plane These days a swiss army knife will maybe get you

as far as row 6 before people dogpile you and they are confiscated But a plane has easily 50 cell phones on it at any given time If the only thing between me

and engine failure are passengers dutifully following crew member instructions then we are all screwed So I am going to respectfully suggest that you are

mistaken because the alternative seems ludicrous

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0139PM (22118260) Homepage

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Yes it is likely We are expected to believe that a single consumer grade device caused the simultaneous failure of both engines Youre right that its more likely than RF interference But neither is likely at all A software glitch of this type (if thats what it was) has never happened in aviation history Certainly not in the 10 year history of the 777 with more than 500 of

them flying around the world but not to any other type either Also the engines didnt fail The engines were running both before and after the stall (and yes the aircraft did stall despite what the article summary says)

Failure and failure to respond are two different things In some ways thats even more scary because it rules out simple explanations like fuel exhaustion Its one thing for engines to fail quite another for them to

simply ignore control inputs

ReSoftware (Score5 Informative)

Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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| Reply

[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

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Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

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Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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[ Reply to This | Parent ]

by badasscat (563442) ltbasscadet75NOSpAmyahoocomgt on Sunday January 20 0146PM (22118330) Homepage

First there were MANY credible witnesses that swore they saw a missile shoot into the sky before the explosion a) no they were not credible and b) they by and large didnt claim they saw a missile What they claimed is that they saw a streak of light or some variation thereof Only a few people claimed they saw a missile and those people by and large

are the people that made it onto the news So it probably seemed like there were more of them than there were The news outlets chose the most radical

attention whoring witnesses to put on the air But if you read the NTSB report they break down the witness statements Out of something like 2000 witnesses only a relatively small percentage (Im

remembering it being something like 25) saw a streak of light Of that percentage about half saw the light going up half saw it going down Some saw it

going to the left some going to the right In other words none of them had any idea what they were looking at This is pretty normal for witnesses to an airliner crash Nobodys expecting to see what theyre seeing so their mind initially doesnt record things correctly What

the NTSB has to do is filter out the crud and see if theres anything that everybody agrees on If there is then they investigate that In this case a large enough

percentage of people indicated they saw a flash of light and that ended up supporting the mid-air explosion theory But the NTSB never gave any real credence to it being a missile Neither did the FBI for that matter There was just never any evidence The FBI had pretty

much ruled out terrorism within 2 days of the accident

Reterrists (Score5 Informative)

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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Page 13: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

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Saturday January 19 2008 - Page updated at 1200 AM

E-mail article Print view Share Digg Newsvine

Loss of thrust in first 777 crashBy Seattle Times news services

LONDON mdash Both jet engines failed to respond to

demands for more power moments before the first-ever

crash of a Boeing 777 investigators at Londons

Heathrow Airport said Friday

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Tens of thousands of Palestinians flood into Egypt after breaching Gaza border

Mass grave of possible Nazi victims uncovered at German construction site

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3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Privacy statement | Terms of serviceCopyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

UK News World News Politics Environment Weather Tech amp Web News Related Reports Topics

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

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Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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                                                                                            13. f13 Off
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                                                                                                    2. f2
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Page 14: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Marketplace

3 courses for $30 - ends January 31

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

The British Airways 777 en route from Beijing crash-

landed on Thursday and was damaged beyond repair

Part of the main landing gear was torn off and another

part was jammed up into the wing The airplane struck

ground 1000 feet short then plowed on its belly across

open grassland and halted when it reached the runway

The 136 passengers and 16 crew members exited

through emergency slides

No one died One passenger was seriously hurt and at

least 12 passengers and crew members had minor

injuries

Several passengers said they were unaware of the

emergency until it was over It was a very quiet normal

flight I didnt have the feeling we had crashed until we

left the plane said Jerome Ensinck When you look at

the plane you realize it could have been way way

worse

Investigators said the planes autopilot called for more

thrust and flight data and voice recorders indicate the

pilots then moved the throttles to do the same mdash with no

result The malfunction became apparent at an altitude

of about 600 feet and two miles from the intended

touchdown

Capt Peter Burkill said co-pilot John Coward who had

the controls at the time of the accident did a

remarkable job landing the plane Burkill speaking at a

news conference said he couldnt discuss a possible httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (2 of 5)2412008 91409

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7 Angry homebuyers turn on their agent

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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Privacy statement | Terms of serviceCopyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

UK News World News Politics Environment Weather Tech amp Web News Related Reports Topics

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Page 15: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

1 Heath Ledger dies at 28 in NYC

2 Holmgren deserves to end it his way | Steve Kelley

3 Starbucks testing $1 coffees with free refills

4 4-year-old Cle Elum boy killed in sledding accident

5 Man charged with raping girl coercing her into prostitution

6 UW Basketball | Huskies will see what they missed vs ASU

7 Angry homebuyers turn on their agent

8 Mother of slain girl sues state in Everett

9 Heath Ledger autopsy inconclusive

10 WaMu leaders to profit even if stock stays low

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

Related

Archive | British Airways Boeing 777 crash-lands in London 19 hurt

cause while the investigation was under way

Burkill credited his crew and passengers for clearing the plane quickly Travelers showed calmness and good

sense he said

Flying is about teamwork and we had a fantastic team on board Burkill said The captain has almost 20 years of

experience with the carrier

The 777 model which entered commercial service in 1995 relies heavily on computers so one area for examination

is whether the software functioned properly A range of aircraft systems could have been responsible for the loss of

engine power the United Kingdoms Air Accidents Investigation Branch said in a preliminary report

Investigators are due to deliver a more detailed report within 30 days

David Gleave the chief safety investigator at Aviation Hazard Analysis a private company said a bird strike would

be among the possible causes under investigation A flock of Canada geese at a nearby reservoir was a known

potential hazard

Gleave also speculated about a fuel problem The report said a significant amount of fuel leaked in the crash

indicating that there was still fuel on board but the report did not clarify whether fuel was flowing to the engines

properly Experts said another question was whether there was a problem with the fuel itself drawn from the bottom

of the tanks at the end of the long flight

Some 687 Boeing 777 aircraft are now in use The

airplane that crashed was one of 43 in British Airways

fleet and had been delivered in 2001 according to

Boeing It had more than 23000 hours of flight and

about 3000 takeoffs and landings indicating it had

been used almost exclusively for long-haul flights with

an average flight length of about seven hours

The jet was equipped with two Trent 895 engines

20 new Seattle-area restaurants New Urban Eats a dining event from NWsourceView participating restaurants Enter to win dinner for two

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (3 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Privacy statement | Terms of serviceCopyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

UK News World News Politics Environment Weather Tech amp Web News Related Reports Topics

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Page 16: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

manufactured by Rolls-Royce

The last maintenance check was in December British

Airways said

Boeing said the flight-data recorder was an advanced

model designed to capture large volumes of data

The US National Transportation Safety Board has

dispatched a team to assist in the investigation Rolls-

Royce and Boeing are also participating

More than 53 flights from Heathrow were canceled early

Friday in the continuing disruption at Europes busiest airport The crumpled plane remained on the runway Friday

A British delegation to China and India led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown was delayed for an hour by the crash

Also flying with Brown on a British Airways Boeing 747 was billionaire Richard Branson who controls rival Virgin

Atlantic Airways

The speed of the evacuation we saw at firsthand the total professionalism and dedication of the staff Brown said

Its at times like these you remember youre in the hands of staff who do a remarkable job

Material from The New York Times The Associated Press and Bloomberg was used in this report

Copyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation amp World headlines E-mail article Print view

Buy a link here

Get home delivery today

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (4 of 5)2412008 91409

Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Privacy statement | Terms of serviceCopyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

UK News World News Politics Environment Weather Tech amp Web News Related Reports Topics

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper

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Privacy statement | Terms of serviceCopyright copy 2008 The Seattle Times Company

httpseattletimesnwsourcecomhtmlnationworld2004133993_plane19html (5 of 5)2412008 91409

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business IdeasSir James Dyson on the business of engineering

I work all bloody day to pay for Barbies Im not going to waste time playing with them as well Caitlin Moran

News Comment Business Sport Life amp Style Arts amp Entertainment Our Papers Audio Video Jobs amp Classifieds

UK News World News Politics Environment Weather Tech amp Web News Related Reports Topics

Sponsored by

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

Explore UK News

Crime News

Education News

Health News

Science News

Times Recommends

Website where teen suicides are

celebrated

Girls who were lsquoorphanedrsquo on US

shopping trip

Waiting game wins at the bus stop

Heathrow crash-landing

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

Comment Central

Is suicide catching Tragic deaths celebrity suicides the internet and some astonishing evidence

Daniel Finkelsteins blog

Comment

The anti-obesity strategy should stick to the basics and do them well More

Leading article

Post a comment

Westminster blog

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 18: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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From The Sunday TimesJanuary 20 2008

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38An electronic systems failure is emerging as the prime suspect in BArsquos brush with disaster at Heathrow report Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy

After 10 hours of flying Speedbird 038 was almost home First Officer John Coward was preparing to land the British Airways flight from Beijing to Heathrow In front of him on the right side of the cockpit were three screens displaying flight navigation and engine data another three were arrayed in front of Captain Peter Burkill who sat on the left

Beyond through the cockpit windows Coward could see central London one of the most densely populated areas of Europe stretch into the distance It was Thursday lunchtime and they were approaching Heathrow from the east There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than having them take off over the city Below them millions of people were going about their business never imagining that a plane might fall out of the sky

At eight nautical miles from the airport BA038 was down to about 2400ft in a shallow glide At 7frac12 nautical miles the plane lined up with the instrument landing system that would guide it into Heathrow

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (1 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

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>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 19: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoAt 2000ft you lower the gearrdquo said a former 777 pilot referring to the undercarriage ldquoThatrsquos the procedurerdquo

The plane was lining up for a ldquocategory onerdquo landing in good weather being guided in by two radio beams one horizontal one vertical They were drawing the plane down a three-degree glidepath onto the southern runway known as 27L at Heathrow Everything appeared normal

The Boeing 777 is one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world crammed with highly sophisticated electronics Over 12 years it had established a remarkable safety record - more than 600 of the planes had gone into service and not one had crashed

To Coward a 41-year-old career pilot with BA it was a routine flight and the plane was taking the strain The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and making the necessary adjustments

ldquoYou can see the throttles moving themselves Itrsquos as if they have a ghostly hand on themrdquo another retired 777 pilot said ldquoThe gear is down and the flaps are down In most cases yoursquod see the runway at this point The aircraft would be holding a speed or even slowing slightlyrdquo

As the plane approached Coward according to former pilots would have announced ldquo1000 radio Man land 200rdquo This meant the plane was at 1000ft in its final approach and that Coward was going to switch from autopilot to a manual landing at 200ft

Once such a procedure was set the plane would continue under automatic control until it reached an altitude of 250ft Then a female computer voice would say ldquoDeciderdquo

ldquoThatrsquos decision timerdquo said a former 777 pilot ldquoThe co-pilot would take the autopilot out Hersquod say lsquoMan land 200 I have controlrsquordquo

At two miles out and 600ft up the plane was ldquoestablished on late finalsrdquo - it was less than a minute from landing The crew and passengers must have thought that they would soon be inside the terminal

As Coward stared at the controls the autothrottle demanded more thrust It was a normal procedure a small adjustment intended to keep the plane at the correct speed and height Nothing happened The computer system again ordered more thrust Again no response

In the central control displays of the 777 is a screen that shows the engine pressure rate (EPR) One indicator shows the ldquocommand EPRrdquo

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (2 of 35)2412008 91445

>

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 20: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

the level ordered by the pilot another indicates the actual EPR ldquoThe pilots would have noticed that the achieved EPR was drifting backrdquo said one former 777 flier ldquoThat would have been one of their first indicatorsrdquo

Coward or Burkill - it is not clear which - tried to increase thrust manually Still nothing happened

At high altitudes planes that lose power can glide for distances of up to 100 miles according to Boeing helped by starting at cruising speeds of more than 600mph At less than 1000ft and at much slower speeds they can drop like a stone

Yesterday Coward said the plane had suffered ldquocatastrophic failurerdquo in both engines and that he feared it would smash into the ground and disintegrate He told a Sky News reporter that his ldquoadrenaline kicked inrdquo

There were no drills for such a situation no time to try to restart the engines Pilots are taught how to recover from potential disasters at normal cruising altitudes but not so close to the ground ldquoI was just focused on holding it up in the air for as long as possible then keeping it straightrdquo said Coward

Below 600ft the ldquoground proximityrdquo warning is inhibited so that it does not distract pilots from an ordinary landing But other signs and sounds would have rapidly filled the cockpit

Through his clenched hand Coward would have felt the control stick judder ldquoIf a stall is imminent the aircraft analyses its airspeed and gives a preliminary shake to the yokerdquo said one former pilot ldquoIt wonrsquot let you miss it We call it the lsquostick shakerrsquo An lsquoairspeed lowrsquo warning will also flash up on screenrdquo

Coward had only seconds to respond only seconds before the plane would hit the ground

Just 100ft or so below Pym Reehal whose house lies in the Heathrow flightpath had gone outside to his car He had an engine problem of his own and was trying to jumpstart the vehicle

As he tinkered BA038 hurtled overhead ldquoI had a quick glimpse and saw it was coming in at a very weird anglerdquo recalled Reehal ldquoIt was sat at such a strange anglerdquo

A short distance away John Rowland was driving his taxi just outside the airport perimeter fence ldquoIt looked as though it was just missing the roof of my cabrdquo he said ldquoSo low you would think you could lean out of the

Red Box

Sam Coates on politics spin and the latest from Westminster

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (3 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 21: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

window and touch itrdquo

The plane skimmed the road and missed the perimeter fence by a few feet Further down the Heathrow airfield another BA flight was preparing to take off One of the air crew watched as BA038 hurtled towards the ground

ldquoI thought oh my God somethingrsquos terribly wrongrdquo said the witness who asked not to be named ldquoThe angle was all wrong It just looked like it would be a disasterrdquo

Inside the cockpit of BA038 Coward and Burkill had no time to issue a Mayday no time to warn passengers to brace In the few remaining seconds they just fought to keep the plane flying

The failure of the engines had cut the main power The 777 does not have cables connecting wing flaps and rudder to the pilotsrsquo controls It is all done by sending electronic signals However the plane has several back-up batteries that enable the instruments to work until the emergency power units kick in

ldquoIf they had done nothing the autopilot would have tried to fly the glide pathrdquo said a former pilot The plane would probably then have stalled and crashed ldquoSo they have to lower the nose to maintain speed then lift it just before hitting the groundrdquo

Coward who lives in Valbonne in the south of France with his wife said yesterday that he had thought it was ldquothe endrdquo for him - that the plane would land with an ldquoalmighty crashrdquo He added that ldquosome thanks has to go to the man upstairs for giving us that little lift at the endrdquo

But he and Burkill said one former pilot did ldquoa brilliant jobrdquo If the angle is right a plane gets the benefit of ldquoground effectrdquo - the wings in effect trap a cushion of air underneath them that softens the landing

The Boeing 777 has the biggest landing gear of any craft with six wheels instead of four on each assembly As the plane slammed into the grass before the start of the runway the landing gear on the left side smashed upwards through the wing the right-side landing gear was torn off

ldquoIt wasnrsquot just one thudrdquo said Coward yesterday ldquoIt was a series of thudsrdquo

The plane ploughed great gouges in the earth as it skidded hundreds of metres skewed right and came to rest on the edge of the runway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (4 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 22: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

ldquoI felt like I was in a washing machinerdquo said Jason Johnson one of the passengers ldquoThe wings were making cracking sounds You think of your family and your loved onesrdquo

Others barely noticed that the plane had crash landed until oxygen masks fell from the overhead storage lockers

The passengers fled down the emergency chutes that had been triggered when the crew opened the doors Amazingly nobody was killed and injuries were relatively minor

How did one of the safest aircraft ever made come to crash-land narrowly avoiding disaster and why did both engines apparently shut down at the same time

THE 777 is the first plane to be designed entirely on computers with input from pilots from the outset It is a long-range fuel-efficient workhorse Since it started commercial operations in 1995 777s have made more than 2m flights Boeing claims that operators enjoy a ldquo99 dispatch reliability raterdquo In other words 777s rarely go wrong

According to one database there have been only a handful of recent 777 incidents ndash and two of those were hijackings The only fatality had been that of an airport worker who was burnt to death when a refuelling operation went wrong in 2001 in Denver Colorado

The pilots got much of what they asked for in designing the plane including a highly automated ldquoglass cockpitrdquo that does away with all analogue gauges and presents flight information on bright software-driven LCD displays Integrated into the software is EICAS (engine indication and crew alerting system) which monitors the two engines and alerts the crew to any abnormalities

Nancy Novaes an American pilot who flew 777s until she retired last year said ldquoThis is a great plane to fly Itrsquos highly computerised highly logical It knows what it needs and EICAS tells you what it wantsrdquo

However the 777 and its computers are not infallible - as investigators knew before last weekrsquos crash

Early in the evening of August 1 2005 a Malaysia Airlines 777 en route from Perth Australia to Kuala Lumpur was climbing past 38000ft towards its cruising level when the flight crew were confronted with what the official report on the incident described as ldquoa situation that had previously been considered not possiblerdquo

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (5 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 23: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

On the EICAS screen a ldquolow speedrdquo warning appeared suggesting the plane was approaching the speed at which it would stall But almost simultaneously the primary flight display screen warned exactly the opposite that the aircraft was approaching the overspeed limit the maximum speed at which it is designed to operate

Too slow or too fast Before the crew could decide the autopilot pitched up the nose and the 777 climbed for 3000ft while the air speed dropped from 270 knots to 158 knots - at which point the stall-warning horn correctly sounded and the stick-shakers activated

The pilot prevented disaster by disconnecting the autopilot and pushing the nose down But then the autothrottle kicked in commanding more thrust from the engines The nose pitched up again and of its own volition the aircraft climbed another 2000ft until it was brought under control

The plane landed safely but as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report put it the combination of a failed sensor and ldquoa software anomalyrdquo had created an ldquounexpected situation that had not been foreseenrdquo and for which the crew had not been trained

The sensor was a tiny ldquoaccelerometerrdquo - a device used to measure the planersquos acceleration that is similar to those used in cars to deploy airbags

Airlines were subsequently warned that they had to modify the planersquos software Yesterday BA said it had received the directive and implemented it immediately

Could a similar electronic or computer fault have occurred on flight BA038 Were the pilots not warned of engine failure or did a system erroneously shut down the engines

One former 777 pilot believes that the accidental mechanical failure of both engines at the same time is unthinkable

ldquoThere are separate autothrottles a left computer and a right computer everything is split That is the philosophy of the planerdquo he said ldquoFor [both engines to fail] at the same time it has got to have been commanded We are all aghastrdquo

In other words it may have been an error in the computerised engine control systems The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is examining all possibilities and downloading full data from the flight recorders

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (6 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 24: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Experts noted that its initial report said it would be ldquoexamining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operationrdquo

As investigators picked over the crash site other hypotheses were being aired One was that a ldquobird strikerdquo had shut down both engines The impact of large birds such as Canada geese hitting the fans inside the jet engine can cause engine damage but no witnesses have recalled seeing any flocks of geese or other birds in the vicinity

Authorities also monitor flocks by radar and said there were none on Thursday

ldquoThe possibility of geese is remote at that heightrdquo said one pilot ldquoAnd though they bend the blades the engine keeps producing powerrdquo

Pictures of the crashed plane also suggest that this was not the cause The blades in the planersquos starboard engine were undamaged

Turbulence is another possibility particularly at busy airports Sudden wind shear or even the wake left by powerful jets can damage the surfaces of planes sending them out of control But again there seem to be no signs that such forces were at work

A fuel problem was another hypothesis In the immediate aftermath of the crash internet forums populated by pilots were rife with speculation that BA038 had run out of fuel

Some airlines although not BA are known to run their planes with as little fuel as possible to reduce costs heavier planes use more fuel However this policy can be problematic when planes face unexpected headwinds or delays in landing BA had got its sums wrong went the theory

It holds little water however ldquoIt is well known that if all the engines snuff it fuel is the most common causerdquo said David Learmount operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine

ldquoBut fuel exhaustion is not the issue here because the AAIB report says fuel was spilt all over the [crash site] Luckily it didnrsquot catch firerdquo

Learmount suggested however that water could have got into the fuel frozen at high altitude thawed as the plane came into land and caused a slush in the tanks This may have blocked fuel to both engines Reports yesterday suggested that BA ground staff were warned to check the fuel mix in all its 777s

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (7 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 25: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel starvation in certain tanks is another possible explanation because large jets like the 777 have multiple tanks in both wings Some aircraft have additional tanks in the belly and even the tail

Transferring fuel between the tanks during the flight to maintain the aircraftrsquos equilibrium is a routine process controlled by sensors pumps and valves Like all technologies it is not infallible

On February 7 2005 a Virgin Atlantic Airbus 340 flying from Hong Kong to Heathrow was passing through Dutch airspace when without warning one of its four engines - the outer engine on the port wing - went dead

The crew quickly established from the Airbusrsquos sophisticated displays that the amount of fuel contained in the inner tank from which the engine was feeding registered as ldquo0rdquo What they did not realise was that the automatic transfer system between the tanks had failed

The outer engine on the right wing also began to lose power and the warning display showed that its tank contained zero fuel The captain immediately realised there was a ldquofuel management problemrdquo and opened the valves between the tanks to begin a manual transfer It worked but the crew still declared a Mayday and diverted to Amsterdam

Some experts are sceptical that such a problem affected BA038 One former pilot on the 777 pointed out that during landing fuel is going directly from tank to engine - there may be no transferring from one tank to another - and it is unlikely that both engines would suffer such a problem at the same time

THE wreckage of the plane will be removed from the runway tomorrow and the airport will start getting back to normal But crash investigators will not produce a definitive report into the cause of the accident for months Until then suspicion is likely to remain with the avionics

So far other 777s have been allowed to continue flying but the implications are serious A senior airline industry source said ldquoI have heard that BA are going to have to check every single one of their 777s They are not grounding them but they will be checking every one because the AAIB has identified that it seems to be something connected with electrics and avionics coming from the flight deck to the engines because the engines seem to be okay

ldquoThey will go through the records of every single 777 flight looking for similar issues They will go through all the engineering logs to find out if

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (8 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 26: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

have had any similar problems between the flight deck and the engines

ldquoEach 777 will be brought in one by one for a maintenance check to look at whether there are any untoward signs They will have to do that out of good practice as much as anything elserdquo

Whatever the cause of the accident it was a remarkable piece of flying by Coward and Burkill and an extraordinary escape for their passengers

The pilots hailed as heroes have been modest about their achievement But Novaes before she retired had experienced the reality of crisis in the cockpit

ldquoThese pilots have practised flying with limited controlsrdquo she said ldquoThey wouldnrsquot panic Bravery is saying lsquoIrsquom afraid okay so deal with itrsquo Most pilots really only have to think about themselves They are in the front They are first on the scene If they take care of themselves everybody behind them is safe

ldquoBut afterwards you feel a tremendous sense of relief You are on the ground and youre almost giddy The entire glut of emotions is probable

ldquoThe pilot is a human being who may be better practised and controlled than others but theyrsquore still humanrdquo

Why did both engines fail The competing theories

Bird strike A flock would have to have struck and stopped both engines But there is no evidence this happened Verdict implausible

Pilot error A mistake by those flying the plane must always be considered by air traffic investigators But it is unlikely that BA would have allowed the pilots to be hailed as heroes if there were any suspicion that they had made a mistake Verdict highly unlikely

Running out of fuel Last week pilotsrsquo internet forums buzzed with speculation that the plane had run out of fuel But the interim accident report said that ldquoa significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraftrdquo suggesting the plane was not short of fuel Verdict very unlikely

Fuel contamination Reports yesterday suggested that investigators were focusing on the possibility that the planersquos kerosene fuel had been contaminated with water A poor fuel mix has however never been held responsible for an air crash and one would expect other planes that were refuelled in Beijing to have been affected as well No such problems have been reported Verdict unlikely

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (9 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Page 27: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Fuel management problem Fuel is transferred as required between various tanks in the wings and centre of large planes In one incident two engines on an Airbus 340 failed even though the plane had plenty of fuel because the transfer system malfunctioned But it is unlikely to happen to both engines at the same time Verdict possible but unlikely

Computer glitchThis happened with a Malaysian Airlines 777 and a former 777 captain told The Sunday Times that for both engines to fail at the same time ldquoit has got to be commandedrdquo - ie it was computer error in controlling the engines Verdict possible and many expertsrsquo prime concern

Boeing 777 how it measures up

- There are about 670 Boeing 777s in service around the world Last Thursdayrsquos crash was the first involving the plane although in Denver Colorado in 2001 a member of ground staff was killed while refuelling a 777 when the fuel hose malfunctioned

- It was the first plane to be digitally designed using 3D computer graphics Its flight-control system also differs from earlier Boeings in using electronics to control the wing flaps and rudder rather than mechanical systems such as cables

- The 209ft-long plane can carry between 305 and 440 passengers at a cruising speed of 615mph with a range of up to 8300 miles

- When it came into service in June 1995 it became the first twin-engined plane permitted to fly three hours from the nearest runway Until then no twin-engined plane could fly more than 60 minutes from a landing spot Airlines liked its reduced fuel consumption compared with four-engine planes Double-engine failures are also rare

- The Boeing 777s have however been involved in at least 12 incidents where electrical systems have overheated during or before flights four of which resulted in ldquomajor damagerdquo to the power panels involved in controlling the plane according to Britainrsquos Air Accidents Investigations Branch Single engine failure or forced shutdown resulting in an early landing has occurred on 11 known occasions

Are these BIG WIGS retarded or what Yea the wonderfull world of the good old computer again Wake the HELL up and ground these DAMM planes amp check each amp every one out before one

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (10 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 28: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

crashes amp kills endless numbers of people Are we worried that we will LOSE MONEY be grounding them Of course they are WAKE UP amp SMELL THE COFFEE THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL

Michael A Passentino Temple Tezas

I cant tell from the article whether the engines shut down or if they just didnt respond to the throttles Since its all fly by wire there may be no direct connection between the throttles and the fuel controllers

R Buckthal Pleasanton CA

Has it been that long since the crash at the Paris air show of the airbus You might want to revisit that artical There is no mention in your artical of the FADEC The first 2 letters stand for FULL AUTHORITY You might want to check with Boing to see what means for this aircraft If you want to speculate at least focus on the fact that the engines were not producing enough power and not responding to pilot input Ask Boing about Soft faults or what ever they are calling them these days you might find that interesting too

Lauren Valley Springs Calif

As an aircraft mechanic for 50+ years I have always decried the accuracy of any report on an aircraft accidentincident Yours however was the most accurate pointed journalistic piece I have encountgered Kudos to your research and writing staffs

Ed Woerle Rossville Tennessee USA

Quite frankly Boeing 777 has started to worry me Ive been flying in excess of 200000 miles a year out of which several long flights are on Triple7 But in the past 60 days there have been more incidents with B777 than anytime before There was around five or six incidents with B777 out ot which three involved emergency landings However BA 38 was by far most serious one Air France had two engine malfunctions and two emergency landings (one of which was in Russia) on its B777 birds Either the maintenance messed up on several birds or just a freak set of circumstances I am not worried and I will continue to fly B777 planes but frankly number of recent B777 incidents is worrying

Theo Valich Zagreb Croatia

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (11 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 29: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

I would hazard a guess that in a plane as big as a 777 running out of fuel does not mean every last drop if you think about the rate at which it would be burned

Lynda tonbridge

Excellent article research and discussion- Sounds like computerelectronics problem much more likely A few questions- Is there any evidence that cell phone signals can alter avionicselectronics on planes What about IED jamming devices Are any avionics wireless on the 777 How long would it take for engines to spin down without fuel in a situation like this is there a specific toggleswitchbutton to startstop the engines akin to the Prius start button

Matt Paly Cali USA

How many other aircraft designs can claim only 1 incident per year worldwide Would the 777 have this safety record if it was equipped with standard mechanical systems Accidents will happen When they do an investigation must be undertaken but I think that this second guessing of the technologies involved is ridiculous in light of the the 777s incredible safety record I guess it is human nature to (what if)

Scott McAfee Mt Vernon WaUSA

It is a heroic story which cannot be explained but the heavy emphasis on the computer system as an infallible entity there in lies the flawor someone is covering up part of the truth

Nixon Stewart London United Kingdom

I cant see in any of the reports that there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks There was a report if some spillage having foam sprayed over it but no mention of how much was left To the layman surely running out of fuel looks the most likely cause

David Dubai UAE

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (12 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 30: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Simon F--look fatal up in the dictionary--it doesnt have to mean death it also means something that causes destruction While were at it no-one died in the terminal building either Sheesh Fiona London UK

Fiona F London

This rather sounds like great news for Virgin Atlantic with their old 4 Engines 4 Longhaul slogan and all other operators of Airbus 340s I wonder if they will reconsider their 787 order and come back to the old motto

L Lemieux London UK

I was on a 777 coming into Heathrow 25 yrs ago amp the pilot told us all there might be an emergency landing as he had a problem with the hydraulics (Hello thanks for that - flaps amp under carriage) He said there would be emergency equip along the runway as a precaution amp not to let that worry us (subsequently several people panicked in their seats) I had visions of crashing amp burning amp being on the front page of the UK papers I put my shoes on amp wished I hadnt worn flammable trousers We did an extra circuit or two amp he resolved the issue amp thankfully landed safely Im wondering if it may have been a similar issue as it was the same type of plane The poor pilot was flushed red amp sweating as we got off the plane which just confirmed how serious it could have been

cherie Surrey UK

Could we please have a computwer like this in charge of White House foriegn policy Such a glitch could be known as the Cheney affect I would like to see this fellow report on matters of National interest Like Data protection He is Very very good

ivor Manning Paignton Uk

What was Fatal about the Flaw No-one was killedSo why use the term Fatal Reporters arent what they used to be

Simon F Newcastle UK

In excess of 600 aircraft delivered over 17 years flying 2 trips a day That is in excess of 200000 flights and probably double that I would fly a 777 flown by a reputable carrier any day I would be more concerned over who is flying it and who is servicing it these

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (13 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 31: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

are the biggest factors in most accidents

Mike Wolverhampton UK

Clearly there was some engine control malfunction At 600ft it is said that you have 35-40 secs to react to the problem Should have the pilots made the aircraft as clean as possible to maximise the aircrafts ability to glide As a private pilot I would have reduced flap to try to reach the runway

richard john williams weybridge surrey

UFOs Youre having a laugh Should I be worried Get a bigger picture This is a super piece of informative and analytical journalism This does not surprise me when a near miss for want of a better term like this occurs over the capital I would expect the London Times writers to sharpen their intellect and pens

Neal Airdrie Scotland UK

I wonder if the article was translated into Italian somewhere on the Italian pressit would have appreciated very much

vittorio lamberti vietri sul mare italy

Richard Woods Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy thanks guys for doing some great research - excellent piece of journalism Joe

Joe Sydney Australia

Good article Surprised by some of the comments from readers UFOs At 600 feet No eyewitness and there were several spoke of a UFO Gordon did you read the article They didnt know they had the problem until after gear-down point which is 2000ft They were at 600ft when the problem occurred The pilots were probably a bit busy getting the thing on the ground to raise the gear with no power Rain Category 1 landing in good weather Rain isnt good weather Running out of fuel Each engine is fed by its own tank in the wing which all other tanks transfer to but not on final approach What is the chance of both

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (14 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 32: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

tanks running out at exactly the same time Pretty much zero Same applies to water contamination It wouldnt have affected both engines simultaneously One would have gone bfore the other

Phil K Luton UK

Am I missing something here The pilot demaned extra power to maintain the glide path and the engines did not respond they do not apear to have stopped If they had then presumably the passengers would have heard them spool down This must eliminate the possibility of running out of fuel and confirm that it is an engine control problem

Nigel Hereford

Thank you for this marvellous article It is well researched and written with a calm and analytical style It is a relief to be treated as an intelligent and curious reader for once

David Rochester Liverppo UK

At last a news story that not only collects all the known facts but takes the time to organize them in the most understandable way Congratulations to a team that did its job

Anthony Nania Canaan Connecticut

Nice to read such a comprehensive article which covers the pros and cons of the situation As a private pilot and a chartered engineer I travel a lot and get very frustrated by the standard of reporting in some papers on technical and aviation matters The pilot in me also says well done to the cockpit crew for keeping the plane flying and not getting distracted by the techncial issues For those wondering why no communciaction was made from the pilots well the rule I was taught (by both bush pilots and airline pilots) when I learnt to fly was Aviate Navigate and Communicate - in that order of priority In other words fly the plane first and then navigate and then communcicate (to air-traffic and passengers)

J K Woodhouse Brighton England

Im hold a PPL and My father is a 777 flight instructor for a Contiental Airlines He started putting his students through simulated dead-stick (non-engine) landings last year He called it the space shuttle approach I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those simulator approaches last summer What surprised me the most was that without the support of engines the pilots had to start their flare (raise the nose) at about 200 feet to slow the rate of

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (15 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 33: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

descent much sooner than on a normal approach (which is usually about 30-50 feet) Otherwise the airplane would impact the ground to heavily I was amazed to see that a plane of that size could be successfully landed dead-stick and even more surprised that this sort of procedure was not part of standard training for most 777 pilots Here is a video of the space shuttle landing dead-stick httpwwwyoutubecomwatchv=py7E9fIase4 Notice how soon they start their flare Well done to the pilots and crew of BA038

Mr JM Jost Aberdeen United Kingdom

As peviously commented an excellent article The thing that struck me most was the ever shifting balance between humans fying the aircraft and computers Something to watch While other contributors have rightly pointed out that we cannot know what happened until after the investigation I am disappointed to read some vitriolic comments attacking BA or the flight crew Perhaps also it is a sign of the times that my first thoughts were along the lines of some kind if terrorist attack Would some kind of directional EM interference cause a computer glitch We are always told to turn off all electronic (and especially transmitting) equipment when landing Ive never understood this but how ironic if it turns out to be some doofus phoning home while on final approach

Wyn Tingley Bristol UK

The Jason Johnson quoted in the article was an Australian hoaxer who was interviewed live on Sky News He wasnAcircacutet on the flight

Brian Dublin

My God exceptional journalism is still alive in the English language Well written and informative article the first I have seen regarding this crash The authors have done an excellent job

bob williams Gainesville Florida US

I dont understand the automatic command error hypothesis My understanding is that one of the crew issued a command to increase engine power and it was not obeyed either

steve chester

Great article

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (16 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 34: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Stewart Rose-Innes London United Kingdom

You can tell its a slow news week when a simple event like this is disected for every scrap of detail Calm down Nothing happened People actually did die this week but for some reason they are not your top story British media at its best

Luke London

most probably electronics system failure

Rene Abad Camiling Philippines

If Gordon Browns motorcade was driving below the flight on final approach and given that they deploy RFI jammers to subvert improvised explosive devices ie mobile phone controlled explosives then quite likely Gordon Browns security team has crashed the avionics of the flight due to the close proximity So I guess wed call this another terrorist attack by the UK govenment then

John SMith London

the eye witness accounts of three cab drivers and a pilot on bbc world shortly after the incidfent all said there was extensive engine noise which would tend to indicate thrust reversers theory possible also what about the also often repeated severe banking to the left - at 45degrees according to the abovementioned pilot

damon london UK

Never mind UFOs or terrorists - maybe a passengers mobile phone was switched on during the approach and the signal interfered with the planes avionics

Steve Glasgow Scotland

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error To Bobby Boca Raton USA Well done Bobby your informed and incisive explanation of the cause of the crash will save the AAIB months of investigation and a lot of money

Pete Jones LONDON

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (17 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 35: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Really well written and informative I really enjoyed the style of the article and it was really well researched An excellent news piece

A Paul Lewisham

This is starting to become reminiscent of the HAL 2000 computer system in Space Odyssey Can a programmed computer software really be trusted as much as we think Very informative article

Richard Milan Italy

As usual there are a few ufo nutters about and a few hand of god saved them all proclamationsWe dont know the real cause of the accident yet but we do know that the pilot and co-pilot did a grand job and that the most likely cause of the accident was avionics controls The experts will no doubt find the real reason and this will make the plane even safer

Terry Hereford UK

Good article one thing though aircraft always take off and land into wind and as the prevailing wind is from the west runways 27 left and right are predominately used at Heathrow 09 L amp R (East) are switched to in nil wind or Easterly wind conditions this is a practical requirement that has the added bonus of giving people below a break from the noise and not to do with a acirceuroœpreferenceacirceurobull Incidentally during a meeting of the Air Safety Board I was present at some years ago the possibility of a commercial aircraft crashing in central London was discussed The conclusion that it was a case of when and not if was rather depressing

Anthony Higham Edenbridge UK

For many yearseven decades we have read about systems being developed using mobile phone type technology to disable or cause malfunction of electronics in aircraftvehiclesetc for use by defence services and even by police to stop stolen vehicles Is it possible that such a device could have been used by terrorists which would cause catastrophic failure to a fly by wire control system Surely all aircraft should be capa ble of full manual control by the pilot to avoi d any such possibility

Stephen Griffiths Leominster UK

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (18 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

Your View

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (26 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Required Field

Remember me

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Print Email Post to delicious

Post to newsvine

Post to Yahoo

Post to Digg

Also in UK News

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ministers are told

Cash carrot for obese people to lose pounds

Teenage drug girls are jailed

Also in News

Winehouse may be charged over drugs video

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A BA passenger jet made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on its return from China

Slide Show

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Page 36: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

From the unusual attitude reported it would seem that there may have been a rolling moment cause by turbulence Is it possible that the inertia on the small amount of fuel left after such a long flight forced it away from the intake for the engines

Nigel Johnson Toronto Canada

The survival of the aircraft will allow the investigators to fly the aircraft on the ground and hopefully reproduce the fault The FDR data will allow test equipment to stimulate the avionics in precisely the same way Lets hope the fault isnt intermittent

Tim Scotland

I first want to say this is one of the best written articles on an aircraft incident I have read coming from mainstream journalists As a pilot Im amazed at all the misconceptions that journalists have when it comes to flying and this article contained very few of those Though I do take issue with your all too common assertion that planes drop like a stone when they lose their engines at low altitude This stone very nearly made the runway covering almost 2 miles with only 600 feet of altitude and no extra speed to work with

Eric Graves Cambridgeshire England

So - was the gear up or down when they realised there was a problem Can the gear be lowered when there is no power Why cant all media reporting be at least as good as this

Stef Bishop Dunstable UK

Kudos for Woods Swinford and Eddy for an extremely well researched and written article

Dev M San Francisco CA USA

Nice write up A bit dramatic for those of us familiar with the 777 but generally accurate and a good initial assessment Most professionals in the industry will not jump to conclusions before knowing a heck of a lot more information One small point that is wrong in the article however There were other aircraft that were qualified to fly beyond 60 minutes from a suitable airport (ETOPS) long before the 777 came along The Boeing 767 was one and there were certainly others

Bob T Toronto Canada

Good report Minor inaccuracy The Malaysian incident showed a problem

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (19 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 37: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

with TWO accelerometers (one failure had occurred 4 years previous but the software deemed it not to be serious enough to issue a maintenance advisory) The main difference between the 2 incidents is that in 2005 the pilots managed a throttle change MANUALLY Manual operation of the Heathrow thottles didnt help Id also like to know if the Heathrow autopilot was swithed OFF (rather than ARMED) Very suspicious though It will be interesting to know whether there were any problems with the accelerometers And we all know that software fixes arent as straight forward as they should be

Ian Powell Hexham UK

would it be possible to program the plane`s computor while it was parked in Beijing to shut both engines down on long finals at Heathrow ie a deiberate attempt at sabotage

Nick Paxton Northallerton N Yorks

Animportant issue for those involved in flight safety to consider in and around major airports is the amount of open grassland around the runways By landing on the grass before the runway not only was the forward speed of the plane arrested by it digging into the soft ground but in my belief a major fire was averted by the lack of heat and sparks that would have been generated by landing on the hard runway

Grant Snowden Checkendon UK

I have some past familiarity with Flight Management Systems - the way this article reads makes me wonder if some part of the control infrastructure thought perhaps by loss or faulty telemetry that the aircraft had landed The airplane might have never gone to full manual control and shut down when it calculated to have touched down At any rate kudos go not only to the pilots but to the design of the 777 which appears to have continued to be controllable despite loss of power

Menno Aartsen Fredericksburg VA USA

Not mentioned who manufactured the engines

Peter Andrew Montreal Canada

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (20 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 38: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Did it just run out of fuel Simple question but nobody has mentioned it where was the fuel spillage

David Collard-Berry Haslemere UK

I immediately thought that software might be to blame when I first heard about the incident It is something of a truism that no software is free of bugs and quite frightening when you consider how many modern aircraft rely completely on it

Ernest Loughborough England

Great article On the subject of why they lowered the gear however note that there were no signs of trouble until they reached 600ft when the standard procedure is to lower the undercarriage at 2000ft It seems unlikely they would have had time to retract it again

Andrew Glagow Scotland

A well written article begins with There is a preference for flights into the airport to cross the capital in this direction because it is quieter than to have them take off over the city Around airports the direction of flight is governed by wind direction Lift is needed to control an aircraft it is generated by airspeed over the wings thus at low ground speed ( take off and landing) aircrafts fly into the wind to maximize airspeed (airspeed equals groundspeed plus windspeed) This is why runways are built in the direction of prevailing winds In London that is a 270 compass heading (or 090 in the opposite direction) The last zero is dropped and the runway when aproached from the East is named 27 (27L or left for the southernmost runway ) otherwise it would become 09R (Look on Google Earth) Noise reduction is a benefit derived from having Heathrow located upwind of London aircrafts take off westward (full power) away from the city Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Does each tank have an indicator of fuel level Should a switch to a full tank not be implemented automatically before the start of landing Weve all run out of fuel in our cars at some time or other if were honest I did twice ( If its not a computer glitch (which it more than likely was) and they did run out of fuel wasnt that a close shave

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (21 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 39: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Roz

Roz Belfast

Excellent article and I hate to pick any holes in it but they reason they were landing from the east is that the wind was blowing from the west This is the normal wind direction in most of UK and aircraft always land into wind to make landing easier and safer

jaydkay Reading UK

The pilot of BA038 found himself in a situation where he could not any more control lift (he had lost power and he could not lower the nose too much to regain airspeed otherwise he would have flown the airceraft nose first into the ground) He had run out of altitude (600ft is not very high when ou are loosing altitude) He is to be commended for having extended the flight path to its fullest before intersecting with the ground The Captain displayed extraordinary leadership talent for letting him continue flying the plane while assisting him Chapeau bas to both Gentlemen Regards

Jp Demange Brussels

Er did anyone check the gastank

Burgess Cramerton North Carolina

With plane approaching to land in London pax normally take out their mobile phones (i have observed) has someones mobile phone caused to affect the navigational system of the aircraft this is my gut feeling

John london England

Having just flown in 5 different 777s over the past 3 weeks (some of which belonged to BA) and covering some 25000 miles in the process I think you would have more chance of a power draining UFO landing on your roof than ahving a probelm in one of these magnificent aircraft

Mark Wyatt Sunshine Coast Qld Australia

Earlier this month a 14-year-old whizzkid derailed several trams on the computerised tramway system in the Polish city of Lodz using illegally acquired knowledge of the system and a tv remote control which he had adapted using his precocious computer skills to send signals to the tramway

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (22 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

Your View

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (26 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Slide Show

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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White House 2008 Full coverage of the race for the US

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First solo flight for Prince

Prince William has flown solo just a week into his flight training at RAF Cranwell

Slide Show

The Times Health Club Join free and get in shape for 2008

The Bugle

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (28 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

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Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

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John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

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Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

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Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
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                                                                                                            3. f3 0
                                                                                                            4. f4 0
                                                                                                            5. f5 1
                                                                                                            6. f6 10
                                                                                                            7. f7 searchFormSubmitted
                                                                                                            8. f8 simple
                                                                                                            9. f9 675
Page 40: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

computer to switch points (Daily Telegraph January 11) Just a thought

David Ciechanow Poland

If God had wanted us to fly he wouldnt have invented Heathrow

sue Winchester

maybe it was a ufo disguised as a plane-ha haha-steve tobias

martin dundee

ufos are known to interfere with powered devices ufos are seen all over the United Kingdom lately-- a plane goes down with odd loss of power and the reports naively say looking for reason of loss of powerduh how stupid can a planet get

steve tobias towson MD USA

I am flying from Singapore to Manchester 1st March by Singapore Airlines 777 Should I be concerned about this problem

William Jacobs Melbourne Australia

A long article but filled with real information Just what Id expect from The Times

Ernie Merced California

I think you could say it was fatal to the aircraft

Alan Cheltenham

An unusually fine article on a complex aviation topic I believe the 777 was the first to be approved for 180 minutes ETOPS (Extended-range Twin Operations) ltugtright out the factory doorltUgt Other aircraft carry that certification such as the B767 Airbus 310 and 330 ETOPS involves certain aircraft maintenance practices specific pilot training training for dispatchers and a certification process of the airline based upon continued high reliability of their fleet Aircraft have had to earn their ETOPS upwards from 60 minute to a 180 maximum Boeing achieved it (Equivalent to a golfers hole-in-one) right from the get-go saving airlines millions in fuel ETOPS saves fuel by flying a more direct route (saved dollars and ecological benefits) on trans-oceanic routes The possibility of a well placed device to damage the aircraft must be considered investigated talked about and hopefully ruled out The 777 is still likely the safest Aircraft flying ever

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (23 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

Your View

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (26 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Name Email

Town City Country State

Required Field

Remember me

Terms and conditions

Print Email Post to delicious

Post to newsvine

Post to Yahoo

Post to Digg

Also in UK News

Publish the secret document on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction

ministers are told

Cash carrot for obese people to lose pounds

Teenage drug girls are jailed

Also in News

Winehouse may be charged over drugs video

Birthdays

A BA passenger jet made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on its return from China

Slide Show

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (27 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

US elections

White House 2008 Full coverage of the race for the US

presidency

First solo flight for Prince

Prince William has flown solo just a week into his flight training at RAF Cranwell

Slide Show

The Times Health Club Join free and get in shape for 2008

The Bugle

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (28 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

Today

Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

finest restaurants beaches and entertainment in Sydney

Britains Best

Kept Secrets

Entrepreneurs

The Grade

New

Horizons

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (29 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

Podcast

Wine amp Dine

Fink Tank

Football

Business

Travel

QUICKLINKS

Su Doku

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku Play our brand new interactive game with added functionality and daily prizes

CareerJobs

Forget burnout boreout is the new office disease

Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

boreout

Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

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Travel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Services

Business

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Free

Finance

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TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

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Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

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Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

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Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

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pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

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Jobs

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Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

Commercial Services Manager

pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

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High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

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with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
                    1. form3
                      1. x
                        1. f1
                        2. f2 itslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224
                        3. f3 userlogin
                        4. f4
                        5. f5 Off
                          1. f6 Log in
                          2. f7
                            1. form6
                              1. x
                                1. f1
                                  1. f2
                                    1. form1
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                                                    6. f6
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                                                    8. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                      1. f9
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                                                                    4. f4 0
                                                                    5. f5 search
                                                                    6. f6
                                                                    7. f7 hi
                                                                      1. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                                      2. f9
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                                                                                            5. f5 posting
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                                                                                                            8. f8 simple
                                                                                                            9. f9 675
Page 41: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Marc Ottawa On Canada

Concise exact well written article also understandable to the layman

Daniel Nikles Kilaben Bay Australia

Great article very precise and descriptive

Damian Sydney NSW

There have been other jet aircraft to loose both engines on approach A 737 lost both engines on approach in the late 80searly 90s The engines were at idle when they went through heavy rain showers that extinguished both engines The aircraft made an emergency landing in a field The short term solution for that particular engine was to keep throttle above idle in those conditions I would imagine that this theory has already been dismissed since no one speaks of heavy rain Fuel leaking at the crash site does not mean much There will still be some fuel in the tanks when the pumps suck dry Fuel floats on water So there may have been water in the last few gulps That seems to be the most suspicious item Contrary to procedure ( fired for sure) they should have kept the gear up if they feared not making the runway Landing gear drag is very significant Belly landing better than crash and it could have been a major crash Former 777 LG system engineer

Gordon Issaquah WA

180 mins for Two Eng AC has been around since before the 777 however the 777 is the first aircraft to be given 180 mins without a proving time in servicea minor point I know and otherwise a well written article

Peter Thorpe Sydney Australia

At the risk of sounding paranoid has the possibility of a terrorist act affecting the electronicscomputer systems been considered by the experts

Sian Australia

Sometimes we have to search through a ton of dross to find the dram of gold The article really does show the quality level we are used to in the popular media Pity that we cant get quality like this much more often Funny isnt it that the quality of the article is the outstanding feature commented on

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (24 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

Your View

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (26 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Name Email

Town City Country State

Required Field

Remember me

Terms and conditions

Print Email Post to delicious

Post to newsvine

Post to Yahoo

Post to Digg

Also in UK News

Publish the secret document on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction

ministers are told

Cash carrot for obese people to lose pounds

Teenage drug girls are jailed

Also in News

Winehouse may be charged over drugs video

Birthdays

A BA passenger jet made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on its return from China

Slide Show

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (27 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

US elections

White House 2008 Full coverage of the race for the US

presidency

First solo flight for Prince

Prince William has flown solo just a week into his flight training at RAF Cranwell

Slide Show

The Times Health Club Join free and get in shape for 2008

The Bugle

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (28 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

Today

Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

finest restaurants beaches and entertainment in Sydney

Britains Best

Kept Secrets

Entrepreneurs

The Grade

New

Horizons

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (29 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

Podcast

Wine amp Dine

Fink Tank

Football

Business

Travel

QUICKLINKS

Su Doku

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku Play our brand new interactive game with added functionality and daily prizes

CareerJobs

Forget burnout boreout is the new office disease

Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

boreout

Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

Su Doku Driving Career amp Jobs

Travel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Services

Business

City Guides

Free

Finance

Brochures

IFA Search

Times

TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

business information

Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

Times BazaarTravel Food amp Wine Home amp

Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (31 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

Cars

Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

Rolls-Royce Phantom LHD 200404

pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

Search for more cars and

bikes

Jobs

Assistant Commercial Director

Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

Commercial Services Manager

pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

Properties

High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

Looking for a new Home Visit Times Online Properties for Homes for Sale or Rent in

assoication with PropertyFindercom

Leicester LE3Residential development site

with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
                    1. form3
                      1. x
                        1. f1
                        2. f2 itslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224
                        3. f3 userlogin
                        4. f4
                        5. f5 Off
                          1. f6 Log in
                          2. f7
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                                              1. CLFEBINJDFKHKLPIIFIHPGCHOLJHANPO
                                                1. form1
                                                  1. x
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                                                    2. f2 archive
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                                                    8. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                      1. f9
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                                                                  1. x
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                                                                    5. f5 search
                                                                    6. f6
                                                                    7. f7 hi
                                                                      1. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                                      2. f9
                                                                          1. HLFHGNHLKEJOAFMGENIGNNMOAOHEBFMH
                                                                            1. form5
                                                                              1. f1
                                                                              2. f2
                                                                                1. form1
                                                                                  1. x
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                                                                                    3. f3 0
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                                                                                    6. f6 10
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                                                                                    8. f8 simple
                                                                                    9. f9 675
                                                                                        1. form2
                                                                                          1. x
                                                                                            1. f1 211044
                                                                                            2. f2 3217699
                                                                                            3. f3 redirectArticlejspurl=tolnewsukarticle3216746ece
                                                                                            4. f4 tolnewsukarticle3216746ece
                                                                                            5. f5 posting
                                                                                            6. f6
                                                                                            7. f7 3217699
                                                                                            8. f8
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Page 42: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Bob Sewell Barcaldine Qld

Excellent article Well written and extremely well researched

Alex Hill Sydney Australia

I know nothing about aircraft and would not normally be interested However this long article is so magnificently researched and put together I read every word with fascination Award-winning stuff

Tim Dean London Englan

dont think you should call it a fatal flaw there were no fatalities

Barry chesham uk

I have to fly on one of these on Jan 29 Toronto to Sydney Good article

George Sansom Peth ON Canada

Good artical well writen well reserched and imforitive

Michael Riley Glasgow Scotland

I agree Excellent article even if a little dramatic

SN Austin Texas

Excellent article This first time I have seen such a comprehensive article on this topic Keep ip going I will read such articles should there be more of them relating to safety in the air

Elwyn Jenkins Sydney Australia

They ran out of fuel And deserve to be fired and imprisioned Their backslapping curry and congratulations for a job well done is inappropriate and BAs attempt to put a brave face on grave pilot error

Bobby Boca Raton USA

well done good written and wery profetional article Thanks

Oleg London UK

I agree

anthony winnipeg MB Canada

Excellent article Some failures however are not reported publicly My parents were on a flight operated by a middle eastern country One of its

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (25 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

Your View

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (26 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Name Email

Town City Country State

Required Field

Remember me

Terms and conditions

Print Email Post to delicious

Post to newsvine

Post to Yahoo

Post to Digg

Also in UK News

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ministers are told

Cash carrot for obese people to lose pounds

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A BA passenger jet made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on its return from China

Slide Show

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (27 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

US elections

White House 2008 Full coverage of the race for the US

presidency

First solo flight for Prince

Prince William has flown solo just a week into his flight training at RAF Cranwell

Slide Show

The Times Health Club Join free and get in shape for 2008

The Bugle

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (28 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

Today

Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

finest restaurants beaches and entertainment in Sydney

Britains Best

Kept Secrets

Entrepreneurs

The Grade

New

Horizons

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (29 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

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Fink Tank

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Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

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Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

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Brochures

IFA Search

Times

TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

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Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

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Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (31 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

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The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

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pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

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Jobs

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Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

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Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

Properties

High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

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with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
                    1. form3
                      1. x
                        1. f1
                        2. f2 itslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224
                        3. f3 userlogin
                        4. f4
                        5. f5 Off
                          1. f6 Log in
                          2. f7
                            1. form6
                              1. x
                                1. f1
                                  1. f2
                                    1. form1
                                      1. x
                                        1. f1
                                          1. f2
                                              1. CLFEBINJDFKHKLPIIFIHPGCHOLJHANPO
                                                1. form1
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                                                    2. f2 archive
                                                    3. f3 20
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                                                                    5. f5 search
                                                                    6. f6
                                                                    7. f7 hi
                                                                      1. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                                      2. f9
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                                                                                                    2. f2
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                                                                                                            8. f8 simple
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Page 43: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

engines blew out over the Mediterranean and the plane turned around and limped all the way home to avoid public exposure of the failure The US FAA was unaware of the incident

A Waterhouse Davis Ca USA

I have to agree with Peter thank you for an excellent article

Carrie Toronto Canada

What scares me is that the oxygen masks deployed and why would they do this at low altitude With the reported fuel leak having oxygen around is not a good thing

Tim Curtis Fife WA

It is refreshing to read an article about an aviation incident that is accurate and not full of speculative nonsense from the so-called aviation experts I only hope that the crew are not being elevated to hero status as the British Midland B737 pilots were which crashed at Kegworth in 1989 and then went from hero to zero rapidly when the results of the investigation were known

Paul Dubai UAE

This is an excellently researched article of a standard not usually seen in the media

Peter Wordsworth Sydney Australia

Damage photos seem to show at least one engine was powered at impact Could a computer glitch have caused premature deployment of thrust reversers-

ARBE Redmond USA- washington

Have your say

Your View

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (26 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Name Email

Town City Country State

Required Field

Remember me

Terms and conditions

Print Email Post to delicious

Post to newsvine

Post to Yahoo

Post to Digg

Also in UK News

Publish the secret document on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction

ministers are told

Cash carrot for obese people to lose pounds

Teenage drug girls are jailed

Also in News

Winehouse may be charged over drugs video

Birthdays

A BA passenger jet made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on its return from China

Slide Show

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (27 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

US elections

White House 2008 Full coverage of the race for the US

presidency

First solo flight for Prince

Prince William has flown solo just a week into his flight training at RAF Cranwell

Slide Show

The Times Health Club Join free and get in shape for 2008

The Bugle

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (28 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

Today

Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

finest restaurants beaches and entertainment in Sydney

Britains Best

Kept Secrets

Entrepreneurs

The Grade

New

Horizons

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (29 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

Podcast

Wine amp Dine

Fink Tank

Football

Business

Travel

QUICKLINKS

Su Doku

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku Play our brand new interactive game with added functionality and daily prizes

CareerJobs

Forget burnout boreout is the new office disease

Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

boreout

Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

Su Doku Driving Career amp Jobs

Travel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Services

Business

City Guides

Free

Finance

Brochures

IFA Search

Times

TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

business information

Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

Times BazaarTravel Food amp Wine Home amp

Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (31 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

Cars

Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

Rolls-Royce Phantom LHD 200404

pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

Search for more cars and

bikes

Jobs

Assistant Commercial Director

Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

Commercial Services Manager

pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

Properties

High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

Looking for a new Home Visit Times Online Properties for Homes for Sale or Rent in

assoication with PropertyFindercom

Leicester LE3Residential development site

with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
                    1. form3
                      1. x
                        1. f1
                        2. f2 itslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224
                        3. f3 userlogin
                        4. f4
                        5. f5 Off
                          1. f6 Log in
                          2. f7
                            1. form6
                              1. x
                                1. f1
                                  1. f2
                                    1. form1
                                      1. x
                                        1. f1
                                          1. f2
                                              1. CLFEBINJDFKHKLPIIFIHPGCHOLJHANPO
                                                1. form1
                                                  1. x
                                                    1. f1 date
                                                    2. f2 archive
                                                    3. f3 20
                                                    4. f4 0
                                                    5. f5 search
                                                    6. f6
                                                    7. f7 hi
                                                    8. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                      1. f9
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                                                          1. x
                                                            1. f1
                                                                1. form3
                                                                  1. x
                                                                    1. f1 date
                                                                    2. f2 archive
                                                                    3. f3 20
                                                                    4. f4 0
                                                                    5. f5 search
                                                                    6. f6
                                                                    7. f7 hi
                                                                      1. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                                      2. f9
                                                                          1. HLFHGNHLKEJOAFMGENIGNNMOAOHEBFMH
                                                                            1. form5
                                                                              1. f1
                                                                              2. f2
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                                                                                    3. f3 0
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                                                                                    6. f6 10
                                                                                    7. f7 searchFormSubmitted
                                                                                    8. f8 simple
                                                                                    9. f9 675
                                                                                        1. form2
                                                                                          1. x
                                                                                            1. f1 211044
                                                                                            2. f2 3217699
                                                                                            3. f3 redirectArticlejspurl=tolnewsukarticle3216746ece
                                                                                            4. f4 tolnewsukarticle3216746ece
                                                                                            5. f5 posting
                                                                                            6. f6
                                                                                            7. f7 3217699
                                                                                            8. f8
                                                                                            9. f9
                                                                                            10. f10
                                                                                            11. f11
                                                                                            12. f12
                                                                                            13. f13 Off
                                                                                              1. f14
                                                                                                1. form3
                                                                                                  1. x
                                                                                                    1. f1 httpdrivingtimesonlinecouk_nipdclassmotorSrchResphp
                                                                                                    2. f2
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                                                                                                        1. form4
                                                                                                          1. x
                                                                                                            1. f1
                                                                                                            2. f2 10
                                                                                                            3. f3 0
                                                                                                            4. f4 0
                                                                                                            5. f5 1
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                                                                                                            7. f7 searchFormSubmitted
                                                                                                            8. f8 simple
                                                                                                            9. f9 675
Page 44: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Name Email

Town City Country State

Required Field

Remember me

Terms and conditions

Print Email Post to delicious

Post to newsvine

Post to Yahoo

Post to Digg

Also in UK News

Publish the secret document on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction

ministers are told

Cash carrot for obese people to lose pounds

Teenage drug girls are jailed

Also in News

Winehouse may be charged over drugs video

Birthdays

A BA passenger jet made an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on its return from China

Slide Show

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (27 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

US elections

White House 2008 Full coverage of the race for the US

presidency

First solo flight for Prince

Prince William has flown solo just a week into his flight training at RAF Cranwell

Slide Show

The Times Health Club Join free and get in shape for 2008

The Bugle

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (28 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

Today

Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

finest restaurants beaches and entertainment in Sydney

Britains Best

Kept Secrets

Entrepreneurs

The Grade

New

Horizons

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (29 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

Podcast

Wine amp Dine

Fink Tank

Football

Business

Travel

QUICKLINKS

Su Doku

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku Play our brand new interactive game with added functionality and daily prizes

CareerJobs

Forget burnout boreout is the new office disease

Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

boreout

Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

Su Doku Driving Career amp Jobs

Travel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Services

Business

City Guides

Free

Finance

Brochures

IFA Search

Times

TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

business information

Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

Times BazaarTravel Food amp Wine Home amp

Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (31 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

Cars

Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

Rolls-Royce Phantom LHD 200404

pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

Search for more cars and

bikes

Jobs

Assistant Commercial Director

Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

Commercial Services Manager

pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

Properties

High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

Looking for a new Home Visit Times Online Properties for Homes for Sale or Rent in

assoication with PropertyFindercom

Leicester LE3Residential development site

with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
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Page 45: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

US elections

White House 2008 Full coverage of the race for the US

presidency

First solo flight for Prince

Prince William has flown solo just a week into his flight training at RAF Cranwell

Slide Show

The Times Health Club Join free and get in shape for 2008

The Bugle

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (28 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

Today

Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

finest restaurants beaches and entertainment in Sydney

Britains Best

Kept Secrets

Entrepreneurs

The Grade

New

Horizons

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (29 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

Podcast

Wine amp Dine

Fink Tank

Football

Business

Travel

QUICKLINKS

Su Doku

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku Play our brand new interactive game with added functionality and daily prizes

CareerJobs

Forget burnout boreout is the new office disease

Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

boreout

Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

Su Doku Driving Career amp Jobs

Travel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Services

Business

City Guides

Free

Finance

Brochures

IFA Search

Times

TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

business information

Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

Times BazaarTravel Food amp Wine Home amp

Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (31 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

Cars

Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

Rolls-Royce Phantom LHD 200404

pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

Search for more cars and

bikes

Jobs

Assistant Commercial Director

Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

Commercial Services Manager

pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

Properties

High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

Looking for a new Home Visit Times Online Properties for Homes for Sale or Rent in

assoication with PropertyFindercom

Leicester LE3Residential development site

with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
                    1. form3
                      1. x
                        1. f1
                        2. f2 itslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224
                        3. f3 userlogin
                        4. f4
                        5. f5 Off
                          1. f6 Log in
                          2. f7
                            1. form6
                              1. x
                                1. f1
                                  1. f2
                                    1. form1
                                      1. x
                                        1. f1
                                          1. f2
                                              1. CLFEBINJDFKHKLPIIFIHPGCHOLJHANPO
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                                                    2. f2 archive
                                                    3. f3 20
                                                    4. f4 0
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                                                    6. f6
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                                                    8. f8 Search seattletimescom
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                                                                      2. f9
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                                                                                                    2. f2
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Page 46: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Satirical podcast Dianas inquest is like a great

whodunnit except no one-dunnit

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Does this show theres life on Mars

Heath Ledger took pills for stress and

Today

Hamas spent months cutting through Gaza

Family of Heath Ledger deny Brokeback star

Are Arsenal the worst losers in sport

Microsoft seeks patent for office spy

Today

Does this show theres life on Mars

Mussolini sports car may fetch pound1m

Winehouse visits clinic as video threatens

Love and marriage donrsquot have to go

Focus Zone

Celebrate Sydneys SummerTake an insiders glimpse at some of the

finest restaurants beaches and entertainment in Sydney

Britains Best

Kept Secrets

Entrepreneurs

The Grade

New

Horizons

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (29 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

Podcast

Wine amp Dine

Fink Tank

Football

Business

Travel

QUICKLINKS

Su Doku

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku Play our brand new interactive game with added functionality and daily prizes

CareerJobs

Forget burnout boreout is the new office disease

Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

boreout

Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

Su Doku Driving Career amp Jobs

Travel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Services

Business

City Guides

Free

Finance

Brochures

IFA Search

Times

TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

business information

Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

Times BazaarTravel Food amp Wine Home amp

Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (31 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

Cars

Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

Rolls-Royce Phantom LHD 200404

pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

Search for more cars and

bikes

Jobs

Assistant Commercial Director

Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

Commercial Services Manager

pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

Properties

High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

Looking for a new Home Visit Times Online Properties for Homes for Sale or Rent in

assoication with PropertyFindercom

Leicester LE3Residential development site

with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
                  1. FDIJGAOCIBKMAOCFAKFFJEPFJBPKDHFO
                    1. form3
                      1. x
                        1. f1
                        2. f2 itslashdotorgarticleplsid=0801201430224
                        3. f3 userlogin
                        4. f4
                        5. f5 Off
                          1. f6 Log in
                          2. f7
                            1. form6
                              1. x
                                1. f1
                                  1. f2
                                    1. form1
                                      1. x
                                        1. f1
                                          1. f2
                                              1. CLFEBINJDFKHKLPIIFIHPGCHOLJHANPO
                                                1. form1
                                                  1. x
                                                    1. f1 date
                                                    2. f2 archive
                                                    3. f3 20
                                                    4. f4 0
                                                    5. f5 search
                                                    6. f6
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                                                    8. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                      1. f9
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                                                                    6. f6
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                                                                      1. f8 Search seattletimescom
                                                                      2. f9
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                                                                                            4. f4 tolnewsukarticle3216746ece
                                                                                            5. f5 posting
                                                                                            6. f6
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Page 47: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Business

Podcast

Wine amp Dine

Fink Tank

Football

Business

Travel

QUICKLINKS

Su Doku

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku Play our brand new interactive game with added functionality and daily prizes

CareerJobs

Forget burnout boreout is the new office disease

Are you irritable when you return from work Drained of emotion You could be suffering from

boreout

Podcasts

The Bugle - Bush brings chaos to the Middle East

John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman marvel at the logistical nightmare of Bushs forty-five car

entourage

Driving

Daihatsu MateriaJust a couple of tweaks and itrsquos an iPhone on

wheels says Jeremy Clarkson

Travel

100 summer holidays for 08Weve trawled the brochures and websites to find this summerrsquos best holidays with every

angle taste and budget catered for

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (30 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Book a holiday

Photo Galleries

Pictures Image of the Day gallery

A selection of photographic highlights from the last fortnight as featured in T2

Su Doku Driving Career amp Jobs

Travel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Services

Business

City Guides

Free

Finance

Brochures

IFA Search

Times

TV News

Dating

Free

Credit

Report

Business City GuidesOverseas contacts and local

business information

Pictures of the day - view ours and send us

yours

Times BazaarTravel Food amp Wine Home amp

Garden Gifts Tickets

Encounters

DatingLook for new friends or the love of your life

with Encounters

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (31 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

Cars

Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

Rolls-Royce Phantom LHD 200404

pound135000 + VAT South East England

Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

Search for more cars and

bikes

Jobs

Assistant Commercial Director

Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

Commercial Services Manager

pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Employment Relations Manager

pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

Properties

High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

Looking for a new Home Visit Times Online Properties for Homes for Sale or Rent in

assoication with PropertyFindercom

Leicester LE3Residential development site

with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

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  • slashdotorg
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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Page 49: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Classifieds

Cars

Bentley Continental GT 200554 pound70995

The Midlands

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDi 200353 pound17995

South East England

Rolls-Royce Phantom LHD 200404

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Car Insurance Great car insurance deals

online

Search for more cars and

bikes

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Assistant Commercial Director

Competitive Partnerships for Schools Regionally and London

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pound50 616 - pound62402 NHS Birmingham

Birmingham

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (32 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

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selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
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        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
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            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 50: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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pound pound31749 - pound39442 Ofsted London

Skills Policy Directorpound56716 - pound69166

National Office Coventry

Search more Jobs

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High Beech London E4Beautiful 4 bedroom 3 recep

property Guide Price pound725000

Looking for a new Home Visit Times Online Properties for Homes for Sale or Rent in

assoication with PropertyFindercom

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with planning permission pound1500000

Home insurance Great deals online

Search for more properties

Holidays

Qantas to Singapore amp Oz Fly Qantas via Singapore to

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (33 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Page 51: Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crashose/embedded/Slashdot - Failed Avionics a... · 2008-01-24 · Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

Australia from pound662 Singapore stopovers from pound20 Stay at

award winning Kingfisher Bay Resort in Queensland

Australia CLICK FOR PRIZE DRAW

Barrier Reef Island WandererExclusive pound100 OFF per couple - 15 Day package

including a 13 day escorted tour flights with Qantas and

selected meals From pound3489pp

January Sale to Hawaii7 nights

from just pound759pp

Travel Insurance

Great travel insurance deals online

Search for more holidays

Search Ad Reference

Where am I Home News UK News Contact us Back to top

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (34 of 35)2412008 91445

Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

NewsCommentBusinessSportLife amp StyleArts amp Entertainment

Sponsored by

Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online The Times and The Sunday Timescopy Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd

This service is provided on Times Newspapers standard Terms and Conditions Please read our Privacy PolicyTo inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online The Times or The Sunday Times click hereThis website is published by a member of the News International Group News International Limited 1 Virginia St London E98 1XY is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701 VAT

number GB 243 8054 69

httpwwwtimesonlinecouktolnewsukarticle3216746ece (35 of 35)2412008 91445

  • slashdotorg
    • Slashdot | Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
      • nwsourcecom
        • Nation amp World | Loss of thrust in first 777 crash | Seattle Times Newspaper
          • wwwtimesonlinecouk
            • Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online
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Hunt for fatal flaw of Flight 38 - Times Online

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