http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/con...4/s1204732.htm
Wednesday, 22 September , 2004 12:50:00
Reporter: Alison Caldwell
DAVID HARDAKER: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating an incident involving a Qantas jet over Canberra in July, where it's believed the crew incorrectly programmed the jet's holding pattern.
Newspaper reports this morning claimed the passenger jet was just seconds from disaster, when its ground proximity warning system was activated.
The incident happened just before 5am, when the Qantas jet from Perth was ordered into a holding pattern over Canberra.
As Alison Caldwell reports, a
professional pilots' website first detailed the incident late last week, and claimed that the jet's warning system saved the lives of everyone on board.
ALISON CALDWELL: Qantas flight 720 left Perth soon after midnight on July the 24th, with 155 passengers on board.
On it's approach to Canberra just before 5am, the Boeing 737 was placed in a holding pattern near a mountain range some 40 kilometres south of the national capital.
The World Today understands that the pilots on board incorrectly programmed the plane's coordinates and soon after, its warning system was activated.
Today's newspaper reports claim the jet came within 80 metres of hitting a mountain peak.
The incident was reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. A preliminary report will be released later today.
Peter Gibson is a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
PETER GIBSON: There was some problems with the programming of the holding pattern by the flight crew at the time, and that has been reported as an incident by Qantas, quite properly to us and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, and that's being investigated right now.
ALISON CALDWELL: Details of the incident are contained on a
professional pilots website.
It claims the crew and passengers were just seconds from disaster when the plane's warning system was activated.
Alan Stray is with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, he says the website has grossly exaggerated the incident.
ALAN STRAY: It's quite inappropriate and in many ways irresponsible for people to be putting out anecdotal information on rumour networks, and until we've had a chance to analyse the facts and come up with some concrete evidence and some findings, it is inappropriate to make such comments, and so we've been working on this for some weeks gathering sufficient information to be able to put something meaningful out to the public, and we hope to be in a position to do that in the next 24 to 48 hours.
ALISON CALDWELL: Neither the ATSB or CASA will provide any further information about the incident.
CASA's Peter Gibson says the website doesn't tell the whole story.
PETER GIBSON:
The website is known as the pilots rumour network, and some of the information there is spot on and some of the information is just that, rumours.
Now, some of the information on this particular incident I think is probably reasonably close to the mark. Some of the other information is suggesting that the aircraft was only metres away from the mountaintops at the Tinderry Ranges I think is a bit exaggerated.
ALISON CALDWELL: The Qantas jet was one of airline's new 737 800's. With it's fully computerised cockpit, it allows the crew to manually change the aircraft's coordinates.
Richard Woodward is with the Australian International Pilots Association. He says the aircraft's terrain warning system gave the pilots enough time to take action.
RICHARD WOODWARD: The ground proximity warning system in the modern aircraft has a multiple layer of protection and the terrain warning indicates a closure rate with terrain that's not yet critical, you know for instance if the ground's climbing under the aeroplane and it's flying level it would give a terrain warning in the form of terrain terrain, whereas if the aircraft was ascending in very close proximity to the ground, that would be followed by a pull up call to the crew to take action.
The crew, I gather the crew reported the situation through the normal process and there was normal internal investigation in the company and appropriate actions in the company's eyes were taken and this just is a subsequent follow up by the ATSB.
ALISON CALDWELL: The
Professional pilots website says that the jet's last line of defence against hitting the ground was its, you know being its ground proximity warning system, or GPWS was the only thing which saved the lives of the 155 passengers on board.
RICHARD WOODWARD: Um, well I think that's a long bow to draw on this case, because as I said I don't believe in this instance and I can't really speculate too much, but I don't think the actual closure rate with this terrain in this situation was that critical.
DAVID HARDAKER: Richard Woodward of the Australian International Pilots Association with Alison Caldwell.