PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - ATR DOWN IN PALERMO LAST YEAR: PILOT'S FAULT (ACCORDING TO TV PROGRAMME)
Old 2nd May 2006, 17:11
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FougaMagister
 
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... unfortunately, they make heavier reading than sitting back and watching a TV programme aimed at a wide (and non-technically-inclined) audience.

Interestingly (and leaving aside the issue of the wrong fuel indicator being installed during maintenance), the Italian AAIB recommended in its interim report on the TUNINTER ATR ditching that fuel low-level warning systems be made independent of the fuel gauges/totalisers; a recommendation endorsed by the EASA.

That would seem to indicate an absence of responsibility on the part of the flight crew. Starting with the wrong fuel figure in Tunisia on the outbound leg, they would probably have had to dipstick the fuel tanks to detect the mistake; but why would they have done that unless they suspected a problem with the fuel indicators in the first place?

While it makes for riveting TV to point to a single cause, aircraft accidents are invariably the result of a SERIES of circumstances - each of which, taken separately, being apparently innocuous. There is hardly ever a "smoking gun" in flight safety.

Cheers
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