Qantas emergency landing

[RRMerlin]

Pax Inflight Laptop Computer Use suggested as cause.

Qantas autopilot blamed for jet plunge

Paul Bibby
October 9, 2008
A computer malfunction involving Qantas Flight 72's autopilot system has emerged as the likely cause of the passenger jet's plunge that left 20 people seriously injured.
As Qantas disclosed yesterday that more passengers and crew had been injured than first thought when the Airbus A330 dropped from 37,000 feet on Tuesday, investigators said an "irregularity" in the jet's computer system occurred at the time.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau safety investigations director, Julian Walsh, said QF72's pilots received electronic monitoring messages indicating there was a problem with the plane's elevator control system, the device that controls a plane's up-and-down movement.
Mr Walsh said that as the crew tried to act on the alerts, the aircraft climbed about 300 feet before "abruptly" pitching nose-down, sending passengers - particularly at the rear - slamming into the cabin's roof and walls.
"There was a period of time where the aircraft performed of its own accord," Mr Walsh said.
Qantas management has refused to comment on the cause of the incident, but a source within the airline told the Herald the plane's autopilot system was to blame.
The Australian and International Pilots Association president, Captain Ian Woods, said that, based on investigator's statements, a problem auto-flight control was "a likely explanation".
"When an auto-flight system exceeds its authority - goes beyond what it is designed to do - it sends a message to the pilots. The pilots acted exactly as they should have done in that situation."
Qantas and Airbus did not respond yesterday when asked who had responsibility for installing and maintaining the A330's flight control systems.
Mr Walsh said he was confident the flight data record - contained in the aircraft's instrument and cockpit voice recorders that were removed yesterday - would provide clearer answers.

Speculation laptop use caused Qantas flight plunge

October 9, 2008 - 9:53AM

Air safety investigators say it is too early to blame passenger laptop computers for causing a Qantas jet to abruptly nose dive on a flight from Singapore to Perth.
The Airbus A330-300, with 303 passengers and a crew of 10, experienced what the airline described as a "sudden change in altitude" north of its destination on Tuesday.
The mid-air incident resulted in injuries to 74 people, with 51 of them treated by three hospitals in Perth for fractures, lacerations and suspected spinal injuries.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has said an "irregularity" in one of the plane's computers may have caused the dramatic altitude change which hurled passengers around the cabin.
Laptops could have interfered with the plane's on-board computer system, it has been reported.
But the bureau says it's too early to make that judgment.
A spokeswoman said the bureau had not yet received an update from its investigators at Learmonth, near Exmouth in WA's north, where the plane was forced to land.
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder had only just arrived at the ATSB's Canberra headquarters and were yet to be analysed.
AAP
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