Glasgow Accident Inquiry Findings
BBC - Tuesday, 24 September, 2002, 12:16 GMT 13:16 UK:
Crash pilot switched off wrong engine
An air crash near Glasgow Airport which left eight people dead was caused when the pilot mistakenly switched off the wrong engine, an inquiry has found.
The Cessna 404, which was carrying nine Airtours staff from Glasgow to Aberdeen, nosedived minutes after taking off on 3 September, 1999.
A fatal accident inquiry at Paisley Sheriff Court concluded that the pilot, Captain John Easson, realised that one of the engines had malfunctioned but was unable to tell which one.
The victims
Captain John Easson, 49
Stewardess Pauline MacIver, 31
Stewardess Pauline Moyes, 38
Stewardess Linda Taylor, 29
Stewardess Helen Steven, 28
Stewardess Lynn McCulloch, 25
Pilot Colin Finnie, 32
Pilot Bill Henderson, 54
The report by Sheriff Principal Bruce Kerr said that Capt Easson's judgment could have been hampered by the fact that a "bang" was heard from the right engine, which was in fact the good one, early on in the flight.
The report stated: "The commander decided to adhere to his original intention to return to the airfield and did not consider (or may have decided against) the possibility of a gradual descent to a forced landing.
"This was, as it turned out, a misjudgement, albeit made under great stress, at low height in a necessarily very limited period of time."
Sheriff Kerr said the decision was "born of the commander's predisposition from his training and experience to resolve such an emergency by closing down the malfunctioning engine and proceeding to an airport on the remaining engine".
The report said the pilot ought to have considered making an emergency landing in nearby fields rather than attempting to return to Glasgow Airport.
It also lists a series of recommendations:
Cockpit voice recorders in all aircraft regardless of size
Extra pilot training
Mechanical inspections every 200 flying hours
A reduction in the effects of engine vibration
A study into safety of seats on small planes
The sheriff underlined the need for small aircraft to carry cockpit flight recorders.
He said: "It is highly probable, indeed almost certain, that we would all have known immeasurably more about this accident and the reasons for it had there been a cockpit voice recorder on board."
A spokesman for MyTravel Airways, the new name for Airtours, said: "Following the publishing of Fatal Accident Inquiry findings today into the tragic accident, our thoughts remain with the survivors and the families of the deceased at this time."
Five stewardesses, the pilot and co-pilot and an Airtours pilot travelling as a passenger were killed, while three other staff members only survived after being pulled from the burning wreckage by a man who was working nearby.
The rescuer, John Connell, 24, later received a British Red Cross humanity award for his heroism.