Police helicopter crashes onto Glasgow pub: final AAIB report

[8Pieced]

The point at which I believe the LOW FUEL Warnings were dismissed

No Conspiracy theories from me.....if you truly know this aircraft, there is only one possibility:


I simply believe that if the pilot was presented with correct fuel indications, ie lowering supply tank levels along with an associated FUEL caution, he quite simply would have done as I said I did previously, looked up and put his Transfer pumps on. It would all make total sense to him.


However, I believe he must have had the GNWEM/GXMII fuel sensor fault. Remember that this previously unknown fault (or simply not distributed to the pilot community!!!!!) doesn't show up a blank indication in a fuel tank, or FUEL QTY FAIL or FUEL DEGRADE cautions. It looks normal, as the supply tanks are showing full whilst in reality, they are insidiously emptying.


So at the exact time of being presented LOW FUEL Warnings, the pilot may have simply dismissed the warnings as they were contrary to his normal graphic indications of full supply tanks. He probably may not have even physically checked his transfer pumps were on - why would he, as the supply tanks couldn't be full without the Transfer pumps being on, could they.......or so he believed at the time being unaware of the GNWEM/GXMII fault.


At the exact time of the LOW FUEL Warnings, the GSPAO fuel indications (full supply tanks and fuel in the main) could have appeared normal having been indicating only 26 Kgs or 7.8 Mins of flying time more than he should of at that point, remembering that on previous flights, he may have been getting 5 - 10 minutes more endurance if flying conservatively (although I admit their profiles don't fall in to this category). So it is not a fuel difference which would instantly raise alarm bells in this fuel sensor fault mode.


Once the warnings were dismissed, some normal but distracting tasking follows, and you would probably need at least 5 if not 10 more minutes of flying to see a noticeable difference of fuel readings, or as in this case actually notice that they haven't changed at all. That was 5-10 minutes which they didn't have of course!


So yes we can all look at the end fuel state and say that he should have known that this was not possible to have 76 kgs in the main, but the fuel indications are not far from normal at the exact point of when he DISMISSED (NOT IGNORED!!) the Low Fuel warnings.


Yes the pilot made some errors, as I have too, but I remain convinced that if we as an Aviation community had worked better together, then we could have prevented this event from happening.


I'm am still shocked that I trained in 2010 and was at no time then or subsequently informed of the GXMII incident. This is a complete failing at all levels.