Always Late
29th Jul 2004, 20:47
I was looking for this story around about the postings for 27th of Feb but couldn't find it ....
A Ryanair plane carrying more than 120 passengers narrowly escaped disaster after a series of mistakes following a fire.
Aviation accident investigators told yesterday how witnesses on a flight from Dublin to London reported that a fire broke out on one of the jet's engines, reported the Belfast Telegraph.
As the plane landed at Stansted on February 27, 2002, terrified passengers were told by the captain: "This is an emergency. Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate." Four of the 124 passengers were hurt in the evacuation as flames and smoke were seen pouring from the jet engine.
Investigators said the litany of errors that occurred was an example of how not to deal with an air emergency. The pilot, in a communications mix-up, was not told by Stansted air traffic control that there were flames rather than smoke coming from the engine.
The report also noted that when the plane landed it was parked in a crosswind - a potentially fatal error as the destructive potential of crosswind on an aircraft fire is well known.
The report also said two female cabin crew were unable to open aircraft doors, and had to get help from male colleagues.
A fire chief warned that passengers should evacuate the aircraft from the opposite side to the fire. But the pilot and co-pilot failed to acknowledge the call and 40 passengers got out via the wrong side.
The Air Accident Investigation Board report said the flight landed with vibrations in one of its two engines and flames were then spotted.
A Ryanair plane carrying more than 120 passengers narrowly escaped disaster after a series of mistakes following a fire.
Aviation accident investigators told yesterday how witnesses on a flight from Dublin to London reported that a fire broke out on one of the jet's engines, reported the Belfast Telegraph.
As the plane landed at Stansted on February 27, 2002, terrified passengers were told by the captain: "This is an emergency. Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate." Four of the 124 passengers were hurt in the evacuation as flames and smoke were seen pouring from the jet engine.
Investigators said the litany of errors that occurred was an example of how not to deal with an air emergency. The pilot, in a communications mix-up, was not told by Stansted air traffic control that there were flames rather than smoke coming from the engine.
The report also noted that when the plane landed it was parked in a crosswind - a potentially fatal error as the destructive potential of crosswind on an aircraft fire is well known.
The report also said two female cabin crew were unable to open aircraft doors, and had to get help from male colleagues.
A fire chief warned that passengers should evacuate the aircraft from the opposite side to the fire. But the pilot and co-pilot failed to acknowledge the call and 40 passengers got out via the wrong side.
The Air Accident Investigation Board report said the flight landed with vibrations in one of its two engines and flames were then spotted.