Iranian A310 near miss Sutton Mast
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Iranian A310 near miss Sutton Mast
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The Observer can reveal the chilling moments that air traffic controllers pleaded with the crew of an Iranian passenger plane to pull up - or risk crashing 84 passengers into Sutton's TV mast.
"You are still descending - climb 2,500ft; acknowledge," a controller repeated as a scheduled Mahan Air flight from Tehran made its approach to Birmingham International Airport.A report by the Aircraft Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) said that the crew of the Airbus A310 failed to apply the correct pressure settings, meaning that the jet was flying around 1,000ft lower than onboard readings showed.
"The radar controller had cleared the crew to descend to an altitude of 2,500ft, but noticed that the aircraft continued to descend below the cleared altitude," explained a spokesperson for the official investigation.
As the near-miss unfolded, the controller, who was also controlling several other aircraft, had his instructions repeatedly acknowledged but still the plane flew dangerously low.
At this point, Birmingham Airport warned that the mast lay four nautical miles ahead and the crew 'should climb immediately'.
"You are indicating 1,500ft," the controller stated. The crew then realised that the altimeters were set incorrectly.
"Just got it now and climbing 2,000ft," the co-pilot radioed to Birmingham.
The controller responded: "You can level off at 2,000ft please - you are now clear of the TV mast."
An AAIB spokesperson said: "A height difference of 930ft existed between the aircraft actual altitude and that indicated on the altimeters.
"Consequently, when the altimeters were indicating 2,500ft, the aircraft had actually descended to 1,570ft."
On righting its systems, the 16-year-old plane continued its approach and landed without further incident.
The near-miss happened at 8.43pm on November 24 last year, but details only came to light this week.
There were 84 passengers on board and a crew of 11.
"The crew could not recall any distractions or unusual flight deck activity at the point at which they would normally have adjusted the altimeter sub-scales," the AAIB said.
The Observer can reveal the chilling moments that air traffic controllers pleaded with the crew of an Iranian passenger plane to pull up - or risk crashing 84 passengers into Sutton's TV mast.
"You are still descending - climb 2,500ft; acknowledge," a controller repeated as a scheduled Mahan Air flight from Tehran made its approach to Birmingham International Airport.A report by the Aircraft Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) said that the crew of the Airbus A310 failed to apply the correct pressure settings, meaning that the jet was flying around 1,000ft lower than onboard readings showed.
"The radar controller had cleared the crew to descend to an altitude of 2,500ft, but noticed that the aircraft continued to descend below the cleared altitude," explained a spokesperson for the official investigation.
As the near-miss unfolded, the controller, who was also controlling several other aircraft, had his instructions repeatedly acknowledged but still the plane flew dangerously low.
At this point, Birmingham Airport warned that the mast lay four nautical miles ahead and the crew 'should climb immediately'.
"You are indicating 1,500ft," the controller stated. The crew then realised that the altimeters were set incorrectly.
"Just got it now and climbing 2,000ft," the co-pilot radioed to Birmingham.
The controller responded: "You can level off at 2,000ft please - you are now clear of the TV mast."
An AAIB spokesperson said: "A height difference of 930ft existed between the aircraft actual altitude and that indicated on the altimeters.
"Consequently, when the altimeters were indicating 2,500ft, the aircraft had actually descended to 1,570ft."
On righting its systems, the 16-year-old plane continued its approach and landed without further incident.
The near-miss happened at 8.43pm on November 24 last year, but details only came to light this week.
There were 84 passengers on board and a crew of 11.
"The crew could not recall any distractions or unusual flight deck activity at the point at which they would normally have adjusted the altimeter sub-scales," the AAIB said.
Last edited by jote; 1st May 2007 at 09:38. Reason: typo
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