BMI's Hailstorm damage- Radar turned off!
 

Plunge-jet pilot turned off radar
John Scheerhout

A PILOT who flew his passenger jet into a terrifying hailstorm had turned off weather-detecting radar, a report revealed today.

The bmi plane with 213 passengers on board plunged thousands of feet and rolled violently as it was hit by massive hailstones which ripped a hole in the nose-cone and shattered the cockpit's outer windscreen.

A dramatic picture of the damaged Airbus was published in the M.E.N. in May last year. The plane was flying to Manchester from Cyprus when the storm hit.

At the time a spokeswoman for the airline described the damage as "minor".

But a report by the Air Accident Investigation branch today says it was "significant" and called the incident "serious".

Storm

The report reveals that the 42-year-old pilot of flight BD8412 from Larnaca would have diverted immediately to the nearest airport had he known the full extent of the damage - but he only realised how bad it was when he later left the aircraft.

According to the report he and his co-pilot had failed to use the weather radar as is recommended and were happy that there were no serious problems ahead.

They switched it off and two hours into the flight, as they were over Austria, flew into the eye of a vicious storm which lasted for three minutes.

Several passengers who had failed to heed the captain's "fasten seatbelt" alert were thrown around the cabin.

Although severely shocked, no-one was seriously hurt.

The report said: "As the flight progressed neither pilot adjusted the radar tilt. They were satisfied that the weather. . . posed no significant threat to the aircraft and thus the radar was selected off."

After the incident, the airline issued an instruction to all flight crews reminding them of the correct use of the weather radar.

bmi declined to comment on the report.

Whats your point PHB ?

Contradiction in terms, as shock is directly attributed to blood loss.

One of many pieces of journalistic bullsh1t in this report.

"Today"? This report was published about three weeks ago. Good to see another media outlet right on the ball.

Paracab

Sorry to be picky but -

Neurogenic Shock
Septic Shock
Cardiogenic Shock
and even
Rattle of keys, her husband is home Shock

and not one of them "directly attributed to blood loss", well except maybe when husband comes home!

Cheers

TeeS

"...plunged thousands of feet..." gimmie a break.
Besides, the radar doesn't have much of a return from hail, so suspect the 'radar off' was not a factor.

'Course, if there were indeed TS in the area, would have thought the radar should be on....but maybe BMI 'knows better'...:}

What a load of crap!!!

The sad thing is there are many who believe this kind of bull$hit..

Are these people not capable of just sticking to the facts?? Why does every event concerned with avation have to be reported with such drama???

Well the PIC is well and truly named and shamed now. Shame the most factual part of the above is probably the age of the pilot and the flight number.. Was it not enough that this event was captured by some a$$hole and put on national TV along with close up footage of the crew..

The only fact that wasn't mentioned was the body count which was=== ZERO..

Hats off for a good day at the office BMI crew!!!!

Where did you quote this from?? Daily Mirror??

"The only fact that wasn't mentioned was the body count which was=== ZERO.."


Buses,
I think this quote from the news report makes that point very clearly:


"Although severely shocked, no-one was seriously hurt."

Gentlemen,

I think it behoves us all, as aviators, to read this very interesting report by the AAIB.

Follow the link to:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/group...ty_029049.hcsp

<<Hats off for a good day at the office BMI crew!!!!>>

I hardly think it was a good day at the office. I believe the 757 behind them was having a better day.

I wonder if reactions would have been the same if it was a Ryanair airplane that entered a TS/CB with it´s radar turned off.

Of course ´superior´ British companies don´t make mistakes, so if "no-one was seriously hurt" people shouldn´t make a fuss about it...

Bit hypocritical! :rolleyes:

p.s. I don´t work for FR.

I saw the a/c a few moments after it had shut down on stand. I saw the shocked looks on the crews faces as they realised the extent of the damage and the pax taking photos of their relatives posed in front of the holed radome.

It would help if someone cleverer than I could post up a shot of the a/c here now to remind everyone how trashed it looked.

Also be interesting to know how much it cost to repair and the consequential loss bmi suffered.

Finally having met the Evening News reporter in question I can confirm that he operates to an agenda few in our industry will ever comprehend.

Sir George Cayley

Link to photo

Cheers,
HaM

Is hail damage not 'one of those things'? I'm sure if was pretty frightening for all concerned, but the aircraft withstood it without anything important breaking, the crew did their jobs, and everybody was safe.

I've seen pictures of a Tristar and and Easyjet 733 that looked thoroughly shingled by hail, but whatever dramas affected the aircraft they had happy endings. Surely the professionalism of the crews in all these situations is the emphasis here?

Also, if the Captain was able to agree with his F/O that the WX radar was not necessary at that phase in the flight, how does this tie-in with SOP? I can't believe they switched off the radar just for the sake of it.

Edit: Speak of the devil! There's also some interesting images of that aircraft with some interim repairs, featuring fabricated leading edges for the whole tail, and engine cowlings, before going back to the states for more thorough work.

easy, easy....
 

Took these myself
 

Here are 3 of my own shots I took when I got off.

http://www.thedemons.net/uploads/Teddy/Plane1.jpg
http://www.thedemons.net/uploads/Teddy/Plane2.jpg
http://www.thedemons.net/uploads/Teddy/Plane3.jpg

PS: Sorry all for bumping the other thread. I only just realised there was a new one because I had the other one in my favourites.

Prats, both of them. Flying a public service aircraft over the alps into an area of forecasted turbulence! No excuses. The radar DOES pick up hailstones, what do you think it's there for?

srjumbo: Don't make yourself look silly. Do you think that public transport (not service) aircraft aren't supposed to fly over the Alps, or into areas of turbulence?

Radar doesn't pick up hailstones - it reflects water.

I bet the radar was off for good after that little lot!

after reviewing catchups photo link ...... if this was a good day at the office I sure wouldn't like to see a bad one :( :( :(

http://flightlevel.20megsfree.com/

I'm surprised the emphasis is not more directed to "how we avoid this nightmare scenario"

Wx may not show hail but it does, on most occasions, show areas of heavy precipitation, aka Cbs etc.

Whilst the crew have all my sympathies (there but for the grace of God go I!) surely the basic point is that the wx radar should have been switched on and adjusted suitably. What's the reason for turning it off anyway?