Learning from Alitalia 404 : The importantance of Crew Resource Management (CRM)

[Ref Wiki] (Last Update: 2020 Apr 28 1535Z) The air crash of Alitalia Flight 404 (AZ404/AZA404) happened on November 14, 1990. The international passenger flight scheduled to fly from Milan, Italy, to Zürich, Switzerland, operated by Alitalia, crashed into the woodlands as it approached Zurich Airport killing all 46 people on board.[1] A Swiss investigation concluded that […]

Impeded descent preceded 747’s false glideslope crash

[Ref Flight International Magazine 17-23 Mar 2020] Occurrence Date/Time 16 January 2017 (at night) Aircraft Type 747-400 freighter Flight / Operator Turkish Airlines  TK6491 POB  4 crew Description The aircraft had been maintaining 18,000ft and was cleared to descend to 6,000 ft within 27nm (50km) distance. However, the airline’s standard descent procedure would only have […]

Bek Air probe reveals safety problems

[Ref Flight International Magazine 28Jan – 3Feb 2020] A Bek Air’s Fokker 100s crashed on take-off from Almaty on 27 December, resulting in the enforced suspension of the airline’s operation. Kazakhstan’s civil aviation committee has uncovered a damning list of flaws (“a number of violations”) in Bek Air’s flight operations and maintenance processes, to justify the […]

Crashed 737 pushed into dive during go-around

[Ref flightglobal.com, aviation-safety.net] On 17 November 2013, the crew of the Tatarstan Boeing 737-500 engaged go-around thrust after assessing the aircraft’s position relative to the runway. The autopilot was disconnected and the aircraft flown manually. As the engines increased power the crew retracted the 737’s flaps from the 30° position to 15°. But the thrust […]

Shorts 330 crash flags non-compliance

[Ref Flight International | 8-14 October 2019 p.14] The accident was happened on 5 May 2017 when a Shorts 330 freighter attempting to land at Charleston, Virginia. The plane departed the left side of the runway, its left wing breaking away, and the aircraft tumbled into rough ground. Neither of the two crew members, the only occupants, […]

Air Niugini crew ignored ‘pull up’ alerts

[Ref 30 July-5 August 2019 | Flight International P.10] Occurrence Date/Time 28 September 2018 Aircraft Type Boeing 737-800 (P2-PXE) Flight / Operator Air Niugini PX73 POB  35 passengers ; 12 crew members Description The pilot in command (PIC) persisted with an unstable approach in contravention of the airline’s standard operating procedures (SOP); The pilot in […]