Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/15/laptops_not_resonsible_for_qantas_jet_plunge/
Official: gadgets not responsible for Qantas jet plunge
Aussie Transport Safety Bureau lets laptops off the hook
Posted in Hardware, 15th October 2008 13:00 GMT
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Initial investigations into the Qantas Airbus A330 mishap [1] have concluded that it was due to incorrect information fed into the flight control system and not interference from passengers' gagdets.
A report [2] by ABC news states that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said incorrect information from a faulty air data inertial reference system (ADIRS) triggered a series of alarms and then prompted the Airbus A330-300's flight control computers to put the jet into a 197m nosedive.
The plane was cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet when a fault in the ADIRS - not interference from passenger electronics, as Qantas had first suggested - caused the autopilot to disengage.
"About two minutes after the initial fault, the [ADIRS] generated very high, random and incorrect values for the aircraft's angle of attack," the ATSB said in a statement.
"These very high, random and incorrect values of the angle attack led to the flight control computers commanding a nose-down aircraft movement, which resulted in the aircraft pitching down to a maximum of about 8.5 degrees."
The pilots quickly regained control of the Airbus A330-300, issued a mayday call and successfully completed an emergency landing at Learmonth air force base in remote Western Australia. A number of passengers received medical treatment.
"The crew's timely response led to the recovery of the aircraft trajectory within seconds," the ATSB said.
The Herald Sun recently revealed [3] that Qantas and other airlines were warned in July 2004 and again in August 2007 about the potential for a serious malfunction aboard the A330-300 series aircraft. Problems with elevation controls, including concerns about potential break-down of hydraulic "O-ring" seals were highlighted by Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority.