FlyDubai havariet peker mot flygerfeil - Curt Lewis

Investigation into Flydubai Russian crash points to pilot error Emergencies Ministry members work at the crash site of a Boeing 737-800 Flight FZ981 operated by Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai, at the airport of Rostov-On-Don, Russia, March 20, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov A Flydubai passenger plane crashed in Russia last month after being flown in a contradictory manner minutes before it smashed into the ground, a statement from investigators said on Friday, suggesting pilot error was to blame. The Boeing 737-800, operated by Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai, came down in the early hours of March 19 at Rostov-on-Don airport in southern Russia on its second attempt to land after flying from Dubai. All 62 people on board were killed. Poor weather conditions, including strong winds and rain, made landing difficult. In a statement on Friday, the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), which is investigating the crash, said the plane had been flown in a contradictory manner in the minutes before it crashed. It said the crew had decided to abort landing and circle round again. They had begun to gain altitude when the controls of the plane were abruptly pushed away, pushing its nose lower. That, combined with the angle of the tail fin, sent the plane into a steep dive which the pilots were unable to pull out of, the IAC said. It stopped short of saying the pilots were definitely to blame, noting they had the necessary experience and training, but said their condition and actions were being evaluated. Flydubai Chief Executive Ghaith Al Ghaith said in a statement his company was aware of the IAC's initial findings and supported the investigators' work. He said he wanted to get conclusive findings as quickly as possible. The IAC said it now needed to complete work on deciphering the pilots' final conversations in the hours leading up to the crash before it could wrap up its investigation. Unnamed sources have told Russian newspapers that an initial read-out of the plane's flight recorders had suggested the two pilots argued about the right course of action to take in the minutes before the crash. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-crash-idUSKCN0X50W7 Back to Top

Flydubai crash: Yoke push 'simultaneous' with stabiliser shift Russian investigators have disclosed that a nose-down shift in the horizontal stabiliser on the ill-fated Flydubai Boeing 737-800 occurred as a push input was recorded on the crew control yoke. The Interstate Aviation Committee confirms a previous disclosure, by the federal air transport regulator, that the stabiliser shift occurred at a height of 900m, as the aircraft climbed away from Rostov-on-Don during a night-time go-around. It states that "simultaneously" with the yoke being pushed in the direction away from the crew, the stabiliser deflected to a 5° nose-down position. The aircraft rapidly pitched down and dived with a pitch exceeding 50°. "Subsequent actions of the crew could not prevent the aircraft's collision with the ground," says the inquiry. It says the aircraft impacted at a speed of more than 320kt. The jet disintegrated with the loss of all 62 occupants. Investigators have not reached conclusions over the reasons for the findings into the 19 March crash involving flight FZ981. The jet had been climbing away with its engines at take-off setting after aborting its second approach to runway 22, at a height of 220m. Investigators have confirmed that this occurred some 4km (2.2nm) from the runway threshold. Two hours earlier the aircraft had aborted its initial approach, at 340m, after receiving a windshear warning from the on-board systems. Both approaches had been conducted manually, with the autopilot disengaged, the inquiry states. The Interstate Aviation Committee has received a number of specific components from the debris on which it will carry out further research, particularly into the longitudinal control system. Meteorological analysis indicates that the weather in the vicinity of Rostov at the time of the crash matched forecasts and that weather equipment at the airport was in working order. Investigators have confirmed that the cloud base lay at 630m, indicating that the aircraft had entered cloud before the transition to a dive, but the inquiry has not specifically stated whether the crew would have had any visual references. Transcription of the cockpit-voice recording is complete, says the Interstate Aviation Committee, but work on refining and translating the content, and identifying the speakers, is continuing.