Pilot criticised in report on emergency landing
13.04.08
A pilot ‘potentially endangered’ passengers because he failed to wear an oxygen mask when the cockpit filled with smoke as he made an emergency landing at Aberdeen Airport.
The bmi captain made an emergency landing after a computer failure on the plane minutes after take-off of a flight to Manchester. The plane's display went blank and smoke appeared from the left of the pilot's seat, filling the cockpit and part of the cabin. But the pilot decided not to wear an oxygen mask, fearing it would ‘hamper’ him as he landed the Embraer jet at the airport. He also did not instruct crew or passengers to wear masks or refer to the Quick Reference Handbook.
An Air Accident Investigation Branch report in to the incident said a number of errors made could have had serious consequences. The report said the crew should have put on masks irrespective of the amount of smoke in the aircraft. Despite the drama last May, the pilot landed the plane safely within 15 minutes of the incident and all 16 passengers were evacuated without injury.
A bmi spokesman said: ‘The safety of passengers and crew is our number one priority at all times. When the incident occurred, the correct decision to land the aircraft as safely as possible was taken.’
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