Australian investigators are focusing on a possible flight-control system issue on the Qantas Airbus A330-300 that descended suddenly, resulting in around 74 people being injured.
The Australian Air Transport Safety Bureau says its investigation into the 7 October event is focusing on "some irregularity with the aircraft's elevator control system". The ATSB adds: "Further examination of the autopilot system, data sources used by flight-control computers and the computers themselves, along with the interaction of the flightcrew with the aircraft's systems is necessary to achieve a better understanding of the event."
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The A330-300 (VH-QPA) was en route from Singapore to Perth with 303 passengers and 10 crew on board. According to the ATSB's preliminary review of the flight data recorder, while cruising at 37,000ft (11,300m), the aircraft initially climbed and descended 200ft and then around 1min later pitched nose-down to a maximum pitch angle of about 8.4° and descended about 650ft in about 20s, before returning to the cruising level.
Then about 70s later the A330 pitched down again to a maximum pitch angle of about 3.5° and descended about 400ft in about 16s before returning once again to the cruising level.
Before the nose-down, the ATSB says that the pilots had "initiated non-normal checklist and response actions" because they had received centralised aircraft monitoring messages to say there was "some irregularity with the aircraft's elevator control system".
Fourteen people were seriously injured and up to 60 more required medical treatment or needed first aid, says the ATSB. Injuries included broken bones and fractures. The aircraft made an emergency landing at the remote Learmonth airport in Western Australia.
Source: Flight International
