Middle Eastern carrier Flydubai stresses that it has taken pro-active measures to reinforce operational safety in the aftermath of the fatal Boeing 737-800 accident at Rostov-on-Don, including enhanced training in spatial disorientation and go-around procedures.
Middle Eastern carrier Flydubai stresses that it has taken pro-active measures to reinforce operational safety in the aftermath of the fatal Boeing 737-800 accident at Rostov-on-Don, including enhanced training in spatial disorientation and go-around procedures.
Russian investigators believe the captain of the aircraft experienced disorientation during a second missed approach in March 2016 before the aircraft dived into the ground with the loss of everyone on board.
In a detailed response to the findings Flydubai says that, after any accident involving human factors, “it is important to exhaust all possible scenarios when interpreting the factual data”, in order to understand contributing elements and ensure that “critical insights” are shared to improve air transport safety.
The airline says it “acknowledges the conclusions and recommendations” from the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee.
“We have taken our obligations seriously and have implemented additional actions above and beyond those identified in the final report,” it adds.
Flydubai insists its go-around training “exceeded and continues to exceed” regulatory requirements, but that it has taken steps to put addition training in place – including a focus on two-engined go-arounds following French investigation authority BEA’s publication of an in-depth analysis on aircraft state awareness in July 2013.
“All pilots are being trained on these enhanced procedures during recurrent training,” the carrier says, adding that this has been the case since March 2017.
Flydubai says it has produced training documentation to “simplify” the management of go-around execution and configuration, and that it has raised pilot awareness regarding perception illusions and disorientation while providing guidance on countering such threats.
The airline also points out that it has trained its crews in upset recovery since June 2012, despite this not being a mandatory requirement at the time of the crash. It subsequently updated this training with upset-prevention and recovery techniques in September 2016, ahead of a regulatory deadline.
Flydubai’s response to the inquiry’s findings include detailed information on its full-flight simulator training which, it says, includes go-around procedures in various scenarios – including windshear, which played a role in the go-around decisions preceding the accident.
Simulator work has been enhanced to improve visual-scan training and two engine go-arounds at different altitudes and weights, the airline adds, while cockpit resource management has been an “integral part” of initial and recurrent training since the airline commenced operations a decade ago.
Flybe has also introduced new go-around procedures to prioritise crucial tasks, and brought in new standard call-outs to differentiate between windshear escape manoeuvres and normal go-arounds.
