Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE
Airbus Industrie has been excluded from the "nearly complete" investigation into the December 1998 crash of a Thai Airways International Airbus A310, amid Thai press reports that a mechanical failure was the main cause of the accident. Airbus says that if there were a mechanical failure, the manufacturer should be told of it, but it has not been advised of any fault.
Prateepcha Wichai, director of the air safety division of the Thai Department of Civil Aviation, says that Airbus has not been given data from the aircraft's digital flight data recorder (DFDR). "This is committee policy: we will not release data to anybody unless we need to verify something. If we have questions, we will contact Airbus Industrie," he says.
The A310 crashed while going around again from its third approach to land in poor weather at Surat Thani on a flight from Bangkok. The crash killed 101 of the 146 on board, including the sister of transport and communications minister Suthep Thaugsuban. The minister will be the first to receive the report, and will decide whether to release it. Wichai says the report is "nearly complete".
Meanwhile, the Thai press has published statements from an anonymous Thai Air Force source, claiming the accident was caused by a trim control system which "malfunctioned", preventing the crew from pulling up to abort their third approach. Early survivor reports contradict this, indicating that the aircraft had pitched sharply nose-up before control was lost.
Questioned about the allegations, Wichai says: "The accident investigation is still going on, so nobody can release that kind of information." He confirms that it would be normal practice to inform the manufacturer immediately of any mechanical fault, and that no safety bulletins have been issued to Airbus, engine manufacturer General Electric, or anybody else in the industry.
Source: Flight International
