Is lack of knowledge to blame?
While any stall warning should be treated initially as genuine, the Kenya Airways Airbus A310 accident (Flight International, 24-30 August) and also perhaps the Birgenair Boeing 757 lost in the Caribbean in 1996, when static vents had been taped up, point to lack of knowledge of aircraft performance.
Flying manuals specific to type contain comprehensive data with respect to attitudes, configuration and thrust settings required to obtain a specific performance. Pilots on type need to have a good working knowledge of these figures to problem solve, whether a stall warning is genuine or false.
With more reliance being placed on flight directors and other flight management systems, pilots also need practice in "raw data" flying to stand a chance of recovering from false warnings, especially at relatively low altitudes.
ROBERT TAYLOR
NOTTINGHAM, UK
Source: Flight International
