A Thai Airways Airbus flew dangerously low on the approach. An interim report has now been published. Experts comment on the possible cause.
- A plane approaching Frankfurt Airport is losing height dramatically
- The Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) has now published an interim report on the disruption to flight TG926
- Experts comment on the cause of the dangerous descent of the Thai Airways plane: pilot errors possible
Frankfurt / Rüsselsheim - Well done again, one could say about an incident about Rüsselsheim and Bischofsheim on New Year's Day (01/01/2020). At that time, around 7:30 p.m., a Thai Airways plane from Phuket was approaching Frankfurt Airport immediately when the Airbus A350-900 was getting dangerously close to the ground.
Flight TG926 to Frankfurt Airport: Thai Airways Airbus too low - interim report
Just 204 meters, as is now apparent from the published interim report by the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) in Braunschweig, which had classified the case as a "serious disruption" in aviation and has since determined it. The passenger plane sank even lower than previously thought.
Initially, there was talk of around 250 meters before the pilot gave the command to take off and finally landed safely in Frankfurt on the second attempt. The current interim report does not provide any information on the cause of the dangerous descent, which scared passengers and some residents along the flight route onto the southern runway (runway 07R) at Frankfurt Airport. This will only be in the final report, which will follow in 2020.
Frankfurt Airport: Thai Airways plane too low - autopilot was switched off
But for the first time, the investigating authority now gives details on the process. As can be read, on that evening of January 1, 2020, the first officer piloted the aircraft on approach to Frankfurt Airport (English: Pilot Flying, PF). At the time of descent by hand, after the autopilot had been switched off shortly before.
The main flight captain was in the cockpit on the left side and was supposed to monitor the approach of TG926 (English Pilot Monitoring, PM). It was already dark outside. Approval to land on the runway at Frankfurt Airport from the west had already been granted. The approach controller at Frankfurt Airport had instructed the pilots to descend to an altitude of 3000 feet or 914 meters.
Flight TG926 to Frankfurt Airport: Thai Airways plane is flying too low - warning signals sounded
From there, the aircraft should then follow the less steep "glide path" of the instrument landing system. But the machine continued to sink. And at a rapid pace with a sink rate of 2000 feet per minute - twice as high as usual. Typically, the sink rate at these approach positions is between 600 and 800 feet per minute.
As the records show, nine seconds after the Airbus passed 1900 feet (580 meters), the first acoustic warning signals sounded in the cockpit. The system got in touch and warned of the rapid sink rate and failure to adhere to the glide path. At that time, according to the flight data recorder's evaluations, the sink rate was over 3000 feet per minute.
Frankfurt Airport: Thai Airways Airbus too low - was it a pilot error?
The system still issued three further messages. Then the pilot finally gave the command to take off. The aircraft was then only at an altitude of 204 meters (668 feet) - around 11.9 kilometers from the touchdown point on the runway at Frankfurt Airport, i.e. between Bischofsheim and Rüsselsheim.
At this point, planes would usually have to be more than twice as high. According to aviation experts, the unusual course of the approach could simply be due to a pilot error. Why the pilot did not notice the steep descent for about three minutes or did not intervene and corrected the rate of descent still has to be clarified.
Frankfurt Airport: Thai Airways Airbus far too deep - runway not in sight | Frankfurt https://t.co/tsxiNkEQlU
- Heinz-Jürgen Manier (@MANIER_JUERGEN) February 24, 2020The plane may not have enough thrust after the autopilot is turned off. Especially since there were two other co-pilots in the cockpit in addition to the pilot in charge and the pilot in charge, as the protocol shows.
Frankfurt Airport: Thai Airways TG926 plane too low - sick passenger did not matter
The first officer had a flight experience of 4,000 hours, including 1,500 on the Airbus A350. The flight captain had registered 8,000 flight hours, 1,500 of which were on the Airbus A350. The second approach was carried out on runway 07R using the instrument landing system, the report concludes. So without special occurrences.
Apparently, a sick passenger on board the plane at Frankfurt Airport played no further role in connection with the landing approach incident. The airport in Frankfurt had been informed of this early on before the approach, so that the Thai Airways aircraft passenger could be immediately picked up by the emergency services on the ground.
By Olaf Kern
* fnp.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
