Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine April 2017 - 7
Imai et al. Table 1. Flight Accidents and Possible Precautionary Measures Flight Date Description of the Accident Precautionary Measures TransAsia Airways Flight 235 February 4th 2015 Two minutes after takeoff, pilots report engine flameout. Right engine failure alert, warning sounds for 3 sec. Crew reduces and then cuts the left engine. Decision support system to not turn off the left engine. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 July 6th 2013 Descent below visual glide path and impact with seawall. 82 seconds before impact at 1,600 ft, autopilot was turned off and throttles set to idle. Final approach speed was 34 knots below the target approach speed of 137 knots. Pilots unaware that the auto-throttle was failing to maintain that speed. Internal glidepath assistance. Airspeed crosscheck. Turkish Airlines Flight 522 February 25th 2009 Aircraft had an automated reaction which was triggered by a faulty radio altimeter. Auto-throttle decreased the engine power to idle during approach. Crew noticed too late. Although the pilots did try to hold the glide slope after increasing the throttle, the auto-throttle decreased it to idle again. Sensing the altimeter error using crosschecks. British Airways Flight 38 January 17th 2008 Although aware of the outside temperature conditions being -65C to -74C, the crew simply did not monitor the temperature of the fuel, which was well below freezing point. A small quantity of water within the fuel did freeze, causing ice on the fuel lines, ultimately leading to fuel starvation near the final stages of the approach. Check for fuel temperature when outside air temperature outside normal range. Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 December 23rd 2005 After climbing to 6,900 ft entered a descending spiral tightening from 500 m to 100 m. Absence of all three gyroscopes during the climb. Lack of pitch, roll, and heading performance. Attitude indicator crosscheck. Re-create a virtual artificial horizon from nongyroscopic data. Helios Airways Flight 522 August 14th 2005 Lack of cabin pressurization and pilot error leading to crew incapacitation due to hypoxia. Cabin altitude warning horn sounded at 12,040 ft and should have stopped the climb. Prevent the climb or strongly advise pilots against it. Air Midwest Flight 5481 January 8th 2003 Elevator range of motion cut to only 7 degrees out of the full 14. Stalled after take-off due to overloading and maintenance error. Weight and systems check from sensors onboard before departure. Austral Lineas Aereas Flight 2553 October 10th 1997 Pitot tube icing caused faulty airspeed readings. Pilots interpreted as a loss of engine power and added power. No improvement to airspeed, so they descended and increased the speed. Wing slats were torn off one wing and the plane became uncontrollable. Airspeed crosscheck. Copa Airlines Flight 201 June 6th 1993 At 25,000 ft, the plane entered a steep dive at an angle of 80 degrees to the right and began to roll. Exceeding the speed of sound at 10,000 ft, the plane broke apart. Faulty readings were caused by a short circuit traced to a faulty wiring harness in the attitude indicator. Attitude indicator crosscheck. Recreate a virtual artificial horizon from nongyroscopic data. APRIL 2017 IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE 7