Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Warning device event - 232 kms south of Paraburdoo, Western Australia, VH-NXH, Boeing 717-200

On 28 February 2006, a Boeing Company 717-200 aircraft, registered VH-NXH, was being operated on a scheduled passenger service from Paraburdoo to Perth, WA. The flight was being conducted under the instrument flight rules (IFR). Onboard the aircraft were two flight crew, four cabin crew and 66 passengers. The aircraft departed Paraburdoo at about 0837 Western Standard Time and was in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) during the climb.

The stick shaker stall warning system activated soon after the aircraft reached top of climb at Flight Level (FL) 340 and while the aircraft was accelerating to cruise speed. The flight crew did not receive any 'STALL' annunciation on their respective primary flight displays, nor any 'STALL STALL' aural warning or klaxon alert.

The flight crew initiated an immediate on-track descent and advised air traffic services of their requirement to change level. There was an infringement of the relevant procedural separation standards as the aircraft descended through the cruise level of an opposite direction aircraft.

An analysis of the flight recorder data indicated that the activation of the stick shaker was as a consequence of the angle-of-attack sensors becoming static during the climb. The investigation concluded that the immobilisation of the angle-of-attack sensors was consistent with ice restricting the movement of the 'slinger' on which the sensor vane is mounted.

The investigation assessed that the aircraft was not near a stalled condition of flight when the stick shaker warning activated. However, because the angle-of-attack sensors provided input to the aircraft's stall warning system, the immobilisation of those sensors adversely affected the reliability of the aircrafts stall warning system and could have render the automatic stall recovery system inoperative.

As a result of this incident, the aircraft and angle-of-attack sensor manufacturers initiated a detailed design review of the angle-of-attack sensor

No comments: