Plane Might Have Crashed Due to Altimeter Error, Say Dutch Officials

Dutch authorities have made an announcement regarding the investigation into the Turkish Airlines plane crash last Wednesday.

The plane, which was heading from Istanbul to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, crash landed in a muddy field short of the runway. Nine people died, including the three pilots and a cabin attendant.

Altitude indicator misled pilots

Pieter van Vollenhoven, head of the Dutch Safety Authority, yesterday (4 March) said that the crash might have been due to a faulty altimeter misleading the pilots into believing that the plane was flying lower than it really was.

Speaking in La Hague, van Vollenhoven said that the examination of the black box has shown that the plane was on automatic pilot and, based on the wrong altitude given, was being prepared for landing. That is why the plane was powered down. When the pilots realised the error and increased power, it was too late.

Previous flights affected

Vollenhoven said that the black box showed that the plane’s altitude indicator had given misinformation on eight previous flights, but that he could not give information about those flights.

He added that the plane producer Boeing had been told to warn other customers using this type of plane of possible problems with the altimeter.

Answering the questions of journalists, he said that a plane being on autopilot before landing was ordinary procedure. It is possible that low visibility made automatic pilot preferable.

Vollenvofen added that there was no problem with fuel and that, apart from the altimeter, everything was normal on the flight.

He emphasised that these were first findings and that the investigation would continue.

Turkish pilot doubtful

In Turkey, Ahmet İzgi of the Pilots’ Association spoke on live TV on the NTV channel. He said that a fault with the altitude indicator, which is a basic part of the flight equipment, was a serious issue which would even prevent amateur pilots (who were not responsible for the lives of others) from flying.

He said he was dubious about the statement that this error had taken place eight times before. (TK/AG)