New guidance expected after Mali crash investigation

The investigation into the crash of an Air Algerie MD-83 that killed 116 people last July has found that the aircraft went out of control following icing of the engine inlet probes. The probes measure pressure on the engine inlets, and are vital for measuring the thrust of the engines.

The aircraft was attempting to go through an area of severe thunderstorms at the time. For some reason the crew left the anti icing system off on the probes. As they went around the thunderstorm, the probes iced, leading the autopilot to think that the engine power was too high. To compensate the aircraft decreased power, to a level that it couldn't maintain flight. As the aircraft started to drop, the nose dropped and the aircraft dove straight down to the ground.

The CVR was damaged beyond recovery and provided no data. The FDR wasn't clear if the crew attempted to recover from the stall.

A similar incident happened a few months prior to the crash with a Swiftair, and Spirit Airlines suffered a loss of thrust in both engines in 2002. A guidance is expected to inform pilots of how to handle the problem if a similar situation develops.

The final report into the Mali crash will be released in December.

Aviation regulators are expected to issue new advice to pilots after investigations into the crash of an Air Algerie jet in Mali last July found it went out of control after being hit by ice as an anti-icing system remained switched off.
France's aviation investigation agency, the Bureau d'End'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA) , which is helping Mali to investigate the crash that killed 116 people, said the MD-83 jet appeared to have run into trouble after vital probes that measure pressure on the engine inlets blocked up with ice.
Properly working probes are needed to help the McDonnell-Douglas aircraft measure the thrust of its engines.

www.telegraph.co.uk... ash.html

You think they'd employ a simple thermostat to trigger activation rather than relying on the memory of overworked pilots in extreme conditions.

a reply to: glend

It's normally part of a checklist. But there's no way to tell if they performed the checklist, because the CVR was destroyed.

You think they'd employ a simple thermostat to trigger activation rather than relying on the memory of overworked pilots in extreme conditions.