Observer

Disaster alert over British jet

'Your pilot has been poisoned': full investigation

Antony Barnett, public affairs editor Sunday June 4, 2000

A type of jet used by the Royal Family and hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers is facing calls for it to be grounded after evidence that pilots have been overcome by toxic fumes and that its engines are prone to failure.

An Observer investigation has discovered that a confidential warning was issued to pilots last week by British Aerospace, maker of the BAe 146, stating that flying too high in cloudy conditions could lead to engines stalling simultaneously. The document reveals that BAe received four reports of such incidents in 1999.

The BAe 146 has also been involved in several incidents where engine faults led to toxic gas leading into the cabin. There were reports of passengers being turned into 'zombies', cabin crew being poisoned and pilots who felt unable to fly.

An investigation by the Australian government, to be published this month, is expected to condemn the company for risking the health and safety of passengers and crew. Hundreds of cabin staff and several pilots around the world, including two in Britain, are claiming that inhaling these fumes made them seriously ill.

There are 206 of the aircraft operating worldwide, carrying 100 passengers on short-haul journeys. Most major airlines, including British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa and Aer Lingus, operate it. The Royal Family uses three 146s for official duties.

Dick Best, the safety official who certified the plane for use in Australia, said: 'If I had known of the BAe 146's problems I would have had serious doubts about okaying it.'

Bruce D'Ancey, assistant general secretary of the British pilots' union Balpa, said: 'Whenever one engine fails it is an extremely serious. The fact that several engines have failed on a number of occasions means that urgent action is needed.'

The most recent incident occurred on 30 April, when three engines failed on a BAe 146 of the Canadian operator AirBC on a flight to the US. The plane dived 19,000 feet and a full emergency was declared. It was only when it was 5,000ft above Denver that power was restored and a disaster averted.

BAe is warning pilots not to fly the aircraft at more than 26,000ft in cloud because its system to stop ice forming in the engines is faulty. Technically the problem is known as a 'rollback': the engines become choked and lose their thrust as the aircraft reaches high altitude.

The written BAe warning, obtained by The Observer, states: 'It is clear that flight crews will have difficulty in recognising the onset of rollback... For the majority of events there were simultaneous engine rollbacks and on three occasions all four engines were affected.'

A second BAe document shows that the company was forced to issue its first warning to airlines about the problems in 1997 after 12 such 'rollback' incidents affected 27 engines. In three of those cases, all four engines failed.

The fact that similar problems are occurring two years after the first warning means pilots are unable to interpret weather conditions properly and fly above 26,000 ft, risking disaster, say experts. Industry sources blame a design fault on an engine developed for helicopters flying at lower altitudes.

A Civil Aviation Authority official said she was unaware of the BAe warning, but would investigate. However, she said: 'We are aware of the reports of fumes entering the cabin and are working with BAe to solve the problem.'

BAe insisted the jet was safe. A spokesman said the two problems were unconnected and rare.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), June 05, 2000