CNN: A330 Crashed Because of Pilot Error

As I predicted, a pilot error likely caused the crash of an A330 in Tripoli, Libya, on Wednesday. Apparently - and contrary to what had been reported before - the visibility at Tripoli airport was not very good, caused by mist and sand. The pilot turned off the autopilot and tried to land the plane himself (as mentioned before, Tripoli airport is not equipped with ILS), but could not align the Airbus with the runway. He tried to switch on the autopilot again when he noticed he was in trouble. But before the A330 could gain enough thrust to pull up again, the plane crashed into the ground.

This is another example of the poor flying skills of African pilots in general. The continent has been hampered by accidents due to pilot error for a while. The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 409 in January off the coast of Lebanon was also caused by pilot error. I can only recommend it again and again - whenever you book a flight, pick an airline whose pilots you trust. Not even a state-of-the-art Airbus equipped with world-class fly-by-wire can save you when your pilot doesn't know how to handle the plane in difficult circumstances.

To read the full CNN story, please click here.

Another A330-200 Crash within Less than One Year

It hasn't been a good year for Airbus. Within less than one year, two Airbus A330-200 crashed. The first one on July 1, 2009, on the way from Rio to Paris (I have written a lot about that crash; to read more about the Air France crash from June of last year, please click here) and the other one today, on approach to Tripoli airport in Libya. For both accidents, we don't know yet what really caused them. Those are the only two times the A330 ever crashed. And both times it was the 200 version of this wide-body plane.

Afriqiyah Airways flight 771 was en route from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Tripoli, Libya, when it crashed into the runway area of Tripoli's international airport in the early morning of May 12, 2010. During the more than nine hours of the flight, no incidents have been reported and the weather at Tripoli airport was excellent. So what caused the crash and could it be related to AF 447 last year?

I believe there is absolutely no link between the Air France crash last year and today's crash. Yes, it was the same plane, but I really believe this is a coincidence. The circumstances are just too different. AF 447 was in flight mode when it crashed; at an altitude of around 10 km. Afriqiyah Airways flight 771 was approaching the airport in flare mode already and didn't have any issues at its cruising altitude. According to recent reports, flight 8U 771 crashed parallel to the runway, missing it by around 900 meters. The question here is: How could the pilot miss the runway during good weather, no winds and with great visibility? True, the airport is not equipped with state-of-the-art ILS, but under those circumstances, every pilot should have been able to land.

First reports mentioned technical difficulties. This has not been confirmed, but it is possible. Later reports mentioned that the pilots radioed for ambulances to be ready and a passenger allegedly twittered that something was wrong with the plane's wing. None of this has been confirmed. In the end, there are only three possible reasons for the crash: pilot error, technical difficulties or a combination of both. After all, it is very confusing that the pilot made it to the airport (so he must have been in control of the plane), but crashed while missing the runway.

I am really not sure what caused this crash, but let me offer my personal opinion: I think it was a pilot error. The A330 is equipped with a state-of-the-art fly-by-wire system, but if the airport doesn't have ILS, then the A330's autopilot is not able to automatically land the plane. So maybe the pilots were tired? Fell asleep for a few seconds (well, it happens in cars all the time)? I really don't know. It is highly unlikely though that a technical error occurred only during landing and so short of the airport. If flaps don't work or engines are broken, pilots notice that fairly quickly into the flight, not during the last 30 seconds of a flight. It is also unlikely that the fly-by-wire system failed at such a late stage. This has never happened before.

I think we should not draw false parallels here to AF 447. I am convinced the causes of those crashes are very different. With flight 8U 771 I am, however, certain we'll have all answers soon, since the black boxes have already been found. I will keep you posted...