A “serious” software glitch meant a plane taking off from Bristol Airport barely made it past the end of the runway.
The UIS Boeing The 737-800 was departing for Gran Canaria on March 4 when problems arose with the autothrottle, and the incident is now being examined by the Air Accidents Investigation Division.
The jet – carrying 163 passengers and six crew, was only able to take off with 260 m (853 ft) of runway remaining and overshot the end of the runway at a height of just 3 m (10 ft).
It then passed the neighboring A38 at a height of less than 30 m (100 ft).
The aircraft’s acceleration performance was significantly worse than that of other aircraft taking off at Bristol Airport. Photo: AAIB
According to the AAIB, Boeing was aware of the software flaw before the incident.
A field investigation report said the autothrottle was disabled when takeoff mode was selected. None of the pilots realized that the thrust was incorrectly adjusted and it was not detected through standard operating procedures.
An analysis of the software problems that affected the flight showed that 11 faults were recorded on the flight to Las Palmas, although no faults were recorded during a trip to the UK the previous day.
Boeing told investigators that the autothrottle system on its 737 Next Generation jets had a “long history of nuisance disconnections during takeoff mode engagements” — but that when investigated, “subsequent functionality checks on the system typically do not find failures.” .
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A fault log for the initial autothrottle disconnection, showing the suspected cause as ‘ASM 1’. Photo: AAIB
A TUI UK & Ireland spokesperson told Sky News: “We work closely with the authorities to provide all available information.
“The AAIB recommendations and learnings resulting from this takeoff will support the entire aviation sector and other airlines. The safety of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority.”
The AAIB investigation will continue “to examine all pertinent factors associated with this serious incident” and will issue a final report “in due course”.
Sky News has contacted Boeing for comment.
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