Expect the unexpected. Plan for the worst. Be prepared. These are all variations on a theme running through much of the material that has crossed my desk recently.
In last month’s AeroSafety World (ASW), Mark Lacagnina’s cover story examined the May 2010 crash of an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330-200 while on approach to Tripoli, Libya, the airline’s home base, on a flight from Johannesburg, South Africa. All but one of the 104 passengers and crew died as a result of the accident.
In its report on the accident, the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the crew conducted an approach briefing that covered some details, but that other “essential points” were not discussed. “The fact that the approach briefing was incomplete indicates that … the crew did not anticipate any special difficulty in the conduct and management of the approach,” the CAA report said.
As with most accidents…
