An Airbus A350 was about to be pushed back for departure from Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) Airport when a refueller working nearby saw that covers were still on its pitot probes — a situation that, if unnoticed, would have provided the flight crew with unreliable airspeed indications, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says.
The covers were removed “two minutes before expected departure, and pushback occurred shortly afterwards,” the ATSB said in a preliminary report, issued in mid-August, on the May 27 incident.
“An aircraft being cleared to commence taxiing and then commence takeoff with all pitot probe covers still fitted is a serious event,” ATSB Director Transport Safety Michael Walker added.
Pitot probes are covered when airplanes are parked in order to prevent the tubes from becoming obstructed — by nests built by mud wasps, for …
