The U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has chastised an aircraft commander, the aircraft operator and a tour group operator for failing to promptly report to the AAIB a July 21 event in which a Boeing 737 operating with a lower-than-required thrust setting struck a runway approach light during takeoff from Belfast (Northern Ireland) International Airport.
“In slightly different circumstances, this event could have resulted in the loss of the aircraft with multiple fatalities,” the AAIB said in Special Bulletin S2/2017, issued earlier this week. “The seriousness of the potential outcome, and the lack of barriers remaining to prevent it had the event escalated, persuaded the AAIB that this was a significant event requiring an in-depth investigation.”
None of the 185 passengers and crew was injured, and the only damage was to…
