Most of the 245 stall warnings reported in Australian regular public transport (commercial airlines) from 2008 through 2012 were associated with turbulence, gusty winds or wind shear; occurred along with stick shaker activation; and lasted less than two seconds, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says (Figure 1).1
An ATSB report issued in late 2013 said that none of the stall warnings resulted in an actual stall or loss of control, and none led to serious injuries to passengers or crewmembers, although some minor injuries were reported during stall warnings that occurred in severe turbulence or with temporary control anomalies.
Australian law requires that stall warning events be reported to the ATSB, enabling the agency to analyze the circumstances associated with the events.
The report says that about 70 percent of stall warnings reported to the ATSB in the five-year period were actual warnings of an approaching stall; the remainder were false stall war…
