Cobham B712 at Canberra on Jun 20th 2016, incorrect takeoff performance entered

Last Update: September 28, 2016 / 14:55:44 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jun 20, 2016

Classification
Report

Airline
Cobham Aviation Services

Flight number
QF-1514

Departure
Canberra, Australia

Destination
Sydney, Australia

Aircraft Registration
VH-YQV

Aircraft Type
Boeing 717-200

ICAO Type Designator
B712

A Cobham Aviation Boeing 717-200 on behalf of Qantas, registration VH-YQV performing flight QF-1514 from Canberra,AC to Sydney,NS (Australia) with 91 passengers and 5 crew, was preparing for departure. The captain computed takeoff performance and prepared the FMS for a flex takeoff based on an assumed outside temperature of 40 degrees C resulting in a flex takeoff EPR of 1.38. Upon cross checks the first officer computed the temperature at 39 degrees, the temperature was changed to 39 degrees and entered into the flight management system. Subsequently an amended load sheet was delivered to the cockpit indicating that 22 more passengers than previously anticipated were on board, the crew recomputed the takeoff performance and concluded that the assumed outside temperature had to be changed to 34 degrees C resulting in an EPR of 1.41. At that time the ACARS receiver activated delivering the updated load sheet, a cabin crew member entered the cockpit to confirm the head count and ground personnel operating the wheel chocks called the cockpit. As result the new assumed outside temperature was not entered into the flight management system. The aircraft taxied to the departure runway, the engines were accelerated to about 1.2 EPR, then TOGA activated. The first officer noticed that the engines stabilized at 1.38 EPR instead of the expected 1.41 EPR, moved the power levers to achieve 1.41 EPR, however, the autothrust system returned the thrust levers to 1.38 EPR about 4 seconds after the first officer's intervention. Only during initial climb the first officer spotted that the FMS still showed an assumed temperature of 39 degrees instead of the 34 degrees last computed. The flight continued to Sydney, only after landing the flight crew discussed the event.

Australia's ATSB released their final report releasing following safety message:

Inaccurate take-off reference data has potentially serious consequences. ATSB Aviation Research and Analysis Report AR-2009-052 (Take-off performance calculation and entry errors: A global perspective) documents a number of accidents and incidents where take-off performance data was inaccurate. The report analyses those accidents and incidents, and concludes:

… it is imperative that the aviation industry continues to explore solutions to firstly minimise the opportunities for take-off performance parameter errors from occurring and secondly, maximise the chance that any errors that do occur are detected and/or do not lead to negative consequences.

The ATSB SafetyWatch highlights the broad safety concerns that come out of our investigation findings and from the occurrence data reported to us by industry. One of the safety concerns relates to data input errors.
Aircraft Registration Data
Registration mark
VH-YQV
Country of Registration
Australia
Date of Registration
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Airworthyness Category
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Manufacturer
THE BOEING COMPANY
Aircraft Model / Type
717-200
ICAO Aircraft Type
B712
Year of Manufacture
PAnb Subscribe to unlock
Serial Number
DAjlk Subscribe to unlock
Maximum Take off Mass (MTOM) [kg]
M fbb Subscribe to unlock
Engine Count
Subscribe to unlock
Engine
Ifggn cfdfjdgkjqlAjhnchcclAflcdcejA efkpjqhAg Subscribe to unlock
Main Owner
P hcncfckfmmAldcgddgcmdbbpmbnd jlnAnfdldhppedg bngmmknjjmAkgdhhcebigl dhpbbced Subscribe to unlock
Main Operator
C bpqmhqjibjmejbe njbkfik ieim gqmgqldnichAhqk jciAei qidl blhhnlljjklqkgecqnmidngljbffjelkjdikch jjjjnnqlAm ien ijAqcAqmh Subscribe to unlock
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Jun 20, 2016

Classification
Report

Airline
Cobham Aviation Services

Flight number
QF-1514

Departure
Canberra, Australia

Destination
Sydney, Australia

Aircraft Registration
VH-YQV

Aircraft Type
Boeing 717-200

ICAO Type Designator
B712

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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