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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Before AA331 crashed: Pilot opted against mis-approach
By VERNON DAVIDSON Executive editor -- publications [email protected]
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
THE pilot of American Airlines flight 331, which crashed at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston last Tuesday night, opted not to utilise a mis-approach, as suggested by local air traffic controllers, the Observer has learnt.
The mis-approach option -- which would require the pilot to circle and make another landing attempt -- was offered as the Boeing 737-800 approached the runway with a tailwind and in driving rain which, according to local aviation sources, was not heavy enough to prevent the aircraft from landing without problems.
"Three flights landed in the hour before the American Airlines flight," a source at the airport told the Observer yesterday. "It was raining just as heavily at the time they landed. I know the option was communicated to him, but I can't say anything more as the matter is under investigation."
Airports Authority president Earl Richards also said that he was told of the communication between the air traffic controllers and the pilot but said he had not received an official report.
AA331, which originated in Washington, DC and stopped in Miami, Florida, overran the Norman Manley Airport runway after 10:00 pm, smashed through the perimeter fence, crossed the Port Royal road and ended up on the beach, a few metres from the Caribbean Sea.
There were no fatalities. However, 92 of the aircraft's 146 passengers were reported injured and were treated at hospitals in Kingston. Six persons formed the crew.
The crash is being investigated by local and international aviation authorities amid reports in the US that ground facilities here were not working or that they were less than adequate.
For instance, one argument being advanced is that the NMIA runway does not have proper drainage, resulting in it being flooded during last Tuesday's downpour.
However, that has been refuted by Richards who told the Observer yesterday that the airport meets international standards.
Last week, another report surfaced in the US media that the approach lights to the airport were not working. Director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority Lt Col Oscar Derby, while confirming that the lights were out for some time, said that all airlines were informed. Derby also dismissed another report circulating in the US that the runway lights were not working. (See story on Page 4)
Yesterday, Colonel Anthony 'Bunny' Stern, a veteran aviation expert, dismissed the insinuation that the absence of the approach lights could have contributed to the crash.
"Without the approach lights there's no reason for the pilot not to make a safe landing," Colonel Stern told the Observer, adding that the pilot would have had a number of aids in order to land safely.
<span style="font-weight: bold">One of those aids, he said, is the Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) which is a light system positioned beside the runway that helps the pilot determine if he's coming in at the normal glidepath.
"If you're too low you get a red light," said Col Stern. "If you're too high you get a white light, while if you're coming in at the correct altitude the light goes green."
PAPI lights can be seen from up to five miles during the day and from as far as 20 miles at night.
Colonel Stern also said the pilot would have been using an Instrument Landing System (ILS), which basically uses a combination of radio signals to provide aircraft with precision guidance on approach and on landing.</span>
In addition, the pilot has other equipment in his cockpit that assist the landing process.
"To use the approach lights argument now is nonsense," said Colonel Stern. "Once the pilot is not satisfied that he'll make a safe landing he has the option to mis-approach."
Colonel Stern, who started flying in 1954, also rubbished the argument about excess water on runway, saying that was not a feature of the NMIA.
While making it clear that he was not suggesting that there was pilot error, Col Stern said that the crash could have been the result of any of a number of variables, including mechanical failure.
"We just don't know yet, until the investigation is completed," he said.
However, he was convinced that nothing that has been said so far could lay the blame at the feet of the Jamaican authorities.
"Taking all the factors into account, I would tend to rule out the ground authorities," he said.
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