Propeller Mystery In Crash Inquiry
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday June 27, 2000
The two propellers of the ill-fated Whyalla Airlines plane were positioned as if both engines had failed when it crashed last month, government investigators have confirmed.
But the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which today will release an interim report into last month's accident in which eight people died, will not discuss speculation that only one of the twin-engine Piper Chieftain's engines had failed when it crashed into the Spencer Gulf.
Pilots are taught to feather, or change the pitch of the propeller, to the angle of least resistance if an engine fails. This allows the plane to be flown safely on the other, operating engine, with maximum performance.
One industry source said the manner in which the two propellers had been bent on impact suggested that one of the engines had failed, and the other was still on high power.
``When the plane was pulled up from the ocean floor, they found that the three blades of one propeller had been bent back in a direction which looks as if the engine was under high power when it hit," the source said.
``If that is true then the pilot inadvertently feathered the propeller of an operating engine."
The head of the investigation, ATSB senior investigator Mr Barry Sargeant, said it was too early to speculate on the reasons for the crash.
Mr Sargeant confirmed that both propellers had been feathered. The two engines were now being stripped by investigators to confirm if they had failed and, if so, why it happened.
The interim report would be released this morning, he said. It covered the sequence of events leading up to the crash on May 31, including the mayday calls by the pilot, but it would not discuss possible causes of the tragedy.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has grounded the airline after a post-accident audit revealed some concerns about company operations. Although some of the issues had been addressed, CASA now says it has deeper concerns about the company's management culture.
These included the company's attitude towards quality, training, improvement and achieving world's best practice, a spokesman, Mr Peter Gibson said.
A CASA safety audit after the crash found that the airline might not have kept accurate flight records and that it had placed a heavy workload on its pilots.
Whyalla Airlines' managing director, Mr Chris Brougham, has accused CASA of having a vendetta against the company, and that it is unfairly keeping the operation grounded, potentially for months.
The company has already done everything that CASA has asked, he says.
He said last week that the company was losing $40,000 a week and facing ruin if it was not allowed back into the air soon.
Mr Gibson said CASA officials would meet Mr Brougham in the next few days to discuss the problems.
``Where it goes from there will be up to Whyalla Airlines and their attitude."
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald
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