Interim investigation report by British Military Aviation Authority (MAA) has found the Royal Air Force Voyager ZZ333 aircraft's sudd...
The incident resulted in grounding of the RAF’s new fleet of six A330 tanker transport aircrafts.
The report said, the sudden pitch down command was the result of an inadvertent physical input to the captain's side-stick by means of a physical obstruction in the form of a digital SLR camera, between the arm rest and the side stick unit.
The incident occurred when the aircraft was suddenly pitched nose down while cruising at 33000 ft. Within 27 seconds the aircraft lost 4440 ft in height, equal to a approximate descent rate of 15000 feet/minute, before the self protection system intiated recovery back towards a controlled flight.
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| A330 Side Stick and arm rest |
The aircraft was then diverted to the Incirlik Airbase in southern Turkey. The resulting negative g-force was sufficient for all the 189+9 unrestrained passengers and crews to be thrown towards the ceiling, resulting in a no of minor injuries.The captain and the co-pilot reported being felt weightlessness.
The aircraft was on a non-stop troop transport flight from RAF Brize Norton to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. The Voyager fleet resumed transport flights on 21 Feb. Voyager is an Airbus A330-200 airliner derived tanker transport aircraft. It can double as an aerial refuelling tanker as well as an troop transport aircraft.
Under a private finance initiative arrangement from Airbus-led consortium AirTanker, RAF has a deal for lease of 14 Voyager's. When not required to the RAF, Voyagers are operated by AirTanker Services as certified civilian aircraft for charter flights.
