Available online
Description
The programme looks at aircraft crash investigations in Britain and some of the events which led up to the introduction of a mandatory incident reporting scheme in January 1976.
The programme looks at aircraft crash investigations in Britain and some of the events which led up to the introduction of a mandatory incident reporting scheme in January 1976.
| Module code and title: | TD342, Systems performance: human factors and systems failures |
|---|---|
| Item code: | TD342; 02 |
| First transmission date: | 07-03-1976 |
| Published: | 1976 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:22 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | John Groom |
| Contributors: | John Boyd-Carpenter; Allen Johnson; Geoff Peters; Geoffrey Wilkinson; Geoffrey Feltham; Eric Newton; Michael Charlton |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Air Investigation Branch of the Department of Trade; BEA Trident, Staines, 1972; British Midland Argonaut, Stockport, 1967; Civil Aviation Authority; Investigation; U.K. Flight Safety Committee |
| Footage description: | Film shots of the scene of the British Airways Trident crash at Staines in June 1972 Lord Boyd-Carpenter introduces the programme. Geoffrey Wilkinson, Eric Newton (Board of Trade investigators) and Geoff Peters discuss briefly, the responsibilities of the air crash investigator. Still shots of plane wreckage and a graph accompany the discussion. Geoff Peters and Allen Johnson discuss the problem of human error rather than mechanical failure as a cause of air disasters. Film shots of a reconstruction of the crash of a British Midland Argonaut at Stockport in June 1967. The voice of the pilot is an actual recording made at the time of the crash. Geoffrey Wilkinson, Board of Trade investigator explains the mechanical condition of the Argonaut as it was just before the crash. He points to a scale model of an Argonaut to illustrate his points. Film of a flight test which was conducted on another Argonaut to simulate the flight characteristics of the crashed aircraft (two starboard engines not working). Geoff Peters and Geoffrey Wilkinson provide the commentary which explains how the accident happened. Wilkinson and Peters go on to explain how the cause of the Argonaut engine failure was discovered. Film shots of an Argonaut on the ground undergoing fuel starvation tests. Peters and Allen Johnson (Chairman, UK Flight Safety Committee) discuss the human element in the Argonaut fuel starvation problem. They explain how communication of information from aircraft operators who knew of the problem to those who had not experienced it before might have prevented this crash. Over film shots of a BA Trident taking off and shots of the inside of a Trident cockpit, commentary relates the events which took place from take off to crash, in Staines, of the ill fated flight Papa India in June 1972. Using film shots of a Trident wing in flight and an animated cross section diagram of a Trident wing, Michael Charlton explains the aerodynamic configuration which caused the airliner to stall and crash. He goes on, with Geoffrey Wilkinson, to show that human error caused the crash. Johnson and Peters join in to point out that the same problem had occurred previously on other Tridents without fatal results. Lord Boyd-Carpenter and Allen Johnson explain the mandatory incident reporting system and its advantages. Johnson goes on to explain the difficulty of enforcing this system. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72051 |
| Production number: | 00525_5237 |
| Videofinder number: | 756 |
| Available to public: | no |
