AN INTERIM report into an air crash that claimed the lives of six people at Cork Airport last year when a plane crashed in thick fog has found evidence of some mechanical problems but makes no assessment as to whether these contributed to the crash.
An initial report by the Air Accident Investigation Unit last March into the crash of a Manx2.comflight on February 10th found no evidence of failures in the plane's structure, systems or engines, or of any problems with the facilities at Cork.
However, an interim report published yesterday has confirmed that, while many of the components of the 19-year-old twin-engine Metro III had no pre-crash defects, some problems were identified with a number of components following a more detailed examination by the investigation unit team.
Its five-page report says no pre-accident defects were identified with the engines other than a problem with the engine control component, and the evidence indicated that both engines were operating at high power at the time of impact.
This latest report, published just before the first anniversary of the crash on Friday, notes there was a 5 per cent discrepancy in the torque – or power to turn the propellers – between the aircraft’s two engines and that the torque response from one engine was faster than from the other.
The report also notes that a bellows in one of the engines was considerably shorter than the manufacturer’s specifications, and that a leak within the temperature signalling system was later identified, which resulted in an incorrect signalling of fuel flow to this engine.
The investigation also found no evidence of pre-accident defects with either of the propeller assemblies, and said all the evidence indicated the propellers were operating correctly at the time of impact.
However, one aviation expert cautioned that while mechanical problems have been identified by the Air Accident Investigation Unit, it remains to be seen if any of these issues contributed to the crash, and, if they did, to what degree.
“These issues have to be assessed along with issues like pilot rostering, regulatory control and many others as part of the overall investigation into the cause of the crash – this is an interim report, it is a factual statement of findings to date, it does not draw conclusions.”
The initial report published last March noted the aircraft was making its third attempt to land in heavy fog and reduced visibility at Cork Airport when it crashed, and was not equipped with an autopilot or a flight director but was being flown manually.
It raised the issue of the experience of both flight crew members, Capt Jordi Sola Lopez (31) and co-pilot Andrew Cantle (27), who both died. It is understood the investigation is continuing to look at issues of flight crew training.
The inquiry is also looking at the regulatory oversight between the ticket sellers, Manx2.com, the service operators, Flightline BCN of Barcelona, and the aircraft's owners, Air Lada of Seville.
It is understood the full report may take some months to complete.