AHSA Newsletter January 2017 – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

2007 During a Qantas Boeing 767 (VH-OGP) flight from Nagoya to Cairns on 9 July 2007, the pilot in command had a seizure. He was removed from the operating station and replaced by the aircraft’s co-pilot before the plane landed at Cairns. The pilot probably had been affected by a gastro-intestinal illness. Source: ATSB, Aviation Safety Investigation Report AE-2007-022, 29 November 2007. via aph.gov.au website

2019 A Virgin Australia Regional Airlines-operated Fokker 100, VH-FWI, was climbing through 13,000 feet enroute from Geraldton to Perth when its left Rolls-Royce Tay engine flamed out, which an ATSB investigation subsequently determined was due to the failure of the engine’s fuel flow regulator due to component wear. After the flame-out, the flight crew elected to maintain their airspeed of 250 knots and to continue 355 km to Perth, even though they were only 41 km from Geraldton. In addition, due to a desire not to ‘strain’ the right engine, the pilot flying elected not to increase thrust from climb to maximum continuous, and/or reduce the aircraft’s speed towards the recommended single-engine climb speed of 155–170 knots. Consequently, the crew adopted a cruise level about 6,500 feet below the maximum engine-out altitude. The ATSB suggested the decision to proceed to Perth resulted in “longer exposure to one engine inoperative flight risks” but maintained it was still a “permitted option” that was carefully considered. The aircraft was carrying two flight crew, two cabin crew and 24 passengers on board when the incident took place on 9 July 2019. Source: ATSB