Passengers endured ‘extreme’ pitch and roll as the plane dropped 1,000 feet during a flight from Guernsey to Manchester on 21 December last
year.
During the incident the co-pilot issued a Mayday before regaining control of the ATR aircraft and returning to Guernsey.
The operator has since written to passengers to apologise for what it accepted was an ‘alarming’ incident.
According to the report, flight GR678 suffered a build-up of ice as it climbed to its cruising altitude of 17,000 ft.
Although icing caution alerts were illuminated in the cockpit, the crew did not carry out a required checklist procedure or a ‘severe icing’ procedure and selected a speed which was too slow for the plane to effectively deal with the icing.
‘The loss of control resulted from airframe icing accrued during the climb and incomplete use of the appropriate checklists, leading to selection of an unsuitable speed,’ the AAIB report said.
Aurigny’s flight operations director, Captain Nigel Moll, said that the airline had since carried out ‘an immediate and comprehensive internal investigation’ into what the AAIB has categorised as a serious incident.
‘Within one week [we] introduced new procedures and safeguards, greatly exceeding what is required or recommended by the aircraft manufacturer.
‘With safety our number one priority, we always ensure that we have above industry standard procedures in place,’ he said.
Following the incident the crew from the flight were debriefed comprehensively and were given flying sessions with training captains ‘which acted as a confidence check for them and the airline prior to returning to normal operations’, he said.
Last December’s incident is now replicated in a flight simulator with all crew as part of their six-monthly mandatory training sessions.
‘We must stress that an icing incident of this nature is incredibly rare,’ he continued.
‘However, when the in-flight upset did occur, the crew followed all our procedures and training, to quickly recover the situation and return to Guernsey for a safe landing.’
The airline’s chief executive, Mark Darby, said: ‘Safety is always of paramount importance to us and, in all circumstances, remains our absolute priority. Immediately after the incident we took steps to enhance our procedures and associated awareness training.’
Mr Darby recognised that the incident would have been alarming for the passengers on board the plane and said he had written to them ‘immediately after this unfortunate event’ and would be writing to them again following the report’s publication.
lAround the Islands:
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