SMOKE appeared in the cockpit of an easyJet flight due to an electrical fault which was known to the aircraft manufacturer, an investigation has found.
EasyJet was unaware that 10 similar failures had been reported previously, according to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
The captain and co-pilot became aware of smoke and fumes just 11 minutes after taking off from Edinburgh with 172 passengers on board.
They were forced to don their oxygen masks, issue a mayday alert and divert the Airbus A320 to Newcastle.
The source of the smoke was traced to an overheated device which converts voltage in the cockpit, the AAIB found.
Airbus did transmit warnings about the problem but they were in a format used for “information” rather than “instructions” and were not routinely reviewed by easyJet.
Another “large UK operator” also did not regularly study these messages, the inquiry revealed.
EasyJet believes the defect should have been “classified as a safety issue” and communicated to carriers in higher-profile alerts.
Both the aircraft manufacturer and the airline “intend further safety action”, the AAIB stated.
There was also a three-minute delay in the co-pilot being able to speak to cabin crew due to difficulties using the aircraft’s phone system.
The incident occurred on flight EZY6931 from Edinburgh to Hamburg, Germany, on November 28 last year.
The aircraft landed safely in Newcastle and the passengers were able to disembark normally.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here