Sin Chew

No SOP for turning back

t is believed that whether there is any sharp objects on the runway that had caused the tyre burst of MH192 has been included in the investigation. Photo courtesy: Sin Chew Daily

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Sin Chew Daily) – A Bengaluru (Bangalore) bound Malaysia Airlines Flight MH192 with 166 passengers and crew members on board had to make a turn back after a tyre in its right-hand landing gear burst during take off from the KL International Airport (KLIA), and landed safely approximately four hours after circling the Malaysian airspace to burn fuel.

Although all on board were safe, they were scared.

Everyone has been paying high concern to plane safety and ground security inspection since the MH370 gone missing, hoping that the authorities can give it a high degree of attention and improve security measures to avoid a repeatition of the tragic event.

The aerospace and civil aviation standard operating procedures (SOP) have always seemed esoteric. However, after the MH370 tragedy, experts have tried to explain and analyse them from various angles to give the public a better understanding of them.

An aviation co-pilot told Sin Chew Daily that currently, they do not have a SOP for turning back flight but the pilot must make his decision based on the situation and conditions, including whether it is an emergency and whether it is necessary to turn back.

A professional flight crew opined that the landing gear malfunction and tyre problem might be because technicians had failed to notice the damage before the plane's take off. There could also be something sharp on the runway.

He added that the possibility of vandalism is very low.

The anonymous civil aviation co-pilot said that technicians will usually have a pre-take off check before the pilot performing the final pre-flight check to ensure everything is in good condition.

He said that a tyre burst is not a serious incident but the MH192 pilot might have considered the possibility of having no supporting engineer or technician in Bangalore, he thus decided to turn back.

"To make an emergency landing, it requires a suitable and clear runway. A long runway is required for a huge Boeing like MH192 as the pilot might lose control of it and skid off the runway if it is too short," he explained.

He pointed out that the first case would be if an engine failure during take-off affects the plane's performance and causes it unable to maintain its altitude, the plane must then turn back for an emergency landing. The second case is, if the plane can still maintain its altitude despite the engine failure, the plane might still be able to continue flying to the destination, or land at a nearby airport.

"Pilots will generally take into account whether there are supporting technicians or engineers and oil refilling facilities. If the destination airport lacks these facilities, the pilot will usually choose to turn back.

"For minor problems like air conditioning failure that do not affect the plane's flying altitude, it will not affect the flight," he added.

When being asked about the pilot's decision to circle the Malaysian airspace for nearly four hours to burn fuel before making the emergency landing, he explained that there is a maximum landing fuel load for aircraft to prevent a certain degree of risk due to excessive weight, including causing rupture to the landing gear. Generally, the maximum landing fuel load for a Boeing 737 or 777 is about 68 tons.

As for flight delaying problems, he opined that a main factor is because some passengers have checked-in but do not board the plane and thus, it takes time for crew members to offload their luggages.

"After the September 11 attacks, there is a concern that checked-in passengers who do not board the plane might have left combustibles in the cabin and therefore, their luggages must be offloaded to ensure safety," he said.

In addition, bad weather, technical problems and busy runways are also factors causing flight delays.

"The KLIA has two runways and one of them will be closed every Tuesday for cleaning and repairing work. Since there is only one runway left, the busy runway would cause delay to some flights," he said.

He said that the frequent technical problems found in MAS aircraft in recent days might be because they belong to the same group of old Boeing aircraft with worn out engines.

Aviation expert Peter Talalla said that tyre burst is actually not something strange as other civil aircraft have also encountered the same problem.

Peter Talalla, who is also a former special adviser to AirAsia's Chief Executive Officer, said that it could happen to any aircraft but what was important was, it did not affect and endanger the overall flight operation.

He said that in fact, although it does not happen everyday, airplanes have landing gear malfunctions more often than we might imagine but people just do not realise it. Since a burst tyre rarely causes death or injuries, it does not become an issue to any quarters.

"Actually, it is more of a concern on take-off because after taking-off, the wheels are retracted and a wheel well fire could happen.

"But a fire detection system in the wheel well would alert the pilot. If there is a fire, the emergency checklist would direct the pilot to lower the landing gear wheels and return for landing," he added.