THE engines of the British Airways plane which crash-landed at Heathrow Airport failed to respond to commands for more power during the final stage of its descent, air accident investigators have found.
Senior First Officer John Coward, left, who was at the controls at the time of the crash, and Captain Peter Burkill
The catastrophic systems failure occurred when the Boeing 777 was 600ft above ground and two miles from the runway.
Three attempts to increase thrust, first by the autopilot, which was controlling the aircraft, and then by the flight crew using the throttle levers, produced no response from the Rolls-Royce engines.
The initial air accident report, released yesterday, stated: "The aircraft then descended rapidly and struck the ground, some 1,000ft short of the paved runway surface, just inside the airfield boundary fence."
It stated that the investigation was now focused on more detailed analysis of information from the aircraft's flight recorder, collecting other recorded information from the plane and "examining the range of aircraft systems that could influence engine operation".
Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that John Coward, the senior first officer on board, was the "handling pilot" of the aircraft during the drama, not Captain Peter Burkill.
Mr Burkill said: "I am proud to say that every member of the team played their part expertly, displaying the highest standards of skill and professionalism, no-one more so than John Coward, who did the most remarkable job. My first officer, Conor Magenis, also assisted continually."
Mr Burkill also paid tribute to Sharron Eaton-Mercer, the cabin service director, who supervised the evacuation. He said: "It was typical of Sharron's selflessness that she took time to check that we on the flight deck were all right before going down the (plane's escape] chute herself."
The accident report added that "during the short ground roll, the right main landing gear separated from the wing and the left main landing gear was pushed up through the wing root. A significant amount of fuel leaked from the aircraft, but there was no fire."
One of the 136 passengers broke a leg during the evacuation of the aircraft. Eight other passengers and four of the 16 crew sustained minor injuries.
Meanwhile, the disruption caused by Thursday's crash continued at Heathrow yesterday, with more than 50 flights being cancelled, most of them British Airways services.
Co-pilot in control is common practice for landingsTHE co-pilot – rather than the captain – taking control of an aircraft during a landing is standard practice, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said yesterday.
The two share roles during flights but these are not set in stone, according to officials.
The captain would decide before the flight who would fly which legs of the journey.
A CAA spokesman said: "It is common for the commander to fly the aircraft on the outward flight and the co-pilot to fly back.
"The co-pilot is just as qualified as the commander and so is perfectly able to handle a landing – even in the extreme circumstances that we saw the other day."
Keith Bill, a spokesman for the British Air Line Pilots Association, said: "Quite often they will take it in turns and it depends whose turn it is."
He said that if an emergency had arisen, the pilots would not have had time to switch positions. "These things happen so quickly."
UK-registered pilots are not allowed to fly more than 900 hours per year. Their union estimates that pilots probably work double that amount, taking into account preparations before and after.
However, a CAA spokesman said pilots' hours on the flight-deck are strictly regulated, despite complicated rules. He added: "There is a manual, but it's as thick as a phonebook. There isn't a hard-and-fast rule for each flight, but their time is strictly regulated so pilots are not overly fatigued."
