A359, Brisbane, Australia, 2022

A359, Brisbane, Australia, 2022

Summary

On 27 May 2022, an Airbus A350-900 was about to push back from its gate at Brisbane to taxi for departure when a refueller nearby informed the engineer responsible for the aircraft turnround that the pitot covers were still fitted. The refueller advised their removal before pushback. This engineer was found to have certified removal of the covers in the aircraft Technical Log and removed the corresponding warning placard from the flight deck without visual or verbal confirmation that they had been removed. Multiple aspects of the handling agent’s related performance and practices were found to be deficient.

Description

On 27 May 2022, an Airbus A350-900 (9V-SHH) operated by Singapore Airlines on a scheduled international passenger flight from Brisbane to Singapore as SQ25 was about to push back from its gate at Brisbane to taxi for departure. An uninvolved third party alerted those responsible for removing the pitot covers that the covers were still fitted, and they were then removed. The lack of robust procedures for ensuring pitot cover removal before departure was noted to have been found with a different aircraft operator using the same ramp service provider at the airport.

Investigation

An investigation into the occurrence was carried out by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). Relevant recorded airport closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage was available to support the accounts given of the oversight involved.

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