Sunwing pilot entered wrong temperature, nearly causing ‘catastrophic’ incident

A serious incident at Belfast International Airport last year could have been “catastrophic”, according to a report.

Investigators have concluded that last year’s incident where a Sunwing pilot entered the wrong temperature, nearly caused a ‘catastrophic’ crash.

A report by the U.K.’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch says -52C was mistakenly entered into the Flight Management Computer by the pilot, instead of the actual temperature of 16C.

The error meant the Boeing 737, destined for Corfu, took off using only 60% of the engine thrust required and hit a runway light.

“This, together with the correctly calculated assumed temperature thrust reduction of 48 degrees, meant the aircraft engines were delivering only 60% of their maximum rated thrust,” the report said.

Investigators pointed out that the aircraft software was incapable of alerting the flight crew of the temperature error, though updated versions would have caught it.

“Had an engine failed at a critical moment during take-off, the consequences could have been catastrophic,” the report said.

Sunwing said it has implemented software updates since the July 2017 incident, and initially suspended both pilots from flying duties until the investigation was complete.

The pilots have now returned to full duty.