ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 227223
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| Date: | Tuesday 9 July 2019 |
| Time: | 14:58 |
| Type: |  Fokker 100 |
| Owner/operator: | Virgin Australia Regional Airlines |
| Registration: | VH-FWI |
| MSN: | 11318 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1990 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | Geraldton Airport, WA (GET/YGEL) -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Geraldton Airport, WA (GET/YGEL) |
| Perth, WA | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
A Fokker F100 aircraft, registered VH-FWI, was being operated by Virgin Australia Regional Airlines as regular public transport flight VA1788 from Geraldton to Perth, Western Australia.
During climb at about 13,000 ft, the left engine flamed out. Due to a pre-existing fault with the autothrottle system the pilot was required to manually select climb thrust on the remaining (right) engine. The crew elected to maintain the incidental speed (250 knots). Due to a desire not to ‘strain’ the right engine the pilot flying also elected not to increase thrust from climb to maximum continuous, and/or reduce the aircraft’s speed towards the recommended single engine climb speed (155–170 knots). Consequently, the crew adopted a cruise level about 6,500 ft below the maximum engine out altitude.
The crew maintained their cleared track to Perth and conducted an approach and landing via the runway 21 instrument landing system, using single engine procedures. The aircraft was accompanied from the touchdown point to the domestic terminal by airport emergency vehicles.
The ATSB found that at about 11,500 ft during initial climb the left engine fuel flow regulator (FFR) malfunctioned, resulting in over-regulation of fuel. The left engine autothrottle system attempted to reduce the thrust. Due to a pre-existing and admissible fault within the right engine autothrottle system and the action of an associated ‘clutch-tie’ mechanism, the right engine thrust lever retarded progressively reducing fuel flow demand to the right engine. At about 13,000 ft, as the right engine thrust approached flight idle, the left engine FFR ceased regulating fuel, which caused the immediate flameout of the left engine. Failure of the FFR was found to have resulted from wear related to the component’s service life.
The ATSB also identified that the failure of the FFR resulted in engine 1 thrust variation for about 45 seconds prior to the engine flame out. That went undetected by the crew due to the effects of automation, focused attention on other cockpit tasks and the absence of any alert prior to the engine failure.
The decision to continue to Perth following the engine failure resulted in a longer exposure to one engine inoperative flight risks, compared to a return to the nearest suitable airport (Geraldton).
Finally, by electing not to increase thrust on the right engine or adopt the aircraft’s recommended single engine climb speed, the pilot flying reduced the available climb performance of the aircraft, resulting in a lower cruise altitude than the maximum available. This, coupled with the decision to continue to Perth on the original indirect track, increased the duration of flight and the time that the aircraft was outside the glide range of emergency airports and controlled airspace, in the unlikely event that the situation degraded further.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2019/aair/ao-2019-033/
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 4 July 1999 | VH-FWI | Flight West Airlines | 0 | Norfolk Island Airport |  |
min |
| 9 October 1999 | VH-FWI | Flight West Airlines | 0 | Norfolk Island Airport (NLK) | |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Jul-2019 17:44 | harro | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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