News
Dutch watchdog warns of stall risk in planes
Nov. 18, 2013, The Hague, Netherlands - A Dutch safety watchdog is warning about a potential risk when planes using autopilot and an airport's automated landing system approach a runway at too steep an angle.
November 18, 2013 By The Associated Press
The Dutch Safety Board said Monday that airport Instrument Landing
Systems can give planes flying on autopilot inaccurate information.
The board says that's what happened during an incident at
Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands this year during which a plane
narrowly avoided stalling just before landing.
The board's warning, sent to
aviation officials around the world, says that if a plane approaches a
runway at greater than a three-degree angle, the airport system could
tell the autopilot to raise the plane's nose, increasing risk of a
stall.
An antenna type called "M-array" was a common factor in three incidents the board analyzed.
