Poor training behind Qantas flight mishaps

[Greg McDonald]

From NEWS.COM.AU:

Poor training behind Qantas flight mishaps

THE pilot of a Qantas plane that hit a runway so hard that it "bounced" had two similar landings in the previous fortnight, a transport safety report says.
The Boeing 717, carrying 88 passengers, was descending at a rate of about 900 feet per minute when it landed at Darwin Airport on February 7, causing several creases in the fuselage and damaged landing gear, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.

“The aircraft operator ... became aware of two previous hard landings by the co-pilot in the 15-day period prior to this accident,” the ATSB said.

A subsequent Qantas investigation found that pilots were not confident in their training and many were inexperienced in flying a Boeing 717. The Qantas Boeing 717 fleet is used for regional flights.

“Not having a separate Head of Pilot training (for the) 717 has been a factor in the flight crew not having confidence in the training organisation to satisfactorily manage information,” it said.

“This situation has been aggravated by the irregularity of check and training meetings.

“The current shortage of experienced flight crew has necessitated employing pilots with less total aeronautical experience than they would have previously.”

The Qantas investigation also said “visual illusions” were a factor in the accident.

“The approach to runway 29 at Darwin at night is conducive to a degree of black hole phenomenon as it is predominantly over an area with poor ambient lighting.

“This is a condition that can create visual illusions and was a factor in this event.”

The airline has since hired a special training pilot for the 717 fleet and has been developing new training programs and manuals.

The ATSB is still investigating the incident.