Close call for Singapore Airlines’ flight after sensor covers missed

SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 9V-SHH (MSN 316)

Singapore Airlines flight 256, bound for Changi Airport, was being pushed back from the international terminal on the 27th May this year when a refueller at an adjacent bay noticed the Airbus A350-900 airspeed sensors were still covered. The sensors sit within narrow tubes, called pitot probes, and inform pilots how fast the plane is flying — vital information for air navigation.

To protect the pitot probes, airline staff at Brisbane Airport routinely have them covered once they land, but planes have been known to take off with those covers attached.
That has resulted in several heavy landings over the years, in which planes have had to turn back to Brisbane and land with full fuel tanks.
In the latest incident being investigated by Australian Transport and Safety Bureau, the Singapore Airlines plane was seconds away from taxiing to the runway for take-off when the issue was spotted.
“At about the same time, the flight crew requested pushback approval from air traffic control and turned on the aircraft beacons,” the ATSB noted.
“The aerobridge began to retract away from the aircraft.”
With two minutes to spare before SQ256’s scheduled departure, the pitot covers were removed and the flight left without incident.

A separate ATSB report this year found the infestation had “probably already spread beyond the limits of practical control”, but Brisbane Airport Corporation has taken them on where it hurts.
It has targeted the wasps’ food source.
Brisbane Airport head of airside operations Peter Dunlop said, through “clever vegetation management”, the airport has reported a 64 per cent reduction in wasp activity at the domestic and international terminals, and a 94 per cent reduction in wasp food sources.

An Etihad Airbus A330 was forced to land almost 18 tonnes over its maximum landing weight in 2013, after a wasp nest blocked one of its pitot probes. The airliner had only been on the ground for two hours, demonstrating how quickly such problems could arise. 

Less than a year later, a Virgin Australia Boeing 737 was forced to turn around and land after taking off from Brisbane.

While none of the incidents at Brisbane Airport have ended in tragedy, such wasp activity has been known to have catastrophic consequences.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: Singapore Airlines

Code: SQ/SIA

Aircraft: Airbus A350-941

Registration: 9V-SHH

Serial Number: 316

Engines: 2 x RR Trent XWB

Age: 3yrs 4Mts