Vancouver-bound flight aborted after pilot mixes up left and right hands
A flight heading to Vancouver from London had to abort takeoff in a high-speed emergency stop after a pilot got his left and right hands mixed up.
The co-pilot of the Boeing 777 jet mistook his right hand for his left and pulled back on the thrust lever. The botched manoeuvre ultimately caused the brakes to catch fire at Gatwick Airport.
British Airways flight BA 2279 was travelling at 167 knots (309 km/h) when the incident occurred on June 28 last year, according to a report published this month by Britain's Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB). The report said the pilot was supposed to 'move his left hand during the takeoff roll, while preparing to pull back on the control column with his right hand.'
'However, he unintentionally pulled his left hand back instead.'
Airport fire and rescue crews quickly attended the aircraft and extinguished a fire from 'hot brakes on the right main landing gear,' the AAIB report said.
The report stated that 'there was no obvious reason' for the pilot's actions.
It went on: 'The co-pilot reported being well-rested and feeling fine. He expressed surprise in himself over the inadvertent thrust reduction and could not identify a reason for it.'
The Independent said the experienced flyer had more than 6,000 flying hours banked, adding the captain stepped in to 'calmly and methodically' bring the plane to a halt and alert air traffic controllers.
A spokesperson for British Airways said at the time that its pilots took the 'precautionary decision' to abandon takeoff due to a technical issue.
'Safety is always our highest priority,' the carrier added, 'and our pilots brought the aircraft to a safe stop. We apologized to our customers and our teams worked hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.'
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