AVIATION/ ATSB REPORTS ON QANTAS FL32

The Australian Transportation Safety Board, ATSB, has released its final report into a serious incident involving a QANTAS Boeing 747 on April 15, 2007. On that date, Flight 32 was on International Service from Singapore to Sydney, Australia, with 355 passengers and 19 crew members onboard. The 747 was on final approach for landing, at 100 feet, when the aircraft encountered a rapid shift of wind conditions. The 747 touched down heavily, followed by the windshear alert sounding. The crew performed a wind shear recovery by going around. The aircraft landed without incident on its 2nd approach and landing. No one onboard was injured. The 747 suffered minor damage in the passenger cabin due to the hard landing. In their final report, the ATSB said that Flight 32 had encountered significant horizontal windshear associated with a dry microburst. The ATSB said that the timing, location, and characteristics of the windshear were such, that a hard landing was unavoidable. Although weather conditions in Sydney were conducive to the developement of low level windshear and dry microbursts, the ATSB noted that ATC was inconsistant with its advisories to aircraft at Sydney, with the crew of Flight 32 not receiving information relevant to the conditions they were liking to encounter on their approach and landing. The full report, including events from departure in Singapore to the 2nd approach and landing, can be found on the ATSB website.