Dragonair Pilots under investigation after Bumpy landing
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
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Hong Kong Airline Dragonair has removed one of their pilots and co-
pilot from flying duties after a Boeing 747-400 freighter plane
damaged three of its four engines landing in Britain during high winds
last Saturday.

The plane burst a tyre and its engines were badly damaged as it
touched down at 1:27 am on what was understood to have been a second
attempt following one fly-around because of severe gusts.

A Dragonair spokeswoman told Asia World News that the two pilots had
not been formally suspended stressing that it was normal practice for
crew to be removed from duty after an accident to assist the
investigation.

"Also, sometimes crew involved might experience stress from the
incident and are in need of professional counselling prior to
returning to flying duties," she said.

"Time is required to make a proper assessment. Depending on the
situation, it may take up to two or even four weeks to complete the
process."

Cathay Pacific hired the plane and cockpit crew from Dragonair for a
freighter route flight from Dubai to Manchester. Only the captain and
co-pilot were the on board the flight, both escaped uninjured.

The Dragonair spokeswoman said the airline was cooperating with
British civil aviation officials as they investigated the accident.
"As an investigation is under way, it would be premature to speculate
over the cause," she said.

She added that Dragonair expected the aircraft, which is undergoing
repairs in Manchester, to be back in service by the third week of
March.

The accident took place on a day of severe windstorms across Europe.
In another near- accident incident, a Lufthansa passenger plane
scraped a runway in Hamburg before another fly-around.

This follows the sacking of a senior pilot with Hong Kong's other main
airline Cathay Pacific after he swooped over a runway of a Boeing
plant in Seattle on the maiden flight of a new Boeing 777 on January
31st.