Boeing Co issued a technical bulletin to airlines reminding them to ensure pilots closely monitor the airplane’s state and flight path to prevent a loss of control in flight, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The bulletin, dated Feb. 15., was sent after Indonesia issued a preliminary report into a Jan. 9 Sriwijaya Air crash that killed all 62 people on board a 737-500.
It was not explicitly linked to that crash and covers all modern Boeing models but it addresses one of the potential areas of interest for investigators following the accident, pending the discovery of the cockpit voice recorder memory unit.
“Continual crew awareness of airplane attitude, airspeed, flight control position and thrust settings is fundamental for airplane upset prevention and can reduce the effect of startle or surprise caused by rapid unexpected changes,” the bulletin said.
Manufacturers have periodically issued such reminders and Boeing said it regularly communicates with customers on how they can safely and confidently operate their airplanes.
According to an industry-wide safety analysis issued by Airbus SE last year, loss of control in-flight represents the largest category - or 33% - of all accidents since the start of the jet age.