Brisbane Airport refueller averts potential disaster

Brisbane’s Airport’s wasp infestation almost caused another major incident involving an international airline, but an eagle-eyed refueller prevented a potential disaster. Wasps have been dangerous pests at the airport, building nests inside sensitive airspeed sensors on airliners and requiring them to be covered. Singapore Airlines flight 256, bound for Changi Airport, was being pushed back from the international terminal on May 27 this year when a refueller at an adjacent bay noticed the Airbus A350’s 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 full report on the incident will be produced after the ATSB investigation. <br/>