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'It's not like riding a bike': Airline safety concerns over planes being reactivated after storage during pandemic, as experts warn 'people returning to work are quite rusty' By JOE DAVIES

FOR MAILONLINE 09:56 16 Dec 2020, updated 09:56 16 Dec 2020

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Travel restrictions caused a decrease in flying this year during the pandemicPlanes are coming out of storage on a scale not seen in the industry before Pilots returning to work and insect

nests have been raised as potential problems Aviation experts have raised concerns about 'rusty' pilots and planes being reactivated after storage during the coronavirus pandemic.

Travel restrictions caused a huge decrease in flying this year in an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19 across borders. 

ADVERTISEMENT Pilots returning to work and insect nests have been raised as potential problems for airlines as they restart business.

There has been a spike in reported maintenance problems as planes are brought out of storage on a scale not seen in the industry before.

Aviation experts have raised concerns about 'rusty' pilots and planes being reactivated after storage during the coronavirus pandemic Aviation insurers and regulators have raised concerns

about how airlines return to full functionality.

Head of Asia aviation at insurance broker Aon Gary Moran told the BBC: 'We've got people returning to work who are quite rusty, which is a big issue.'

Asia managing editor of aviation magazine FlightGlobal Greg Waldron said: 'Flying an aircraft can be quite technical. 

'If you haven't been doing it for a while, it's certainly not second nature like riding a bike.'

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after clocking up 45million miles as fleet is retired due to impact of Covid pandemic But Mr Waldron said airlines are aware of pilots being more cautious on their return and many have

booked extra time for them in flight simulators.

The number of 'unstabilised' or poorly handled approaches has risen sharply this year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

Such mishaps can result in hard landings, runway overshoots or even crashes.

Worried by IATA's data, insurers are questioning airlines about whether they are doing extra pilot training to focus on landings, said Mr Moran.

'They want to know about the circumstances of the training,' he said.

Pilots returning to work and insect nests have been raised as potential problems for airlines as they restart business Approaches and landings place significant demands on crew for which

training and regular experience are seen as vital.

According to aircraft maker Airbus SE, the largest category of fatal accidents can be traced back to the approach to an airport, while the largest number of non-fatal accidents happen during

landing.

ADVERTISEMENT In May, a Pakistan International Airlines jet crashed after an unstabilised approach, killing 97 people, while 18 died in an Air India Express crash on landing in August, also

after an unstabilised approach.

But training is not the only concern.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has reported an 'alarming trend' in the number of reports of unreliable airspeed and altitude readings during the first flight after a plane

leaves storage.

In some cases, take-offs had to be abandoned or the aircraft had to return to base.

In most cases, the problem was traced back to undetected insect nests inside the aircraft's pitot tubes, pressure-sensitive sensors that feed key data to an avionics computer.

In June, a Wizz Air Holdings PLC jet halted take-off after the captain found the airspeed was reading zero.

Examination of the plane found insect larvae in one of the pitot tubes, with the aircraft having been parked for 12 weeks before the flight, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch said

last month. No passengers were on board.

Insects blocking a pitot tube contributed to the 1996 crash of a chartered Birgenair plane in the Dominican Republic that killed all 189 people on board.

Kate Seaton, a Singapore-based aerospace partner at law firm HFW, said flight crews need to be aware of potential defects that might not have been identified properly as planes return to

service after an unprecedented grounding.

'We are in new territory - the industry must take steps to mitigate the risks but need to be prepared for the unexpected,' she said.

ADVERTISEMENT EASA said last month that issues found after prolonged parking included an engine shutdown in flight after technical problems, fuel system contamination, reduced parking brake

pressure and emergency batteries losing their charge.

'We've got people returning to work who are quite rusty, which is a big issue,' insurer Aon's Moran said.

Airlines have developed training programmes for pilots re-entering service ranging from theory refreshers to multiple simulator sessions and supervised in-flight checks, depending on the

length of absence. 

Covid-19 Share or comment on this article: Airline safety concerns over planes being reactivated after storage during pandemic 9 shares

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