Winston

For those without a WSJ subscription:

Pilot Error Suspected in Fatal Atlas Air Cargo Crash

Investigators exploring likelihood that crew accidentally increased thrust on approach to Houston airport, sources say

Andy Pasztor
March 15, 2019 4:06 p.m. ET

National Transportation Safety Board experts, these people said, are focusing on a likely sequence of events that started with the crew of the Boeing Co. 767 approaching Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Feb. 23 inadvertently commanding dramatically increased engine thrust. Turbulent air could have jostled the arm of one of the pilots, causing the engines to rev up to takeoff power, one of these people said.

The sudden surge in thrust, which the safety board disclosed in an earlier factual update, forced the nose of the plane to pitch upward and startled the cockpit crew, according to these people. Almost immediately, according to the preliminary data released by the safety board, the crew responded by sharply pushing down the nose of the aircraft.

The board previously said the nose was pointed downward at a 49-degree angle with the plane still about 30 miles from the airport, creating a much steeper descent than a normal landing approach.

The seemingly disoriented crew failed to regain control—despite commands to pull up from the jet’s high-speed dive—and the wide-body plane plowed into a marshy area.

The safety board said the crew had the required training and medical certificates.

The safety board hasn’t issued any final conclusions, and the leading theory currently pursued by investigators could change as more information is developed. A spokesman for the board said it had no comment beyond the factual update released earlier. Boeing had no immediate comment.

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. and the union representing its pilots both declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

But at this point, such cockpit slipups are considered the most likely cause of the crash. The plane was skirting around some storm cells before the plunge, but people familiar with the details said the turbulence didn’t cause any structural damage or lead any system to malfunction.

In its update, the safety board said the “engines increased to maximum thrust” as the plane was flying at roughly 6,000 feet. After a brief nose-up movement, according to the update, the Boeing 767 entered a steep descent in a “generally wings-level attitude until impact with the swamp.”

Many airline and aerospace industry officials have watched the probe closely because the 767 model is widely used as a passenger jet around the globe.

The Atlas Air flight, en route to Houston from Miami, was flying cargo for Amazon.com Inc.

The last fatal U.S. airliner crash also was a cargo flight. In 2013, a United Parcel Service Inc. Airbus A300 slammed into hill while approaching to land in Birmingham, Ala., killing both pilots. The safety board determined that a series of pilot errors and violations of safety procedures caused that accident. The aircraft descended too quickly toward a runway shrouded by clouds, and the pilots waited until the last seconds to try to initiate a go-around.

—Alison Sider contributed to this article.

Write to Andy Pasztor at [email protected]