A final report detailing the engine shutdown incident of Smartwings Flight QS1125 in 2019 has been revealed. The Accident Investigation Unit of the Czech Aviation Authority (UZPLN) published the report on July 23rd. Issued entirely in Czech, the report indicates there was severe negligence on the part of the pilot.
According to Aviation Herald, UZPLN revealed the aircraft commander failed to abide by the emergency protocol. The Boeing 737-800 plane that carried out the flight made its way to Prague, its intended destination, on one engine. This was after the left-hand CFM56 engine shut down.
“The probable cause of the serious incident was following the loss of a propulsion unit a faulty decision-making process by the aircraft commander that did not comply with the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) and Flight Crew Training Manual (FCTM),” UZPLN noted.
Flight QS1125 on one engine
On August 22nd 2019, flight QS1125 took off from Samos, Greece to Prague, Czech Republic. Onboard the aircraft registered OK-TVO was 170 passengers and six crew members.
Twenty minutes into the flight, the plane was at the ascension of 36,000 feet over the Aegean Sea. At this point, one engine shut down spontaneously. The aircraft descended to 24,000 feet. Then, there were two attempts to restart the engine, but both failed.
Instead of declaring a “PAN PAN” emergency and landing at the nearest airport, the flight carried on surviving on the remaining engine. The captain only informed controllers of a technical issue. He maintained that Ruzyne International Airport in Prague was the best airport to land. The plane continued for 2 hours and 20 minutes longer to reach the city.
However, Aviation Herald reported that there were three nearer airports the plane could have landed – in Kavalas (LGKV), Sofia (LBSF) or Belgrade (LYBE).
No one on board was injured as a result of the incident.
Investigations revealed the aircraft’s fuel pump had already been running dry before the flight. Further, the first officer had wanted to land 2 minutes after the engine failure. Unfortunately, the captain, who had the final say, did not follow protocol. FlightGlobal revealed that there was a “toxic cockpit atmosphere” present.
According to the UZPLN report,
“The pilot in command did not follow the principles of Cockpit Resource Management while performing the QRH’s non-normal checklist (NNC) procedures and thus made it impossible for the first officer to participate effectively in the decision-making process.”
As such, the Czechia District Prosecution Office opened a criminal investigation. He was under suspicion for “committing a crime of endangering the public due to negligence”. The criminal proceedings were revealed to have started in November 2019, three months after the incident.
The captain was removed from his position of head of flight operations in September itself. He continued to fly for Smartwings and maintained instructor privileges.
Simple Flying has reached out to Smartwings regarding the incident and will update the article once a response is received.
Background of Smartwings
Smartwings is a low-cost airline that began operations in 1997. The carrier is the largest in the Czech Republic and has services to 65 cities, mainly across Europe as well as the Middle East and North Africa. The Czech-based airline boasts a fleet of 35 Boeing 737s.
Smartwings is under the Smartwings Group and has the flag carrier, Czech Airlines as a subsidiary.
Currently, the airline is seeking aid from the state after financial losses during the pandemic. However, it is adamant on only receiving monetary help and does not want the state to acquire any stake in the carrier.
What do you make of the investigations? Have you flown with Smartwings before? Let us know in the comments.