THE TENERIFE AIR CRASH (Hansard, 10 June 1980)

§ Lord TREFGARNE

The following Statement was made in another place this afternoon by the Secretary of State for Trade:—

"With permission Mr. Speaker, I should like to make a further Statement on the Tenerife air crash.

"As the House is aware, the Accidents Investigation Branch of my department have been actively participating in the Spanish investigation in accordance with established international procedures. These procedures place the formal responsibility for investigating an accident—and the relevant report—in the hands of the country where the tragedy took place.

"The AIB team had two full days of meetings with the Spanish Commission of Investigation last week in Madrid. Following this I am now in a position to inform the House of the statement which has been agreed between the Spanish team and my Accident Investigation Branch. It reads as follows:

'THE DAN AIR ACCIDENT AT TENERIFE ON 25TH APRIL 1980

First radio contact with Tenerife Air Traffic Control was made by DA 1008 when it was 14 nautical miles from the VOR/DME beacon TFN. The flight was then cleared "to the FP (radio beacon) via TFN, flight level 110, expect runway 12, no delay". The flight up to this time had been without incident. Some three minutes later it was instructed to descend and maintain flight level 60.

'The crew reported overhead TFN some 35 seconds after passing that facility. Air Traffic Control then informed them that "the standard holding over FP is inbound heading 150 degrees, turn to the left". This indicates an anticlockwise pattern. This procedure was not published and was not included in the appropriate radio facility charts carried on the aircraft, however it was accepted by the pilot.

'The aircraft did not pass over the FP but flew to the south of the beacon calling "entering the hold" and passing a beam about one minute after the previous transmission. About half a minute later it was cleared to descend to 5,000 feet.

'Although he had expressed his intention of entering the holding pattern, the commander, for reasons which are not clear, turned the aircraft to the left towards the South-East, into an area of high ground where the sector minimum safe altitude is 14,500 feet.

'During the descent to 5,000 feet, the Ground Proximity Warning System operated and the crew immediately commenced an overshoot procedure. With high engine power being applied, the aircraft was put into a steep turn to the right, but it struck the mountainside before it had climbed above 5,500 feet.

'The radio navigational facilities at Tenerife North Airport were checked after the accident and were found to have been operating normally.

'The Spanish Commission of Inquiry is continuing the investigation into the causes of the accident and will, in due course, produce a report'.

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"The House will understand that the Statement which I have read does not apportion blame, nor is it the object of an accident investigation so to do—its sole task is to establish facts and to make such recommendations as it may think fit in order to improve safety."