Pilot flew on after low fuel warnings... 16 minutes later 10 people died
Families’ agony as official probe into Clutha helicopter horror reveals airman breached safety rules and could have avoided disaster
THE pilot of a police helicopter continued flying for 16 minutes despite a series of cockpit fuel warnings before it plunged into a packed pub, killing ten people.
David Traill, 51, was a former RAF flight lieutenant who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was an instructor at the Hampshire base where the Duke of Cambridge learned to fly.
But despite more than 5,500 hours’ flying experience, he breached strict safety guidelines for the Eurocopter EC135 by failing to land within ten minutes of the first ‘low fuel’ alert.
It smashed into the roof of the Clutha Vaults in Glasgow, instantly killing Mr Traill and his two colleagues and seven people in the pub.
A 160-page report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it ‘ could not establish’ why the failures had happened because of the absence of a black box data recorder – a device that it said should now be fitted in all police aircraft.
On a day of dramatic disclosures, it also emerged that:
Two cockpit fuel supply switches were incorrectly turned off, ‘starving’ the two engines, which then ‘flamed out’;
Mr Traill had not been trained on a flight simulator to deal with ‘low fuel’ situations;
He had passed a requisite medical and was ‘well-rested’;
Helicopter operator Bond, Mr Traill’s employer, has received ‘more than 80’ claims of compensation from affected families
Investigators found the Police Scotland aircraft did three surveillance jobs in Lanarkshire after the fuel alerts were activated, rather than landing immediately.
It travelled about a mile on one engine, passing over a playing field and houses in Glasgow’s East End, before the second engine cut out only 32 seconds later.
The report, which took nearly two years to complete, heaped further agony on grieving families of those who died in the 2013 tragedy as it left key questions unanswered.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was ‘deeply disappointing that after two years of investigation the report does not reach a clearer conclusion’.
But the report was the first indication that the pilot, who also failed to issue a Mayday call and voiced no concern during his last radio transmission, may have been at fault.
Mr Traill died along with crewmates PC Tony Collins, 43, and PC Kirsty Nelis, 36.
Pub customers who died were John McGarrigle, 57, Mark O’Prey, 44, Gary Arthur, 48, Colin Gibson, 33, Robert Jenkins, 61, Samuel McGhee, 56 and Joe Cusker, 59. Another 31 people were hurt.
On the night of the crash, November 29, 2013, the helicopter had 400kg of fuel at 8.44pm, the start of its shift.
It spent half an hour over Glasgow, helping to find a person feared to have been hit by a train.
It then flew 42 miles east to Dalkeith, Midlothian, for ‘ routine surveillance’ before turning back towards Glasgow at 9.45pm.
The report said that during this leg of the journey, ‘ transfer of fuel from the main tank to the supply tank ceased, leaving only the fuel in the supply tank available to the engines’.
It added: ‘It was concluded that this was due to the fuel transfer pumps in the main fuel tank being switched off, either simultaneously or in sequence.’ The report said there was ‘no explanation’ for this.
About 76kg of fuel in the main tank could not reach the engines. Lights and alarms warning of low fuel came on as the aircraft approached Bothwell, Lanarkshire.
The report said that according to strict procedures Mr Traill was trained in, he should have switched the pumps back on, then landed within ten minutes if the alert remained.
But the aircraft carried out three final tasks over Lanarkshire – at Bothwell, Uddingston and Bargeddie. The ‘helicopter (then) appeared to route back towards Glasgow but, after nearly a minute, it turned from a west-south-westerly track on to a north- easterly track, towards Bargeddie’.
The report said no more radio transmissions were received but ‘all three crew members would have been aware’ of the fuel warnings.
It added: ‘Without a cockpit voice recording it is not possible to know what conversations and discussions took place between the crew members, to explain why the task at Bargeddie was undertaken, with the “low fuel” warnings having been active for at least eight minutes.’
The report does not blame any individual for the crash.
In summary, investigators referred to the ‘limited evidence available’ and questioned why no Mayday call was received from the pilot.
The first low fuel warning light came on at around 10.06pm, the last radio contact from the aircraft was at 10.19pm and it hit the Clutha Vaults pub at around 10.22pm. The AAIB report said: ‘ Despite extensive analysis of the limited evidence available, it was not possible to determine why both fuel transfer pumps in the main tank remained off during the latter part of the flight, why the helicopter did not land within the time specified following activation of the low fuel warnings and why a Mayday call was not received from the pilot.’
It went on: ‘Also, it was not possible to establish why a more successful autorotation [an emergency manoeuvre] and landing was not achieved, albeit in particularly demanding circumstances.’
The report said Mr Traill did not learn about low fuel scenarios when using a flight simulator, so it was ‘understood that the pilot had not been assessed on his actions in the event of a low fuel warning’.
Last night, Bond said pilots ‘ are trained on a variety of low fuel situations’.
The report also reveals that ‘unintentional selection of the inappro- priate switches’ by Mr Traill was ‘possible’.
The Eurocopter was not fitted with a black box recorder because it was below 3,175kg in weight and therefore exempt. The AAIB has recommended that aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Authority should require all police helicopters to be fitted with equipment to record data, audio and images.
Last night, Mr O’Prey’s sister Louise, 44, said: ‘It’s inexplicable as to why the switches were both switched
‘We will never know why switches were off’
off. He, as a pilot, would know they should not both be off at once.
‘We will never know why they were switched off. If there was a data recorder, we might have an indication as to why they were off.
‘Would the police officers in the cockpit have known what the warnings were? They had ears and eyes.
‘They were trained to know what they [the alerts] were and would have known what was going on. They would have been able to see there would have been a problem.’ Mr O’Prey’s father Ian, 69, said: ‘I don’t understand why a pilot would ignore a fuel alert by flying for longer than he meant to.
‘They’ve recommended flight data recorders be installed before, but there’s still aircraft flying around without them, so what good has it done? It’s a bit of a cack-handed effort, to be honest.’
The son of Clutha victim John McGarrigle, John Jnr, 40, said: ‘I have done my research and know the pilot would have had audible and visual signals warning him. You would not expect a highly experienced pilot to miss that.’
Andrew Henderson, partner at Thompsons Solicitors, which represents 40 victims including the families of some of those who died, said: ‘After nearly two years of waiting, the families of the bereaved and those who were injured have been given some answers into the cause of the accident.
‘It would appear that a major factor in the aircraft crashing was fuel starvation. It remains unclear as to why fuel transfer switches were turned off and why low fuel warnings were not heeded.’
The family of Mr Traill, of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, declined to comment yesterday.
Last night, Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said the AAIB findings ‘will now be considered by Police Scotland’s investigation team and the Crown’.
In a statement, Bond said: ‘The AAIB has made no specific recom- mendations for Bond but we are studying the report and will continue to work with others, including the manufacturer and regulators, to learn from its findings.’
A Crown Office spokesman said: ‘As this tragedy involves deaths in the course of employment, a fatal accident inquiry is mandatory. This will be held as soon as is possible.’
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson urged the UK Government to ensure the recommendations of the report are implemented swiftly.