Serious incident at Bristol Airport as the aircraft took off too low over the A38

The investigation was launched after an incident where a plane departing from Bristol Airport failed to gain enough thrust, resulting in it flying just 100ft above the A38.

The plane, bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, was just ten feet above the ground when it cleared the end of the runway, with the pilots adjusting the thrust setting only when they reached an altitude of 450 feet.

Although there was no crash and the plane continued its journey to the Spanish island without further problems, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is now investigating the potential seriousness of the incident.

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A preliminary AAIB report revealed that both pilots were aware of their proximity to the end of the runway when the plane’s wheels finally lifted off the tarmac. The report stated that the pilots did not set the correct level of thrust, causing the plane to take off too slowly and not take off until it was too far down the runway.

According to the AAIB report, the Boeing 737 was only 3m or 10ft above the ground as it passed the end of the runway and only climbed to 100ft as it flew over the A38. The plane, which took off just after 11am on March 4 this year, had six crew members and 163 passengers on board, Bristol Live reports.

The report also stated that the takeoff was part of a training flight for a new captain, with the training captain serving as the aircraft’s commander. Neither pilot realized that the thrust setting had disengaged during runway acceleration, resulting in an underpowered takeoff.

“Despite standard operating procedures requiring thrust to be set at 60 kt and checked as correct at 80 kt, both pilots overlooked the incorrect setting,” investigators said. “This resulted in the aircraft taking off with significantly less thrust than required, using 84.5 percent N (newtons) instead of 92.8 percent N, with an associated reduction in aircraft performance,” they added.

The inquest report said it was not unexpected that the pilots failed to notice they were not going fast enough. “It is well known that people miscalculate acceleration rates and recognize that their takeoff does not match their calculated performance,” the report said.

“Performance issues can be insidious and invisible to the crew until very late in the launch. The investigation continues to examine all relevant factors associated with this serious incident and a final report will be issued in due course,” they added.