The two pilots were so distracted that they did not realize that the plane had dropped dramatically.
A Boeing 737 carrying 67 passengers and her six crew members was scheduled to land at Aberdeen International Airport on September 11 last year.
However, a search and rescue helicopter had to take off at the same time, and air traffic control had to prioritize it.
The plane was therefore instructed to perform a 'go-around procedure'. This is usually a last minute landing delay due to an obstruction on the runway or loss of stability.
The pilot succeeded in doing this, raising the plane to 3,000 feet above sea level.
However, the plane soon began to fall again, falling to 1,780 feet above sea level in 57 seconds.
By the time air traffic control radioed the pilots to descend, they had already begun to lift the plane again.
An Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigation classified the incident as "serious" and therefore changed its procedures.
They found that the crew was "overloaded" with the stress of conducting go-around procedures.
This transfer is only required in the UK at a rate of 3 per 1,000 flights, and most pilots do not even expect to need it once per year. Hmm.
Pilots also went long periods without flying that type of aircraft during the pandemic.
Additionally, the plane's ATC radar system was unable to flag a descent as it should have been. did.
Since this mistake, AAIB has come up with new ways to prevent the same thing from happening again.
All pilots were informed of the incident and given specific information on how the autopilot settings would behave in these situations.
Go-around training has been generally improved and additional measures have been introduced to help pilots if they are not flying for long periods of time.
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