Air Nippon first officer mistakes the rudder trim knob for the cockpit door lock, sends the 737 in flight almost upside down

September 29, 2011 — Air Nippon, ANA-All Nippon Airways

ANA (All Nippon Airways)-Air Nippon Boeing 737-781 WL JA14AN (msn 33883) BFI (Nick Dean) (to be renamed ANA Wings), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Air Nippon (ANA) (Tokyo) and ANA (All Nippon Airways) (Tokyo) are investigating an incident on September 6 on flight EL 140 between Naha and Tokyo (Haneda) with 117 passengers and crew on board a Boeing 737-700. Apparently the first officer mistook the rudder trim knob for the cockpit door lock to allow the captain back into the cockpit. According to this report by GMA News and Gizmodo, the action “caused the jet to roll and drop 1,900 meters in 30 seconds”. According to internal investigations, “the narrow-body aircraft continued to roll until it reached 131.7 degrees to the left, leaving it almost belly-up”.

Two flight attendants were injured.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Air Nippon Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. Please click on the photo for more information.

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