ATR72 pitch disconnect warning

[Philip Argy]

The ATSB yesterday issued a safety-triggered interim report after discovering that the risk of inadvertent flight inputs causing catastrophic structural damage is much higher than had been assumed:

Inadvertent application of opposing pitch control inputs by flight crew can activate the pitch uncoupling mechanism which, in certain high-energy situations, can result in catastrophic damage to the aircraft structure before crews are able to react.

View the interim report at In-flight pitch disconnect involving ATR 72 aircraft, VH-FVR, 47 km WSW of Sydney Airport, NSW on 20 February 2014

A bit disconcerting really considering the number of times I fly the SYD-CBR corridor in an ATR 72 (and FVR in particular)!