After departure on January 10th, 2023, a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 plunges into a rapid descent at a rate of nearly 3000 feet per minute before even reaching a 2000-foot altitude. The flight QR161 was on its way from Doha to Copenhagen when the incident took place. The Boeing 787-8 was recovered at just above 800 feet above the water and continued into Copenhagen.
The Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Boeing with registration A7-BCO was taking off from Hamad International Airport in Doha from runway 16L in night time conditions climbed to 1,800 feet. The aircraft entered a steep descent losing 1000 feet within 24 seconds.
According to The Aviation Herald, the aircraft was cleared direct to the next waypoint at about 1600 feet, and the first officer attempted to turn towards that waypoint flying manually and without flight director indications (the captain was slow to enter the Direct into the FMS), but lost situational awareness, sending the aircraft into a descent that reached 3000 fpm (feet per minute) sink rate and exceeded the flap speed limits. The captain took control and recovered the aircraft just about 800 ft. above water.
The incident was not reported to authorities and was only discovered afterwards.
Qatar Airways on February 8 said that they are aware of the incident involving QR161 and an internal investigation is now ongoing.
Was pilot fatigue the cause of the loss of situational awareness?
While the incident is still under investigation and there is still no solid explanation as to why this incident took place which nearly endangered the lives of the passengers and crew on board that Qatar Airways 787, there were some comments on The Aviation Herald that pointed to pilot fatigue.
A comment from a certain “Rusty” said, “if it comes back to fatigue (which it looks like at the moment) this should definitely lead to other questions: why did they go on this flight and why did the FO accept the role of PF if he was fatigued? It probably boils down to company culture. The fear of losing the job if you can’t keep up with the tough schedule? Maybe not knowing the Cpt and not wanting to appear weak in front of him?
As a long range pilot myself I know that fatigue is a real threat and it doesn’t feel good to call in fatigued and it‘s definitely harder than it sounds to tell your colleagues that you don’t feel fit enough to fly an approach or even that your sleep the night before was not the best. After all we love flying and we don’t want to be the ‘weak link’ in the team.”
It’s indeed a good thing that the captain was able to avert a major catastrophe by recovering the aircraft quickly. It is still best however to wait for the results of the investigation before jumping into any other conclusion. During incidents like this, all angles are being looked into.
About the Qatar Airways B787 involved
The Boeing 787-8 involved in the incident which carries registry A7-BCO. It has been in service with Qatar Airways since June 20, 2014 and carries MSN 38333l. It has been in service with Qatar Airways since June 20, 2014. The aircraft is configured with 254 seats in a two-class configuration.
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