Environmental rules 'could cause plane crashes

'By David Millward, Transport Editor
Last Updated: 1:01pm BST 05/09/2008

Environmental rules demanding planes burn less fuel could cause pipes to freeze increasing the risk of a devastating crash, it has been warned.
British Airways ice in fuel report triggers urgent review of air safety
British Airways jet crash 'caused by ice in fuel'
Air accident investigators believe that ice, created when the BA 777 flew across Siberia could have been influential in the plane’s loss of power causing it to crash land at Heathrow in January.

With reduced burn and less fuel circulating it would have been easier for ice to form
David Reynolds, flight safety officer at the pilots' union Balpa, has called on regulators to "revisit" the requirements for fuel systems which support low-emissions engines after it was disclosed that a crash landing at Heathrow earlier this year was caused by ice freezing up supply lines to the plane's engines.
"These rules need to be looked at again. Fuel flow is an import factor in the safe running of an aircraft engine," he said."With reduced burn, that means that less fuel is circulating, which makes it easier for water to separate and turn into ice.
"In this case this was combined with very low temperatures and perhaps fuel which may have had a bit more water than usual - even though it complied with international standards."It was an unfortunate combination of circumstances but it does pose questions for all manufacturers, regulators and airlines."
Meanwhile British Airways is to reshuffle its fleet of Boeing 777s to prevent a repetition of the ice build-up which led to January's crash landing.

The move was ordered following the latest investigation into the incident in which a flight from Beijing failed to reach the runway after the engine fuel supply was blocked.
A spokesman for the airline said the measure, which will involve 42 Boeing 777s powered by the Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines, was being taken as a precaution.
It will mean that the aircraft will be rotated around routes rather than continually making the same journey, in particular over Siberia where air and fuel temperatures can drop dramatically.
In addition BA has told pilots to increase engine power sporadically during flights to increase fuel flow and prevent ice accumulating.
The decision was taken after the latest report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch concluded that ice build up during the flight was likely to have led to fuel pipes being blocked as the pilot sought more thrust to control the plane on its final approach into Heathrow.
It left First Officer John Coward having to glide the plane, with 152 people on board, to safety. One passengers sustained a broken leg and 12 others were slightly hurt.
Meanwhile the aviation industry as a whole was waiting for more details of the steps it will be expected to take as a result of the AAIB findings.
A spokesman for Virgin, which flies Airbus A340-600s across Siberia to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo, said it was waiting for hear from safety regulators whether any changes in procedure are required.
Detailed instructions will be sent out by European and American safety regulators over the next few weeks.
It will affect all manufacturers including Boeing's main competitor, Airbus.
They are likely to include demanding stricter tests on engines to ensure that they can cope with a build up of ice and sudden release into the fuel system.