Passengers helped land plane

The control mechanism froze on the Fokker 100

The captain of a plane averted disaster by asking his passengers to move to the front of the aircraft to help him land it, a report has revealed.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report published on Thursday describes how the plane, belonging to Tyneside-based Gill Airlines, suffered a major control problem.

Ice had formed on a control mechanism in the tail of the plane, which was flying from Newcastle for Paris.

A tannoy message asked the 71 passengers to move to the front of the Fokker 100 as the captain tried to descend over Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris.

They asked people to come to the front because the nose of the aircraft would not come down

David Dees, aviation expert

Stan Abbot, a spokesperson for Gill Airways, told BBC News Online: "This aircraft was removed from service even though no fault was found on it, because the ice subsequently melted.

"It is an extremely unusual incident, but problems with ice on the control wires has not been unknown in the past."

The captain issued a Mayday distress call as he and his co-pilot struggled to bring down the nose of the plane using a practically unmovable control column.

The report reveals that the incident on 3 November 2000 was made worse when the autopilot was accidentally switched on.

Autopilot activated

David Dees, an aviation expert and former employee of the AAIB said: "The pilots were trying to control the aircraft by using the control columns, but the plane would not do what they were trying to get it to do.

"This is because it was doing what the autopilot was telling it.

"They were not able to identify that this was happening, as they were struggling with the ice problem and neither of them was aware that the autopilot had been activated.

Gill Airways: "Extremely unusual incident"

"But this resolved itself when the autopilot automatically switched itself off again.

"The flight was at night and the lights on the autopilot switches could have been dimmed, making them easier to miss.

"It was a serious incident but the crew did pretty well to hold onto the aircraft and get it to make a safe landing.

"They asked people to come to the front because the nose of the aircraft would not come down," he added.

The plane involved was a 100-seat, twin engine, medium-range jet.

Gill Airways operates three of the flights from Newcastle to Paris every weekday.

Modification request

A modification to Fokker 100 aircraft had already been recommended before the Gill Airways incident.

But the aircraft involved had not had the recommended modification at the time of the incident, as the procedure was not mandatory.

Mr Abbot said: "In the wake of the accident we immediately requested a modification from the manufacturer, which is Fokker.

"Unfortunately it takes some time, but we have been happy to work in co-operation with the AAIB ... to make sure any new knowledge is adhered to."

"It remains up to the Dutch Aviation Authority, as the certifying authority for this type of aircraft, to make the change mandatory."

Every newly-manufactured plane now uses a different design on the control system, which decreases the possibility of jamming.

The AAIB report has recommended that cables are greased regularly, to reduce the chance of ice forming while flying in air which is below freezing point.

The pilot, the co-pilot, and the 71 passengers were all commended for the calm way in which they handled the incident.