Flight EZY2251 was travelling from Manchester to the Red Sea resort of Hurghada in Egypt when the pilot was forced to take evasive action, narrowly avoiding a mountain peak
An EasyJet pilot has been suspended after a near-miss in the sky when he flew too close to a mountain with 190 souls on board.
The incident unfolded on February 2 as Captain Paul Elsworth was making his descent towards the Red Sea hotspot of Hurghada in Egypt.
The cockpit’s Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) kicked into gear, blaring out a crash warning. As the alarm bells rang with “pull up, terrain, terrain, pull up, pull up, terrain ahead, pull up”, a potential disaster was dodged by the skin of their teeth thanks to a last-minute manoeuvre that saw the joystick yanked to level off the plane.
The GPWS is a last resort fail-safe designed to prevent controlled flights from catastrophes. During this flight, the Airbus A320 was skimming at just 3,100ft over the mountain range, meaning the peak was a mere 771ft away from the twin-jet aircraft. Usually, pilots would be cruising at nearly twice the altitude, around 6000ft.
Insiders have revealed that the jet was dropping at a rate of 4,928ft per minute, labelled as “ridiculously unsafe,” before the GPWS kicked in and it levelled out, according to The Sun.
Experts have revealed that the plane, which initially took off from Manchester, should’ve been flying slower and descending at a less steep rate. An official probe is now set to kick off to get to the bottom of Flight EZY2251’s near miss.
The investigation will also look into how Capt Elsworth reported the safety scare a day after it happened on February 3. Reports suggest that the Captain logged the incident just as he was about to check out of the crew hotel and head to the airport for his return flight to Manchester Airport.
But EasyJet officials escalated the situation within minutes due to its seriousness. As of now, no blame has been pointed for the incident, but following standard procedure, airline chiefs have temporarily grounded Capt Elsworth while a thorough investigation is underway.
A source said: “Within moments of the flight drama being raised, officials stepped in and Paul Elsworth was forbidden from piloting the plane. Another flight crew brought the jet home.
“The pilot will be asked detailed questions. The GPWS only sounds when a plane is heading into terrain – in this instance a mountain. Passengers on-board are understood to have been oblivious to the scare, and unaware of just how close they came to the mountain range as the plane descended into Egypt.”
The Civil Aviation Authority is waiting to review how the incident is investigated by EasyJet bosses – including how the airline “manages their risk’.
Speaking about the incident EasyJet said: “Safety is the number one priority for all our pilots, they are trained to the highest industry standards, subject to rigorous testing and monitored closely. The flight landed normally and as we have an ongoing investigation, the pilot remains stood down from duty in line with procedures.
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