HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - The 2004 crash of a Boeing 747 cargo plane that killed seven crew members was caused in part by incorrect data entered into takeoff software, but crew fatigue "increased the probability" of such a crucial mistake, the Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.
The board's final report on the October 2004 accident found the crew of the MK Airlines jet failed to notice that the engine throttles were set too low before the crash.
The report said the disaster likely occurred because a crew member neglected to click on the correct icon of a computer software program. That inadvertently put the weight from the previous takeoff - more than 220,000 pounds lighter - into the system, which caused the plane to attempt an underpowered takeoff and crash just beyond the runway.
The heavily loaded MK Airlines plane carrying lobsters and tractor parts failed to lift off from the Halifax International Airport and dragged its tail along the runway before crashing into the woods. All crew members were killed.
British-based MK Airlines has said it believes the crew received adequate rest, and that it provided adequate training on the software used for takeoff.
Wendy Tadros, acting chair of the safety agency, said inputting errors are a "pervasive problem" worldwide. "We believe we need an additional line of defense - a mechanism to catch the unexpected errors," Tadros said.
Tadros said the board found evidence of 12 similar accidents worldwide that killed 300 people.
The Halifax crash was the fourth for the cargo company in 12 years and the second involving fatalities. All three previous crashes were in Nigeria.
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