(Newswire.net — April 22, 2015) — The Falcon 50 jet carrying Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic and staff on route to Vatican was forced to return to Serbian capitol airport due ‘technical’ issues which pilot reported. The issue was at first described as the failure of one of the three Falcon’s engines.
Media in Serbia reported that the President and high officials feared for their lives as the old but operational Falcon 50 suddenly plunged several thousand feet per minute from its 34,000ft altitude.
“We fell for a whole two minutes; it lasted for what seemed like an eternity. We were literally being thrown around the cabin,” Stanislava Pak, a Nikolic’s adviser told Reuters. “I will never step foot on that plane again,” she said.
“We survived a real drama in the air [and] landed unhurt in Belgrade thanks only to the incredible composure and skill of the pilot and co-pilot,” Ivan Mrkic, another adviser who was also on the plane said.
While the media was speculating as to why the aircraft lost altitude, because Falcon can easily continue flying with two remaining engines, the inglorious truth has emerged.
The investigation showed that the co-pilot accidentally spilled coffee over switches on Falcons pedestal panel. The incident occurred when he tried to wipe the coffee from the panel, according to a newly-released report by Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate.
“I began wiping the board and accidentally activated the ’emergency slat’ button, which automatically turned off the automatic pilot and the plane began losing altitude,” the co-pilot, Bojan Zoric said in the report, cited by Reuters.
It was not yet clear how this chain of event triggered the failure of one engine, however it further aggravated the situation.
Luckily, the engine was quickly reinitiated and the pilots “regained control over the aircraft.” The plane landed safely back in Belgrade. But Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, who was supposed to meet Pope Francis, had to cancel his visit, Reuters reported.
“Spilling beverages in cockpit should be extremely rare event, however, it isn’t. In fact, that is happening more often that we would like to admit,” Zoran Modli, flight instructor and airliner captain from Serbia told Newswire.net. “Sometimes the spillage is harmless, sometimes it may damage some electric circuit, however, it has never caused any serious accident.”
Serbia’s Civil Aviation Directorate decided to temporarily suspend co-pilot Zoric’s license. The aviation authorities also sent the plane for a check after the incident, however that test flight was not performed due to inability to start the engine that had malfunctioned. Eventually, the unfortunate plane was sent to Basel, Switzerland, for repair.
Beside the 34 year-old Falcon 50, there is also one Learjet 45 in Serbian Presidential fleet. However, presidential advisors said Nikolic will use only commercial flights from now on.