Safety Topics

During a manually flown ILS approach to Kuala Lumpur at dusk in bad weather, an A300 aircraft descended below glideslope and struck trees at a height of 174ft ASL approximately 2km from the threshold along the extended centreline of runway 15 and came to rest 1.2km from the threshold. The aircraft had departed from Kuala Lumpur earlier that day to fly to Singapore — Kuching — Singapore and back to Kuala Lumpur. The Captain flew the first two sectors, the third being flown by the First Officer who made an ILS approach and landed at Singapore. The aircraft departed from here with the First Officer at the controls. Turbulence was experienced and difficulty in maintaining a steady speed during the descent. The aircraft was overhead Batu Arang VOR at 3,500ft and was then re‐cleared to 3,300ft for an ILS approach. Flight conditions were described as moderate turbulence with occasional breaks in the clouds and the ground occasionally visible. During his approach, the Captain noticed that he was not receiving the ILS indication although the ILS was functioning correctly, subsequently found to be due to the control box not being set to the correct frequency. When the ILS was finally indicating, the aircraft was above the glideslope and to the right of the localiser.