Malware Implicated in Fatal Spanair Plane Crash
August 24th, 2010Update: Maybe Not
Via: ZDnet:
The actual cause is far more prosaic: the pilots missed a crucial item on their checklist and took off with the flaps in the wrong position:
The investigation has determined that the takeoff was attempted while in an inappropriate and unapproved configuration, since the flaps and slats were fully retracted. The system outfitted on the airplane to warn of an inadequate takeoff configuration (TOWS) also failed to activate.
Was there a problem with the computer on the plane? Not according to the CIAIAC:
[T]he information stored on the computers for the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGWPS), the advanced flight management (AFMC), central air data (CADC), digital flight guidance (DFGC) and the optical inertial reference units (IRU) has been extracted. The results from the analysis of the data recovered from the ground proximity warning system computer are available and consistent with the data found on the flight data recorder (DFDR) and from the two air data computers, which indicate that both units were functioning normally on the previous flights and at the time of the accident.
In fact, as airline-safety experts noted, the aircraft in question, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 (MD-82), is not computerized (its design dates back to 1979 and the last delivery was in 1997). The exact same type of aircraft was involved in the eerily similar fatal crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in Detroit in 1987. The investigators in that crash concluded that the cause was pilot error.
—End Update—
Via: MSNBC:
Authorities investigating the 2008 crash of Spanair flight 5022 have discovered a central computer system used to monitor technical problems in the aircraft was infected with malware.
An internal report issued by the airline revealed the infected computer failed to detect three technical problems with the aircraft, which if detected, may have prevented the plane from taking off, according to reports in the Spanish newspaper, El Pais.
Flight 5022 crashed just after takeoff from Madrid-Barajas International Airport two years ago today, killing 154 and leaving only 18 survivors.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board reported in a preliminary investigation that the plane had taken off with its flaps and slats retracted — and that no audible alarm had been heard to warn of this because the systems delivering power to the take-off warning system failed. Two earlier events had not been reported by the automated system.
The malware on the Spanair computer has been identified as a type of Trojan horse. It could have entered the airline’s system in a number of ways, according to Jamz Yaneeza, head threat researcher at Trend Micro.
