British airliner skidded off runway after pilot used the wrong brake, report finds

The inicdent involved a flybmi aircraft and happened at Bristol airport in December 2017.

The plane, which was landing following a flight from Frankfurt, skidded along the grass at the side of the runway for a distance of 120 metres before coming to a halt.

Although damage was caused to the landing gear and tyres of the Embraer-145-EP aircraft none of the 22 passengers and three crew on board were injured.

The report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) found that the pilot mistakenly used the emergency brake, rather than the speed brake, causing the plane to veer out of control.

The report concluded: 'The accident arose as a result of the inadvertent selection of the Emergency/Parking brake instead of the speed brake.

'The levers are of similar shape and sited close to each other but with a different appearance and mode of action.

'There is also a brake on indicator light. These risk controls proved ineffective in preventing the inadvertent selection of the Emergency/parking brake both on this occasion and on at least two previous occasions.

'Once the parking brake had been set there were opportunities to detect and correct the error, but a busy flight deck environment together with a high workload contributed to it going unnoticed.

'After touchdown, the aircraft may have remained on the runway surface but for the addition of forward thrust during the landing roll. The manufacturer stated that it did not intend to conduct a system review relating to the parking brake status.'

Following the incident a number of flights were cancelled or delayed as the stricken aircraft was removed from the airfield.