Camera trouble led to RAF Voyager grounding, investigation finds

“The incident involving A330 Voyager ZZ333 occurred on 9 February 2014 when the aircraft suddenly pitched down while in the cruise at Flight Level 330 (33,000ft),” the UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA) says in an interim report.

“Within 27sec the aircraft lost 4,440ft in height, before the self-protection system initiated a recovery back towards controlled flight.”

The maximum recorded rate of descent was approximately 15,000ft/min, it adds. :eek!:

The camera body experienced a “significant compression… consistent with having been jammed between the arm rest
and the side-stick unit”, it adds.