Loganair 6780: The Autopilot That Would Not Let Go

On 15 December 2014 a Loganair Saab 2000 took off from Aberdeen for Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands, with 30 passengers and three crew on board. The approach was abandoned to route around a thunderstorm — and the lightning struck the nose cone. The pilots were convinced the autopilot had disconnected. It was still engaged, holding the selected 2,000 feet by trimming nose-down against everything the crew pulled on the control column. The aircraft lost about 2,900 feet and levelled off roughly 1,100 feet above the North Sea. Nobody was injured. This documentary follows the AAIB final report of September 2016: what the recorders captured, why the Saab 2000 autopilot does not disconnect when force is applied to the column, and the five recommendations the commission wrote on autopilot certification — four years before the same question returned on another type. No speculation. Only what is in the report. Source: AAIB, final report on Loganair 6780, Saab 2000 G-LGNO, September 2016.