Crew hurt in high speed drama on Virgin flight from Melbourne to Adelaide

A Virgin cabin crew member was thrust to the ceiling and badly broke his leg during the high speed descent of a Melbourne to Adelaide flight carrying 157 people.

A Virgin cabin crew member was thrust to the ceiling and badly broke his leg during the high speed descent of a Melbourne to Adelaide flight carrying 157 people.

The injured crew member was then forced to wait more than 90 minutes to be removed from the Boeing 737 and taken to hospital after landing, according to an aviation safety watchdog probe.

Another crew member - who was on their first day on the job - was also hurt during the mid-air drama, hitting their jaw on the galley bench and suffering minor head and face injuries.

The incident unfolded on the flight from Melbourne on September 13, 2017, carrying 151 passengers and six crew, after air traffic control instructed the crew to perform a high-speed descent.

“Cabin crew members recalled an abrupt upset in the cabin, which they perceived as sudden and without warning,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said in its report released on Wednesday.

“One of the cabin crew members in the rear galley was thrown up towards the ceiling, then fell to the floor.

“The cabin crew member felt their leg snap on landing and was unable to move from the floor.”

A Virgin plane. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

The ATSB said that during the descent, there was a reduction in the tailwind, causing airspeed to suddenly increase. The captain responded by abruptly pulling back on the control column, causing the autopilot to disconnect.

This caused sudden changes to the aircraft’s movement.

The ATSB found the Virgin crew did not prepare enough for the high-speed descent.

Although the pilots identified overspeed - where the engine is made to operate beyond its design limits - was a potential risk during the high-speed descent, they did not discuss what the implications of it would be or what they would do if speed began to increase unexpectedly.

“The crew did not elaborate about the risk of overspeed, apart from the captain saying ‘don’t exceed anything’,” the investigators said.

“This was contrary to the intentions of the procedures, which indicated flight crews were to discuss threats and their management at the top of descent.

“Overall, this was a lost opportunity for the flight crew to effectively manage the risk of overspeed. The pilots were in a position where they had time and space to think about a potential overspeed as a crew.”

The Virgin departure check at Sydney Airport. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

The ATSB said Virgin Australia have since updated their training and information about overspeed.

They also found a lack of clarity of responsibility when it came to removing the injured cabin member from the plane, causing a long delay.

“There must be absolute clarity over who has control of an incident response and the requirement of other personnel to follow directions,” the report read.

The ATSB said while it did not increase the risk to safety this time, there were opportunities to improve how airside personnel work with emergency services.

Virgin Australia spokesman Kris Taute said that after the incident, it issued an information bulletin to pilots on overspeed events and training on how to prevent and recover from them.

This included highlighting that disengaging or overriding the autopilot could lead to a change in aircraft pitch.

“The safety of our people, aircraft and operation is always our number one priority, and as part of our commitment to continuous improvement the report outlines the steps we took to manage this unexpected situation,” he said.

After the incident, the flight crew involved did extra operational training before returning to normal flying duties.