Boeing superjet in safety probe

An investigation has been launched into the new generation of superjet used by British Airways after one of the airline's planes began to roll mysteriously and had to return to Heathrow.

The Air Accidents Investigation Board, the Government's safety adviser, is investigating the incident involving the pounds 60m Boeing 777 after a team from the plane's manufacturers spent a week examining the jet, but failed to reach a conclusion.

The BA flight 133, which was carrying 85 passengers to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, was forced to return to Heathrow airport after being in the air for a little over two hours when the aircraft started rolling mysteriously at 37,000ft last October.

The cabin crew was first alerted when a passenger next to a window noticed that the wing flaps seemed to be moving randomly. When the first officer returned to the flight deck, he was unable to understand the actions of the aircraft's computers.

In its ``mandatory occurrence" report to the Civil Aviation Authority, the airline said that a ``manual landing [was] carried out ... large rudder input was required."

A team of Boeing engineers spent a week examining the airliner and questioning cabin crew but were unable to explain the incident. Parts were also tested in Boeing's headquarters in Seattle, but technicians could not explain the jet's random movements.

British Airways said that it was now monitoring its fleet of 777s. ``Safety is paramount for our customers. Our initial conclusion is that the roll was caused by rudder movement," said a spokesman for the airline.

The 777 is considered one of the most sophisticated in the world. It uses the latest fly-by-wire technology.

Produced by Boeing a little over three years ago, British Airways ordered 15 immediately and have an option to buy another 15 - an order worth pounds 2bn.

Once on the ground, the aircraft's black box flight recorder revealed that the movement was caused by ``uncommanded" rudder movements which the aircraft's sophisticated flight computer had attempted to rectify by using the flaps on the wings.

Errant rudder movements have sparked a controversial debate in the aircraft world. Last month, Washington ordered airlines around the world to fit newly developed rudder systems in 2,800 Boeing 737s.

The changes were prompted by two unexplained crashes in the United States, which claimed more than 150 lives. Investigators suspect that they were caused by extreme rudder movements.

Safety campaigners said they were "concerned" by the investigation. ``Boeing were made to carry out changes on the 737s, but only after the US government acted. Will they now act on the 777?" asked William Beckett, who lost his daughter in the Manchester runway disaster in 1985 and chairs a safety pressure group set up soon afterwards.

Boeing says it has been unable to replicate the ``unusual" situation. "There have been no other occurrences of the incident by BA or any other 777 operator around the world," said a company spokeswoman.