They don't know what caused it so they are saying Ice in the fuel. Doesn't seem right to me.
Aviation Fuel has a percentage of water within it (although very small). As
blondini states above, Fuel temp on 'High Altitude' flights frequently drops well below zero centigrade. When a pilot increases throttle to full (in flight at high altitude) the burst of fuel breaks up any ice and any fragments are melted within the jet engine (obviously). The system also has a process to remove fuel should the temp be too low. The crew of this flight didn't have any reason to use full throttle at anytime during high altitude and the 'theory' is that this is the reason the ice never melted. When they were on final approach the fuel temp was still well below zero centigrade (about -29 I think) and the weather was windy. The pilot applied the throttle on approach to give extra boost to the plane to combat the effect of the wind. When that throttle was applied there was a massive drop in fuel pressure resulting in a very rapid drop in altitude. The plane was too low and dropped too quick for the system and/or the pilots to recover.
I have to agree thought Joe, it does seem like a VERY unusual set of events and there have to be some very serious questions asked.
By the way
esra_ptrap, flying to Crete ain't gonna involve the sorts of altitude that this plane flew at.
Oh and finally, with reference to the Conveyor posts above... I'm sorry but this made me smile (only because she wasn't hurt).
Wednesday, August 27 02:36 pm
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - An elderly woman misunderstood instructions while checking in at Sweden's main airport and was whisked down a baggage chute after she placed herself instead of her luggage, on to the belt.
The 78-year-old woman, who was not named, was preparing to fly from Stockholm's Arlanda airport to Germany on Tuesday when she lay down on an unmanned baggage belt in the belief she was following check-in instructions, the Upsala Nya Tidning local daily reported on its website.
She was quickly swept off to the baggage handling centre, where staff members helped get her back on her feet.
The woman suffered no serious injury and caught her flight as planned.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080827/tod-sweden-airport-offbeat-7f81b96.html
