The National Transportation Safety Board has blamed pilot error for the aborted takeoff and damage of a US Airways jet two years ago.
A NTSB report said the co-pilot entered wrong information into the cockpit’s flight computer and the captain reacted too late to safely abort the takeoff.
The jet briefly left the ground before coming to a standstill on March 13, 2014 at Philadelphia Airport.
The plane was bound for Fort Lauderdale and all 149 passengers and five crew members were evacuated with some sustaining minor injuries.
"This investigation ultimately reveals a crew that made decisions which resulted in minor injuries to passengers and substantial damage to what was otherwise a perfectly sound plane," NTSB board member Earl Weener said in a statement.
Investigators found the co-pilot entered the wrong runway into the flight computer and when this was remedied, revised thrust and speed values for the new runway was not updated.
NTSB said the captain chose to abort only when the jet had reached its takeoff speed due to a misunderstood onboard computer alert.
It was in fact safe for the pilot to continue the takeoff, the NTSB said.
"It remains unclear why the pilot became convinced that an otherwise sound airplane was not safe to fly," Weener said.
