Captain David Evans began his aviation journey in the Australian outback, working on charter flights and with the NSW Air Ambulance Service.
In 1984 he joined Qantas as a second officer on the Boeing 747 - the workhorse of the international aviation industry - and quickly progressed through the ranks, ascending to his first command post six years later. From there, he went on to become a Check and Training Captain across a number of different aircraft, working to ensure safety, a thorough depth of knowledge and overall compliance for the airline widely regarded as the safest in the world.
In 2005, having worked on every aircraft in the Qantas long-haul fleet, he was invited to be part of the team that introduced the Airbus A380, and had the privilege of flying the initial test aircraft in Toulouse, France. Since then he has worked to instruct, train and check numerous Captains, First Officers and Second Officers on Qantas A380 aircrafts during line operations.
In 2010 David was the Supervising Check and Training Captain onboard flight QF32, the most catastrophic engine failure in aviation history. Through the incredible teamwork and methodical approach of the flight crew, they successfully landed the flight with zero casualties. David is extremely passionate about safety and risk management, and has been sharing his story with audiences from all walks of life in order to convey the importance of managing human factors in crisis situations.
In addition to his speaking work and career with Qantas, David has spent time volunteer instructing with the 211th Wing Royal Australian Air Force Cadets, and has managed to pass on the flying bug to the youngest of his three sons, who is training for his commercial pilot’s licence. Having even met his wife on the tarmac after one of those early outback charter flights, it’s clear that aviation - as a vocation, a hobby and a life-long love - has helped shape nearly every area of David’s life.
The Polaris Award, 2011
Awarded by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) to airline crews in recognition for acts of exceptional airmanship, heroic action or a combination of these two attributes. Captain Evans was recognised alongside other crew members from QF32 for their response to the A380’s uncontained engine failure.
The Hugh Gordon-Burge Memorial Award, 2011
Awarded by the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators (GAPAN) to a member or members of a crew whose outstanding behaviour and action contributed to the saving of their aircraft or passengers. As with The Polaris Award, this was in recognition of the successful navigation of the QF32 disaster.
The Captain John Ashton Memorial Award, 2019
Awarded by The Honourable Company of Air Pilots to recognise a professional pilot or organisation for an outstanding contribution to flight standards and aviation safety within Australia.
QF32: Averting Disaster
Captain Evans (right) with First Officer Matt Hicks, under the wing of QF32
The left inboard engine of the Airbus A380 following the incident
L-R: Check Captain Harry Wubben, Supervising Check Captain David Evans, Captain Richard de Crespigny, First Officer Matt Hicks and Second Officer Mark Johnson receive the Polaris Award in 2011 for their actions on board.
An overview of the incident, presented by Captain Evans at “Risky Business” held by London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital
Considered one of the most serious near catastrophes in commercial aviation history, the uncontained engine failure and subsequent emergency landing of QF32 on November 4th, 2010 received wide press coverage and has since become the basis for many reviews of and improvements to in-flight safety. David Evans was on board that day, carrying out his duties as the Supervising Check Captain.
Minutes after taking off in Singapore, the crew became aware of a failure in Engine 2. This initial problem swiftly led to a domino effect of failures, breakages and rapidly arriving ECAM* messages, the likes of which have proven impossible to replicate in a simulator. In David’s words, it was an extraordinary day.
This flight was unusual, in that in addition to the Captain, First Officer and Second Officer, a Check Captain and Supervising Check Captain were also on board. This happy addition to crew proved an invaluable asset, as all hands were needed on deck to navigate this unprecedented situation. The automated systems designed to assess faults was unable to cope with the sheer number of failures, and as such it was up to the crew to draw upon their years of training and experience to develop a solution that would facilitate the safe landing and disembarkation of everyone on board.
Although Captain Evans has expressed a firm belief that any Qantas crew would ultimately have achieved a similarly positive end result, there is no doubt that the coincidence of having additional expertise and support on this particular day was a lucky one. As the ECAM was flooded with hundreds of messages in a matter of seconds, it was up to the flight crew to work through each failure individually and assess whether action needed to be taken. All the while keeping the A380 flying, and the passengers and crew calm, well-informed and safe.
Captain Evans made the first PA announcement to immediately calm and advise all those on board, neutralising the potential onset of widespread panic. This communication between flight crew and passengers would prove essential over the following hours, as evidence of the issues unfolding was visible from the cabin. Despite the obvious abnormality of the situation, passengers have recalled feeling safe and informed at all times, which is a testament to the professionalism, competence and communication of not only those directly tackling the failures, but the fantastic cabin crew who also rose to the occasion.
After two hours of crisis management in the air, and a further two on the runway as first responders at Changi Airport joined the effort to minimise risk during evacuation, all 469 people on board safely disembarked, unharmed and back on solid ground.
This event forms the basis for many of the speeches Captain Evans presents, and is generally viewed by those in the wider aviation community as a model for how similarly demanding, high-risk situations should be approached. It has been featured widely in the media, even warranting its own episode of Air Crash Investigations.
Captain Evans spoke to the Royal Aeronautical Society in detail about his experience on the day, and the full transcript can be found here.
For those seeking more in-depth information, the full ATSB investigation report is available here, and a wealth of more accessible news articles and further reading can be found in the bibliography of the incident’s Wikipedia page.
*ECAM (Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor) is the system used on board Airbus planes to monitor and deliver notifications about the engine and aircraft system - eg. fuel quantity, status messages and cautions - to the flight crew.
The Retrieval of Kuwaiti Connie
In November of 2018 Captain Evans was part of a mission to retrieve parts of a historically significant Qantas aircraft - the classic VH-EAB Super Constellation “Southern Horizon” - from the desert of Kuwait. In addition to representing a pivotal era in the airline’s history, the Southern Horizon has a rich history of its own.
Flying with Qantas for eight years as one of sixteen Super Constellations, this particular craft carried the Olympic flame from Greece to Australia ahead of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
It was also part of the fleet operating the first regular commercial around-the-world flights, traversing both hemispheres, before being sold to Boeing in 1963. After a colourful career hauling air freight around the globe the former “Southern Horizon” was abandoned at Kuwait Airport in 1976. It was subsequently used in training drills by the country’s Ministry of Defense. Sadly it didn’t survive the airport’s bombing during the first Gulf War sustaining substantial damage.
Given its rich history, when the opportunity arose to travel to Kuwait and salvage significant portions of the plane to be displayed in the Qantas Founders Museum, Captain Evans was immediately on board. Little did he and the rest of the team know, the retrieval mission would not be as straight-forward as initially presumed.
Nonetheless, after numerous unexpected trials, from snakes and scorpions to a rainstorm described as a ‘once in a century’ event, the trip was a resounding success, and is one of Captain Evans’s personal career highlights to date. For more information, find QFM’s write up of the mission here, or read David’s log of the venture below.
Fear of Flying
In addition to his motivational talks, Captain Evans also works to educate and assist those who struggle with a fear of flying, whether it be a minor anxiety or a debilitating phobia. With experience in both aviation and public speech, as well as a thorough knowledge of human factors and statistics, he is uniquely placed to assuage fears, educate and offer solutions and coping techniques. Captain Evans offers this program in association with psychologists and Flight Experience™.
From Aviation to Motivational Speaking
On 1 June 2009 Air France AF447 an Airbus A330 departed Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Paris, France. 3 hours and 6 minutes into the flight all contact was lost with the aircraft.
Telemetry sent from the aircraft to Air France maintenance just prior to “loss of contact” showed a large number of faults being displayed to the pilots on the aircrafts ECAM (Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor) warning display. Search and rescue began from both sides of the Atlantic. Wreckage was subsequently spotted in the Atlantic Ocean by a Brazilian Airforce aircraft.
There were no survivors.
As Air France had suffered a number of aircraft accidents over the years, an audit of their operations was conducted by a team of International Aviation safety experts. After the team presented their findings to Air France it was determined that a change in culture was required so a program called “La Trajectore” was formulated.
This was to be in the form of a series of lectures in CRM (Crew Resource Management) to be presented to all Air France pilots at the Le Borget Air and Space Museum.
At the time the audit team were presenting their findings the Qantas QF32 incident occurred.
QF32 was an uncontained engine explosion on an almost new Airbus A380 super jumbo. Like the Air France incident, the crew were presented with an overwhelming number of ECAM warnings.
Unlike the Air France incident, the Qantas aircraft landed safely.
Everyone survived.
As the La Trajectore team were formulating their presentations, they felt that QF32 would be a useful example of a successful CRM incident to be used in their lecture series. As I was the Senior Check Captain on QF32 I was approached via Qantas management and asked if I would be interested in presenting. This would require me taking two weeks leave from Qantas and travelling to Paris to attend and present to all Air France pilots! No pressure!
My skillset lies in the technical aspects of flying a large wide-bodied aircraft around the world. At the time I had no real experience in presentations or public speaking. Luckily for me, my sons had attended speech and drama classes with a marvellous teacher, Genevieve England, so I approached Genevieve to help me put together a formidable presentation.
Thanks to Genevieve’s talent my presentations went over exceptionally well, to the extent I was later invited to British Airways to repeat the performance. Over the ensuing years this initial presentation has morphed into a lecture on Teamwork, Workload Management, Communication, Decision Making, Situation Awareness and all aspects of Human Factors. I have lectured to not just the Aviation community but Medical, Insurance, Hotel chains, Food and Beverage, Ambulance, and Fire Services to name but a few.
