Country
Crash of a Boeing 747-228F in Brussels
Date & Time:
Oct 27, 2008 at 1600 LT
Operator:
Registration:
OO-CBA
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Brussels – Dakar – Campinas
MSN:
24158/714
YOM:
1988
Flight number:
BB3101
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total hours on type:
260.00
Copilot / Total hours on type:
570
Aircraft flight hours:
82357
Aircraft flight cycles:
15773
Circumstances:
The aircraft took off from Brussels airport at 15:00 UTC. Upon rotation, the crew heard an abnormal noise, and had difficulties to get the aircraft in the air. After adjusting the engine power, the aircraft took off. Observers on the ground saw two white clouds appearing successively under the tail of the aircraft upon rotation, followed by flames. The inspection of the runway revealed that parts separated from the aircraft, amongst which the APU access door. The aircraft dumped the excess of fuel and landed back in Brussels at 16.20 UTC. Inspection on the ground revealed that large portions of the underside skin of the tail section were missing.
Probable cause:
The accident was caused by an inadequate take-off performance calculation, due to wrong gross weight data input error in the software used for the computation of the takeoff performance parameters and the failure to comply with the operator’s SOP for checking the validity of the data.
Contributing factor(s):
- Inadequate pairing of crew members with low experience.
- Lack of distraction management.
Contributing factor(s):
- Inadequate pairing of crew members with low experience.
- Lack of distraction management.
Final Report:
