De Havilland DHC-8-400 (Dash-8)

Bombardier Q-400 aircraft VT-SUC belonging to M/s Spice jet Ltd. was involved in wild life strike accident during landing roll at Jabalpur while operating scheduled flight SG2458 from Mumbai to Jabalpur on 04.12.2015. The aircraft was under the command of pilot holding ATPL & duly qualified on type with First Officer also an ATPL holder and qualified on type. There were 49 passengers and 02 cabin crew on board the aircraft. The aircraft VT-SUC took-off from Mumbai for Jabalpur at around 1200 UTC. The enroute flight was uneventful. The aircraft came in contact with ATC Jabalpur at around 1323 UTC. The ATC reported prevailing weather at Jabalpur as surface winds calm, visibility 5000 meters, weather Haze, nonsignificant clouds, and temp 24° C. At 1342 UTC the pilot requested ATC for visual approach runway 06. The ATC cleared VT-SUC for visual approach runway 06 and asked to confirm when runway in sight. At 1347 UTC the pilot confirmed the runway in sight and requested for landing clearance and the same was acknowledged by ATC. The aircraft landed on runway 06 and about 05 to 06 seconds after touch down at around 1350 UTC the aircraft hit wild boars on the runway. The pilot stated that as it was dawn they did not see the wild boars on runway during approach, and saw the wild boars only after touch down and when they were very close to them, also they did not had adequate time to react so as to take any evasive action. Hence, one of the wild boars on runway impacted with LH main landing gear due which the LH Main landing gear got collapsed and the aircraft started drifting towards left. Thereafter LH engine propeller blades came in contact with ground and got sheared off. The aircraft dragged on its belly for around 182 feet and in the process the nose landing gear also collapsed. The aircraft then veered to the left of the center line and subsequently exited the runway onto the left side and came to final halt position in Soft Ground. The pilot then confirmed with first officer about fire and once getting assured that there was no fire gave evacuation call outs. The pilot then contacted ATC for assistance and informed that there were 10 to 11 pigs on the runway and the aircraft had hit the pig and gone off the runway. The Crash Fire Tender (CFT) team along with operational jeep reached the accident site. The pilot shut down the engines. All the passengers were then evacuated safely from the RH side. There was no injury to any of the occupants on board the aircraft and there was no fire.

On the day of the accident, the crew of four was deployed for flights from Luxembourg (LUX) via Saarbrucken (SCN) to Hamburg (HAM) and back again via Saarbrucken to Luxembourg with a Bombardier DHC-8-402. The crew stated that they had met at about 0530 hrs for pre-flight preparations. The flights up until the take-off in Saarbrucken had occurred without incident. All in all the working atmosphere had been good and relaxed and they had been ahead of schedule. Saarbrucken was the destination airport for 14 passengers. The remaining 16 passengers’ destination airport was Luxembourg. According to the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), and the radio communication recordings, the engine start-up clearance was issued at 1009:47 hrs approximately 25 minutes ahead of schedule. At 1015:03 hrs while taxiing on taxiway C take-off clearance was issued. The Into Position Check was conducted at 1015:33 hrs on runway 09. The Pilot in Command (PIC) was Pilot Flying (PF) and the co-pilot Pilot Non Flying (PNF). The plan was to conduct take-off with reduced engine thrust (81%). During take-off the following callouts were made:
1016:24 PF take off, my controls
1016:25 PNF your controls
1016:27 PNF spoiler is closed
1016:30 PNF autofeather armed
1016:33 PF looks like spring
1016:35 PNF yeah, power is checked
1016:36 PNF 80 knots
1016:37 PF checked
1016:40 PNF V1, rotate
1016:42 Background click sound, probably gear lever UP
1016:43 PNF upps, sorry
During the rotation phase with approximately 127 KIAS and a nose-up attitude of approximately 5°, the landing gear retracted. At 1016:44 hrs the airplane’s tail had the first ground contact (tail strike). The tail strike warning light illuminated. Approximately 875 m after the initial ground contact the airplane came to a stop after it had bounced three times and skidded on the fuselage. The cabin crew stated that due to smoke and fume development in the cabin the airplane was evacuated right away. All passengers and the crew were uninjured and left the severely damaged airplane without help.