Crash of a Boeing 747-212B in Düsseldorf

Date & Time: Jan 24, 2005 at 0605 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
N808MC
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Dubaï – Düsseldorf
MSN:
21048
YOM:
1975
Flight number:
GTI8995
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
20000
Captain / Total hours on type:
2300.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
14600
Copilot / Total hours on type:
3000
Aircraft flight hours:
92024
Aircraft flight cycles:
22782
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Dubai on a cargo flight to Düsseldorf with three crew members on board. Following an uneventful flight, the crew established radio contact with Düsseldorf Radar at 0543LT. The crew were told that runway 23L was in use. Two minutes later the radar controller contacted flight 8995: "I just talked to the tower and ah for the time being braking action on all parts of the runway is supposed to be good. They are measuring again right now because it started to snow again and I'll keep you advised." The flight was then cleared to descend to FL80. The flight crew decided to set the autobrakes for landing on Medium, to account for the snow. At 05:50 the radar controller again contacted the flight about the current weather circumstances: "...latest update on the weather situation ahm the friction tester has reported braking action to be good for the moment however as its continuing to snow they are ah afraid that it might worsen, so they are going to do another friction test right before you land." In the following minutes the flight was given descent instructions and vectors for an approach to runway 23L. At 05:54 the controller radioed: "weather update we now have a surface wind of three four zero degrees eleven knots, that's slight tail wind component by two knots. Visibility is down to one thousand five hundred meters, still in snow showers and ah cloud base is now five hundred feet only." The flight was subsequently cleared for the approach. At 05:57 the radar controller instructed the crew to contact Düsseldorf Tower. The Tower controller stated: "Good morning,... we are just waiting for the braking action values from the friction tester stand by a second. The surface wind is actually three three zero degrees one two knots." Two minutes later the controller radioed: "... the braking action was measured to be medium at all parts. And ah the visibility dropped right now due to the heavy snow showers at the field ah. The RVR value at the touchdown zone is presently nine hundred meters, at the mid-point one thousand one hundred meters and ah stop end one thousand one hundred meters." At that moment the flight was 3,5 nautical miles out. The flight was subsequently cleared to land. The airplane touched down about 1700 ft (518 m) past the runway threshold. Ground spoilers and thrust reversers deployed and the autobrakes activated. Still the airplane did not decelerate as expected and the pilot applied manual braking. The airplane failed to stop and overran the runway end. It collided with ILS equipments, which caused a fire in engines n°2 and 3. All three crew members evacuated safely and the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
The accident is attributable to the fact that the braking values transmitted to the crew did not meet the conditions that had arisen as a result of heavy snowfall since the last measurement on the runway.
The following contributing factors were identified:
- Fast changing weather,
- The lack of an in all weather conditions reliable measurement method for the determination of braking coefficient.
Final Report:

Crash of an Ilyushin II-18D in Colombo

Date & Time: Feb 4, 2004 at 2233 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
EX-005
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Dubai – Colombo
MSN:
188 0111 05
YOM:
1968
Flight number:
EXV3002
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful cargo flight from Dubai, the crew started the descent to Colombo-Bandaranaike Airport by night and good weather conditions, using a GPS and DME systems. After being cleared to descend to FL150, the crew received the QNH and QFE values for Colombo: 1009 mb (hectopascals) and 756 mm Hg. The copilot mistakenly input 765 mm Hg instead of 756 mm Hg in the altimeters. At a distance of 14 km from the airport, the aircraft was 60 metres above the sea. It continued to descend until the undercarriage struck the water surface at a distance of 10,7 km from the runway 04 threshold. The captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure but shortly later, at a height of about 60-90 metres, he continued the approach. Assuming the undercarriage may have been damaged, he decided to carry out a belly landing. The aircraft landed 50 metres to the right of the main runway and 450 metres past its threshold. The aircraft then slid for a distance of 2,230 before coming to rest. All seven occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of an Antonov AN-12B in Asmara

Date & Time: May 11, 2003
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ER-AXD
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Dubai - Asmara
MSN:
9 3 466 02
YOM:
1969
Location:
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
After touchdown at Asmara Airport runway 25, the crew encountered brakes problems. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran, collided with approach lights and came to rest. All seven occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Wind was from 170 at 10 knots at the time of the accident.

Crash of an Airbus A300B4-203 in Dubai

Date & Time: Oct 17, 2001 at 1409 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
AP-BCJ
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Islamabad – Peshawar – Dubai
MSN:
268
YOM:
1983
Flight number:
PK231
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
12
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
193
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Upon landing at Dubai Airport, the right main landing gear collapsed. The aircraft skidded for few dozen metres then veered off runway to the right and came to rest in a sandy area. All 205 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of an Ilyushin II-86 in Dubai

Date & Time: Sep 21, 2001 at 2009 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
RA-86074
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Moscow - Dubai
MSN:
51483205041
YOM:
1985
Flight number:
SU521
Location:
Region:
Crew on board:
15
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
307
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Aircraft flight hours:
23711
Aircraft flight cycles:
7132
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful flight from Moscow, the crew started a night approach to Dubai Intl Airport. Despite this was a non standard procedure, the captain requested that the landing gear circuit breaker be switched off so he could extend the flaps earlier and prior to gear extension. Later on approach, the flight engineer completed the checklist and mistakenly confirmed that gear were down after the crew forgot to turn the circuit breaker on again. The captain continued the approach without proceeding to a verification/confirmation that gear were down, causing the aircraft to land on its belly. It slid for few dozen metres and came to rest with both engines n°2 and 3 on fire as well as the rear part of the cargo compartment. All 321 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Poor approach configuration on part of the crew and violation of published standard operational procedures. Lack of crew coordination and poor crew resources management were considered as contributing factors.