Scheduled Revenue Flight

During flight, crew shut down the right engine when warning light for gearbox oil pressure illuminated and pressure was noted below minimum limit of 130 psi. Shortly after securing right engine, left engine lost power (fuel tank shutoff valve switch and fuel crossfeed valve switch were located near each other). Attempts to restart left engine were unsuccessful. With lack of alternative current electrical power, captain could not unfeather right engine for restart. During emergency landing, aircraft was damaged on uneven terrain. Operational check of right engine (at ground level) revealed no malfunction that would have prevented normal operation. Examination of left engine revealed turbine section had overheated and turbine blades had severe heat damage. Captain said that when he tried to restart left engine, fuel valves were in normal position and power lever was 1' above idle. He recalled an engine rpm of 8000, but didn't recall if he had used feather button to reduce rpm to 3000 (as directed by checklist). He verified fuel switches were 'on' and he tried to crossfeed fuel (in event of blockage). Cross feeding of fuel was not part of restart procedure. Flight manual cautioned about importance of reducing power to flight idle, to decrease fuel flow to engine and minimize possible overheating.

British Midland Airways Flight BD092 took off from London-Heathrow Airport at 1952LT on a flight to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Some 13 minutes later, while climbing through FL283, moderate to severe vibration was felt, accompanied by a smell of fire in the cockpit. The outer panel of one of the n°1 engine fan blades detached, causing compressor stalls and airframe shuddering. Believing the n°2 engine had been damaged the crew throttled it back. The shuddering stopped and the n°2 engine was shut down. The crew then decided to divert to East Midlands Airport. The flight was cleared for an approach to runway 27. At 900 feet, 2.4 nm from the runway threshold, the n°1 engine power suddenly suffered a decrease in power. As the speed fell below 125 knots, the stick shaker activated and the aircraft struck trees at a speed of 115 knots. The aircraft continued and impacted the western carriageway of the M1 motorway 10 meters lower and came to rest against a wooded embankment, 1'023 meters short of runway threshold. 47 passengers were killed while all other occupants were injured, some of them seriously.

For unknown reasons, the twin engine aircraft belly landed on runway 29 at Banjarmasin-Syamsudin Noor Airport. All 52 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Upon landing, the nose gear collapsed. The airplane slid for few dozen meters before coming to rest. There were no casualties. The exact date of the mishap remains unknown, somewhere in 1988.

Flight PA103 departed London-Heathrow runway 27R for New York at 18:25. The aircraft levelled off at FL310, 31 minutes later. At 19:03 Shanwick Oceanic Control transmitted an oceanic clearance. At that time an explosion occurred in the aircraft's forward cargo hold at position 4L. The explosive forces produced a large hole in the fuselage structure and disrupted the main cabin floor. Major cracks continued to propagate from the large hole while containers and items of cargo ejected through the hole, striking the empennage, left- and right tail plane. The forward fuselage and flight deck area separated when the aircraft was in a nose down and left roll attitude, peeling away to the right at Station 800. The nose section then knocked the no. 3 engine off its pylon. The remaining aircraft disintegrated while it was descending nearly vertically from 19000 feet to 9000 feet. A section of cabin floor and baggage hold (from approx. Station 1241-1920) fell onto housing at Rosebank Terrace, Lockerbie. The main wing structure struck the ground with a high yaw angle at Sherwood Crescent, Lockerbie causing a massive fire. The Semtex bomb which caused the explosion had probably been hidden in a radio cassette player and was transferred to PA103 from a Pan Am Boeing 727 flight, arriving from Frankfurt. After a three-year joint investigation by the Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation indictments for murder were issued on November 13, 1991, against Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer and the head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines (LAA), and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, the LAA station manager in Luqa Airport, Malta. United Nations sanctions against Libya and protracted negotiations with the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi secured the handover of the accused on April 5, 1999. On January 31, 2001, Megrahi was convicted of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Fhimah was acquitted.

The aircraft crashed near Naryan-Mar and was written off. There were no casualties. It was reported that the total weight of the aircraft was above the MTOW and the center of gravity was well outside the admissible limits. In such conditions, the crew encountered difficulties to control the aircraft.

En route from Kabul to Khost, the crew apparently got lost and the aircraft entered the Pakistan airspace without prior permission. The aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a Pakistan Air Force fighter air-air missile, entered a dive and crashed on the slope of a mountain located in the region of Parachinar. All 25 occupants were killed.

After being cleared for the approach, the crew descended to 1,200 meters then 500 meters. On final, while completing a last turn, the aircraft struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located 4,750 meters short of runway. The wreckage was found 735 meters to the left of the extended centerline. Both pilots and four passengers were killed while eight other occupants were injured.

The approach to Tangier-Boukhalef Airport was completed in heavy rain falls with a wind from 060° gusting at 24 knots. After touchdown on a wet runway, the crew encountered difficulties to decelerate. Following a course of about 1,000 meters on runway 28, the four engine aircraft veered off runway to the left and came to rest in a ditch. All 78 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Following a night takeoff at Montluçon-Guéret Airport, while in initial climb, the aircraft nosed down and struck the ground 600 meters past the runway end. It slid for few dozen meters, collided with bushes and eventually came to rest, bursting into flames. All four occupants were killed. It appears that the Stall Avoidance System (SAS) had activated, resulting in the stick pusher activation at a critical altitude. The Metro's SAS system, as well as the SAS system on this particular aircraft, had a history of problems. These problems resulted in several NTSB Safety Recommendations (A-84-66, A-88-154). The copilot was at controls at the time of the accident.
Crew:
Gérard Van Der Veecken, pilot,
Christian Rémondon, copilot.
Passengers:
Robert Aupetit,
Patrick Desdoit.