Airbus A319

Tibet Airlines

The airplane was departing Chongqing-Jiangbei Airport on a regular schedule service to Nyingchi, Tibet, carrying 113 passengers and a crew of nine. During the takeoff run from runway 03, the captain encountered an unexpected situation and decided to abandon the takeoff procedure. He initiated an emergency braking manoeuvre when the airplane started to deviate to the left. It veered off runway, went through a grassy area, lost its undercarriage and both engines before coming to rest on a parallel taxiway, bursting into flames. 36 occupants were injured while all others evacuated safely. The aircraft was destroyed.

Wind Jet

Following an uneventful flight from Rome-Fiumicino Airport, the crew started a night approach to Palermo-Punta Raisi Airport in poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls, thunderstorm activity and reduced visibility. During the descent, weather information was transmitted to the crew, indicating a visibility of 4 km with few CB's at 1,800 feet and a windshear warning for runway 20. On final approach, at an altitude of 810 feet (100 feet above MDA), following the 'minimum' call, the captain instructed the copilot to continue the approach despite the copilot did not establish a visual contact with the runway. At an altitude of 240 feet, the copilot reported the runway in sight but informed the captain that all four PAPI's lights were red. The captain took over control and continued the approach after the airplane deviated from the descent profile. With an excessive rate of descent of 1,360 feet per minute, the aircraft impacted ground 367 metres short of runway 07 threshold and collided with the runway 25 localizer antenna. Upon impact, both main landing gear were partially torn off. The aircraft slid for about 850 metres before coming to rest on the left of the runway. All 129 occupants were rescued, among them 35 were injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Northwest Airlines

Two maintenance technicians where on board Northwest Airlines' Airbus A319 N313NB which was taxied from a maintenance area to Gate 10. When they arrived in the vicinity of gate 10, the mechanic who was steering the plane, activated the parking brake and waited for ground personnel and a jetway operator to arrive. After the ground personnel arrived he released the parking brake. The airplane did not move and he advanced the throttles out of their idle detents "a couple of inches, about halfway." The airplane began to move at a "fairly decent speed," and he realized the throttles were still out of the idle detent position. He pulled the throttle back and applied brakes; however, the airplane did not slow and continued until it struck the concrete support column of the jetway, and the left wing contacted the right side of a Boeing 757-251 (N550NW, parked at gate 9). The nose gear sheared off the Airbus, and the right side of the Boeing sustained a 6-foot long, 2-foot wide gash, just aft of the R1 door. The mechanic estimated that the airplane was about halfway down the parking line when he pulled back the throttles. Initial review of the flight data recorder for the time period surrounding the accident revealed that about 10 seconds after the parking brake was released, the thrust lever angles for both engines were increased to about 17 degrees for about 8 seconds, before they were returned to the idle position. During that time, the engines N1 and N2 speeds increased to about 71, and 85 percent, respectively.