BAc 111

EAS Airlines - Executive Airline Services

The aircraft was completing a regular schedule flight from Jos to Lagos with an intermediate stop in Kano. Weather conditions were good but the OAT at the time of the accident was +42° C. Due to construction works (retreatment of the asphalt surface), the longest runway 24/06 was closed to traffic so the crew was departing from runway 23 at Kano-Mallam Aminu Kano Airport which is 2,600 metres long. Due to high temperature and reduced performances, the aircraft used the entire runway length, overran and rolled on a grassy area for few dozen metres before lifting off. During initial climb, the aircraft encountered difficulties to gain sufficient height and to follow a positive rate of climb when it collided with obstacles and crashed in the district of Gwammaja located about 2 km past the end of runway 23. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire as well a several buildings, among them a school and a mosque. Among the 77 people on board the aircraft, six survived (five passengers and one stewardess). All 71 other occupants were killed as well as 78 people on the ground. More than 70 other people on the ground were injured, some seriously. It was later reported that the aircraft was out of service for 52 days due to engine problems. Nevertheless, both engines were changed few days prior to the accident and accumulated 10 hours of flight since.

Eagle Aviation - Nigeria

After landing at Libreville-Léon M'Ba Airport, the aircraft encountered difficulties to stop within the remaining distance. It overran, lost its nose gear and came to rest few dozen metres further. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

ADC Airlines - Aviation Development Company

The approach to Calabar Airport runway 03 was completed in poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls, turbulences, clouds down to 240 metres and a visibility limited to 2,800 metres. On final, the aircraft was unstable and not properly aligned with the runway centerline. Upon touchdown, the left main gear landed on the grassy area to the left of the runway. The captain attempted to correct when the aircraft veered to the right back onto the runway and overran. It struck a ditch and came to rest 1,500 metres further, bursting into flames. A crew member was killed and 10 other occupants were injured.

TAROM - Transporturile Aeriene Române

Flight ROT 335, a BAC 111 coming from Bucharest, was about to land on runway 26 at Stockholm/Arlanda airport. The pilots had visual contact with the field and the landing was performed according to visual flying rules (VFR). The commander, who was pilot flying (PF), has stated the following. The approach was normal with occasional turbulence and wind gusts from the south. When the aircraft was on 8 nautical miles1 final, the air-traffic controller in the tower reported the wind 160°/13 knots. To begin with the aircraft was somewhat above the glide slope but was on the glide slope when it passed the threshold. The touchdown on the runway was in the normal touchdown zone on the left main gear and nose up. Shortly thereafter came a strong wind gust whereupon the right main gear touched down and the nose gear heavily hit the runway. The commander controlled the aircraft with rudder, reversed the engines and braked lightly. He did not notice anything special in the behavior of the aircraft at that point. When - after the speed had become so low that rudder steering was no longer possible - he reverted to nose wheel steering he noticed that it was not functioning. He continued the light wheel braking but could not prevent the aircraft from veering to the right. He then braked fully but the aircraft continued towards the right runway edge. It left the runway at a speed of around 60 knots out onto the grass field. The retardation was soft and the passengers disembarked through ordinary exit. The airport rescue service was speedily on the scene but no action was necessary. The accident occurred on 7 June 1997 at 1350 hours in position 5939N 1755E; 121 feet (37 m) above sea level.

TAROM - Transporturile Aeriene Române

The approach and landing at Istanbul-Atatürk was completed in marginal weather conditions with sleet, strong winds and turbulences. The copilot was the pilot-in-command. Upon touchdown on runway 36, the aircraft landed hard and bounced. On the second impact, the nose gear collapsed. The aircraft went out of control, veered off runway to the right at a speed of 60 knots and came to rest. All 81 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The wind was gusting up to 29 knots at the time of the accident with a visibility limited to 4 km.

Oriental Airlines

The aircraft was completing a charter flight from Tunis to Lagos with an intermediate stop in Tamanrasset, carrying members of the Nigerian football team Iwanwanyu returning to Lagos after a matched played in Tunis for the Africa Cup. On approach to Tamanrasset-Aguenar Airport in the early morning, the crew encountered poor visibility due to haze. As he was unable to establish a visual contact with the runway, the captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure. Following a holding pattern, the crew abandoned two other approaches and after 83 minutes, he eventually attempted a fourth landing when, on short final, the aircraft collided with approach lights then a pylon and a truck before coming to rest by the runway. Two passengers and three crew members were killed while 34 other occupants were injured, some seriously.

Hold-Trade Air

On approach to Kaduna Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with limited visibility due to heavy rain falls. On short final, the aircraft entered a rain squall and the pilots momentarily lost visual contact with the runway lights. The aircraft descended until it struck the runway surface and bounced. Out of control, it veered off runway to the right and came to rest. All 73 occupants were rescued (among them 13 were injured) while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Kabo Air

Following a poor flight and approach planning, the crew landed at the old Sokoto Airport. After touchdown, the pilots realized their mistake and attempted to take off but eventually decided to initiate an emergency braking procedure due to the presence of high tension cables at the end of the runway. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran, lost its undercarriage and slid for few dozen metres before coming to rest. All 57 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Kabo Air

Belly landed at Port Harcourt Airport and slid on runway for few dozen metres before coming to rest. All 66 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. An unconfirmed report suggests that the aircraft bounced on landing. The captain then took over control of the copilot who was PIC. The flight engineer assumed the captain was initiating a go-around procedure and raised the landing gear.

Okada Air

En route from Lagos to Kano, the crew was informed that a landing at Kano Airport was impossible due to poor weather conditions. The crew diverted to Sokoto but weather was also poor over there so ATC instructed the crew to follow a holding pattern as the airport was closed to traffic. After few dozen minutes, the crew informed ATC about fuel shortage, reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing. The aircraft landed in an open field located 6 km east from Sokoto Airport, lost its undercarriage and slid for few dozen meters before coming to rest. Four passengers were killed, 24 people were injured and 25 others escaped uninjured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Okada Air

Okada Air Flight OKJ307 originated from Lagos (LOS), at about 17:10 hours UTC en-route to Port-Harcourt (PHC). By 17:40 hours, at FL250, the crew established contact with Port Harcourt Tower and was cleared to the "PR" Radio Beacon. The 1700 hours weather report was passed onto the crew with the assurance not to expect any delay for an ILS approach to runway 21. At 75 nm from Port Harcourt, the aircraft was cleared down to FL90 and the crew reviewed their approach briefings. The First Officer was still flying when the airplane was further cleared to 2000 feet with the instructions to report when established on the localizer. At 700 feet, the Commander had the field-in-sight but the flying pilot had not. Then the Commander took over control from the First Officer. The captain requested the tower to increase approach lights intensity because of drizzling rain. The BAC 111 passed an area of heavy downpour. It entered a high sink rate and made a hard landing. The airplane bounced and made the second touchdown on its nose-wheel. The right nose wheel shattered instantaneously while the second nose wheel fractured at the hub. It rolled for about 90 metres and crumbled under the weight of the aircraft. When both wheels of the nose gear had broken away, the wheel axle made contact with runway to cut grooves onto the runway surface for about 25 metres before the nose strut finally gave way. The aircraft now scooped forward on the nose fuselage section and continued off the runway on to the left shoulder. On the shoulder, the aircraft ran into the wide trench which was covered up with loose soil and the impact severed off the right main gear from the attachment point. The aircraft eventually came to a stop 735 meters after touchdown.

Philippine Airlines - PAL

On approach to Manila-Ninoy Aquino Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with strong winds and heavy rain falls. On final, the crew was informed by ATC he was too high on the glide and it would preferable to initiate a go-around. The captain continued the approach and the touchdown was made too far down a wet runway 06. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran, went through a concrete wall, lost its undercarriage and came to rest on a motorway, hitting several vehicles. A passenger died as well as eight people on the ground. All other occupants on board the airplane were rescued, among them 87 were injured as well as 19 people on the ground.

Philippine Airlines - PAL

After landing on runway 36 at Tacloban Airport, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest in the sea. All 75 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Austral Lineas Aéreas

Following an uneventful flight from San Miguel de Tucumán, the crew started the descent to Buenos Aires-Aeroparque-Jorge Newbury Airport. At 1035LT the Tower controller cleared the flight to descend to 750 metres to the San Fernando VOR and cleared the flight for a direct approach to runway 13 from the VOR. At 1040LT the flight reported over the OP VOR and was cleared to land. The wind had shifted from 6 knots at 60° to 12 knots at 030°. Visibility was reducing. At 1042LT the crew reported the runway in sight and obtained the current weather information, which included heavy rainfall, wind 360 degrees at 10 knots. The pilots lost sight of the runway and decided to abort the approach. The One-Eleven continued South to the Quilmes (ILM) NDB. The Tower controller cleared the flight to hold over the ILM beacon at 900 metres. Because of Cumulonimbus clouds over the NDB, the crew requested a holding pattern over the Río de la Plata at 600 metres. At 10:52 they were cleared for another straight in approach to runway 31. Shortly afterwards the pilots lost control of the plane, which crashed into the river. Just 55-65% of the wreckage was recovered; both FDR and CVR were not found after 42 days of searching. All 31 occupants were killed.

Allegheny Airlines

The pilot-in-command adopted a wrong approach configuration and passed over the runway 28 threshold at an excessive speed of 184 knots (61 knots above the Vref) in a nose down attitude. The nose gear landed first at a speed of 163 knots (40-45 knots above normal touchdown speed) 2,540 feet past the runway threshold (runway 28 is 5,500 feet long). Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran, struck a drainage ditch, lost its undercarriage and came to rest 728 past the runway end. All 77 occupants were evacuated safely, one of them was slightly injured.

Austral Lineas Aéreas

The airplane was completing a charter flight and departed Buenos Aires-Aeroparque-Jorge Newbury Airport at 2253LT bound for San Carlos de Bariloche. While on a night ILS approach to runway 28, the crew encountered technical problems with the ILS reception and the captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure. Few minutes later, the crew started the descent prematurely with a rate of descent of 2,200 feet per minute instead of the required 750 feet per minute. This caused the aircraft to descend below the minimum descent altitude until it collided with ground about 21 km east of the airport. All five crew members and 41 passengers were killed while 33 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Transbrasil

The approach to Campinas-Viracopos Airport was completed in heavy rain falls. After touchdown on runway 32, a tire burst. The airplane went out of control, veered off runway to the left and came to rest in a muddy ground about 360 metres further. All 43 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Philippine Airlines - PAL

On 21 May 1976, while completing flight PR116 from Davao City to Manila, the airplane was hijacked by six passengers who forced the pilot to divert to Zamboanga. At Zamboanga Airport, the hijackers demanded a ransom of US$ 375,000 and a plane for Libya. Few hostages (women and children) were released the second day. On May 23, security forces (Police and Army) decided to put an end to the hostage situation. Shots were exchanged between police forces and hijackers and few grenades exploded in the cabin. Ten passengers and three hijackers were killed while 23 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Jet Travel

The airplane was engaged in a charter flight from South Lake Tahoe to Denver, carrying customers of the Sahara Tahoe Hotel. The takeoff was initiated in bad weather conditions with low clouds, visibility limited to 200 meters, heavy snow falls and an obscured sky. During the takeoff roll, after a course of 1,610 meters, the left main gear struck a snow berm. Directional control was lost and the airplane veered off runway to the left. The nose gear collapsed and the right wing was partially torn off before the airplane came to rest 66 meters to the left of the runway. All 44 occupants were evacuated, two passengers were slightly injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Transbrasil

The landing at São Paulo-Congonhas Airport was completed in heavy rain falls. After touchdown on a contaminated runway, the airplane encountered difficulties to decelerate properly and as the end of the runway was imminent, the captain decided to veer off runway to the left. While contacting a waterlogged ground, the undercarriage were torn off and the airplane came to rest. All 88 occupants evacuated safely and the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

Austral Lineas Aéreas

Just after liftoff, while in initial climb, the crew noticed a loss of power on the left engine. The captain decided to land back but the remaining distance was 950 meters only. Unable to stop in time, the airplane struck arresting cables installed for the Douglas A4Q Skyhawk of the Argentinian Navy. Impact caused severe damages to both wings and the airplane came to rest in flames as the fuel tanks were punctured. All 74 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Paninternational

Shortly after takeoff from runway 34 at Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport, while climbing to an altitude of 1,000 feet, both engine stopped almost simultaneously (the right engine failed immediately after the left engine). The crew declared an emergency and the captain decided to attempt an emergency landing on the Hamburg - Kiel Highway. On touchdown, the airplane slid for several yards, struck a concrete bridge, lost its wings and tail. It veered to the left and came to rest in flames, broken in two after the cockpit separated. A crew member and 21 passengers were killed while all others occupants escaped, 45 of them were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

TAROM - Transporturile Aeriene Române

In flight from Tel Aviv to Bucharest, the crew was informed about bad weather at destination and was rerouted to Constanta, about 200 km east of Bucharest. While approaching Constanta-Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport, the crew encountered poor visibility due to fog. Descending too low, the airplane struck the ground and crashed in a field located about 5 km short of runway. Eight occupants were injured while 19 others were killed.

Philippine Airlines - PAL

On final approach to Manila Intl Airport, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck the ground and crashed in flames some 22 km from the runway 24 threshold. A crew member (steward) and a passenger were rescued while 45 other occupants were killed.

British United Airways - BUA

On 14 January 1969 the crew flew from Gatwick to Rotterdam and return, following which they departed on a scheduled international flight Gatwick-Genoa-Gatwick. For this flight Captain A occupied the left-hand seat as pilot-in-charge, Captain B the right hand seat as co-pilot and Captain C the centre supernumerary seat as pilot-in-command, ultimately responsible for the correct operation of the aircraft. Before leaving Gatwick Captain A briefed Captain B concerning the co-pilot duties assigned to him. Although Captain C, as pilot-in-command, did not himself formally brief Captains A and B there was no doubt that they were aware of their respective tasks. On the flight from Gatwick to Genoa the aircraft was forced, due to unfavourable weather conditions at Genoa, to divert to Milan-Linate Airport where it landed at 1430 hours. Before commencing the return flight to Gatwick the crew had to await the arrival of the passengers from Genoa. This took place at 1930 hours. During the five-hour waiting period on the ground, the aircraft APU was kept in operation to ensure cabin heating and air conditioning. While Captain C tried unsuccessfully to sleep in the aircraft, Captains A and B inspected the aircraft and found ice on the wings and tail unit. The aircraft was subsequently de-iced. Before boarding the aircraft, Captains A and B made another external inspection of the aircraft and established that there was no ice on any part of it. The result of this inspection was duly reported to Captain C. Captains A and B carried out the pre-flight checks in accordance with the company checklist and verified that the take-off weight and aircraft loading were within the permitted limits. The crew occupied the same positions as during the previous flight, Captain A being in the left-hand seat, Captain B in the right-hand seat and Captain C in the jump- seat. In view of the weather, temperature and runway conditions, the crew decided to use the 18O flap setting, Spey 2 thrust (full thrust), engine anti-icing and the APU for cabin air conditioning. V1 and Vr were established at 117 kt and V2 at 127 kt. At 2018 hours, after clearance from Linate ATC, the engines were started and engine anti-icing selected "ON". There was a considerable layer of snow along the sides of the taxiways and runway, but they themselves were clear and usable. In view of the isolated patches of slush or water on the runway, Captain A considered it essential for the engine igniter switches to be selected "ON" during the entire take-off. At 2028 hours the aircraft was cleared to enter runway 18 and, after receiving the latest information concerning visibility and wind, it was cleared for take-off at 2031 hours. Before the brakes were released, a check was made of engine P7 pressures and of the other engine instruments which were found to be normal. At about 80 kt Captain A took over the aircraft's control column. The airspeed indicators showed regular acceleration and Captain A stated that just before 100 kt the engine instruments were also registering normally. V1 and Vr were called and the aircraft was rotated into the initial climbing attitude; immediately after or during this manoeuvre, a dull noise was distinctly heard by all the crew members. This noise was variously described by them as: "not like a rifle shot, not like the slamming of a door or something falling in the aircraft but more like someone kicking the fuselage with very heavy boots, an expansive noise covering a very definite time span with a dull non-metallic thud". The bang was immediately associated by the crew with the engines. After looking at the TGT gauges, and observing that No. 1 engine was indicating a temperature 20°c higher than that of No. 2 engine, Captain C said: "I think it's number one" or wards to that effect, and after a brief pause "throttle it". On receipt of Captain C's comment Captain A closed the power level of No. 1 engine. During or just after the explosion, he had completed the rotation manoeuvre and the aircraft was climbing at 12O of pitch with reference to the flight director. As a precaution, after closing No. 1 power lever he reduced the angle of climb to 6O. At the same time the co-pilot (Captain B) who had reached for the check list and was looking for the page relating to an engine emergency, became aware of a sharp reduction in the aircraft's acceleration; he noticed that the undercarriage was still down and he retracted it immediately. According to the crew the aircraft reached a maximum height of 250 ft, after which a progressive loss of momentum became evident. A maximum speed of 1401145 kt was achieved immediately after rotation, but it fell to 127 kt after No. 1 engine had been throttled back, These figures were consistent with those subsequently derived from the flight recorder. The crew said that the stick-shaker operated three times between 125 and 115 kt. The co-pilot had a vague recollection that the stick-push and the warning klaxon operated during the critical phase before impact. The pilot-in-charge remembered vaguely that someone said "raise the flaps", but no crew member remembers doing so or making the re traction. On looking out of the aircraft the crew saw the ground and the obstructions close at hand and realized that contact of the aircraft with the ground was inevitable and imminent. Captain A controlled the aircraft extremely well during the touchdown; the aircraft slid along the snow-covered surface, passing over small obstructions, and came to a halt 470 m from the point of first contact with the ground (see Fig. 1-11. The co-pilot operated both engine fire-extinguishers and Captain C ordered the pilots to leave the aircraft immediately via the side windows. During the ground slide an orange glow was seen to light up the glass panels of the windows for a short time. There was no fire. After closing No. 1 power lever, Captain A remembered having ordered the shutdown drill for this engine but he could not say for certain whether this wae dme. It was established, however, that Captain B closed both the HP cocks at the first sensation of ground contact.

Mohawk Airlines

The aircraft departed Elmira-Corning Airport at 1439LT on a schedule flight to Washington-National Airport, carrying 30 passengers and a crew of four. After takeoff, the crew was cleared to climb to FL160 when the airplane went into a nose-down attitude, plunged into the earth and crashed in a huge explosion in a wooded area located one mile east of Blossburg, Pennsylvania. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and none of the 34 occupants survived the crash.

Braniff Airways

Flight 250 was a scheduled domestic passenger/cargo flight from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with intermediate stops at Shreveport, Louisiana, Fort Smith, Arkansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. The flight departed from New Orleans at 1835 hours CST and arrived at Kansas City without reported incident. It departed from Kansas City at 2255 hours on an IFR clearance to Omaha via Jet Route 41 at FL 200. Just prior to take-off, the flight was restricted to 5 000 ft due to conflicting traffic. When the flight was about 12 miles north of Kansas City, control of the aircraft was transferred to the Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Centre (ARTCC). Radar contact was confirmed and the flight was cleared to climb to and maintain FL 200. After some discussion with ARTCC about the weather the flight crew advised that they would like to maintain 5 000 ft to Omaha. They reported they were at 6 000 ft and ARTCC cleared the flight to maintain that altitude until 5 000 ft was available. At 2303 hours the Kansas City ARTCC initiated a transfer of control of the flight to the Chicago ARTCC but before the transfer could be accomplished the flight requested and received permission from the Kansas City controller to deviate to the left of course. At 2306 hours the Kansas City controller cleared the flight to descend to and maintain 5 000 ft and contact the Chicago ARTCC. After some discussion of the weather as it was displayed on the Chicago controller's radar, the flight was advised that another Braniff flight, Flight 255, was on the same frequency and was at 10 000 ft climbing to 17 000 ft after departing Omaha. The crews of the two aircraft exchanged weather information and the crew of Flight 255 advised that they had encountered light to moderate turbulence from about 15 miles southeast of the Omaha airport and that it appeared they would be out of it in another 10 miles based on their radar observations. Flight 250 terminated this conversation at approximately 2308:30 hours. This was the last transmission received from the flight. Ground witnesses stated that they observed the aircraft approach and either fly into or over a shelf of clouds preceding a line of thunderstorms that was approaching frbm the north and northwest, and that shortly thereafter they saw an explosion in the sky followed by a fireball falling out of the clouds. The aircraft crashed at approximately 2312 hours, 7.6 statute miles on a true bearing of 024.50 from Falls City, Nebraska, at an elevation of 1 078 ft AMSL. All 42 occupants have been killed.

British Aircraft Corporation

The crew was engaged in a local test flight at Wisley Airport. After a 2,5 hours flight, the instructor gave his seat to the copilot to carry out 2 familiarisation circuits and landings. On final approach, the airplane was slightly below the glide and struck the ground in a slight nose-down attitude, bounced to a height of 20 feet then struck the runway surface a second time. It bounced to a height of 50 feet then the nose gear struck the ground first and collapsed. Out of control the airplane skidded on runway, lost its right main gear and came to rest. All five crew members were uninjured while the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

British Aircraft Corporation

The aircraft took off at 1017 hours GMT from runway 10, at Wisley Aerodrome on its fifty third test flight. It was to carry out stalling tests in all configurations with the centre of gravity at 0.38 SMC (standard mean chord), the furthest aft limit for which the aircraft had then been cleared. Based on the radio-telephony conversations recorded in the Wisley Tower and the flight recorders carried aboard the aircraft, the flight was reconstructed. Following take-off the aircraft climbed in visual meteorological conditions on a westerly heading to 17 000 ft while monitored by Wisley radar. At 1026 the co-pilot reported that they were about to commence tests at flight level 170. By 1035, four stalls had been completed with the undercarriage and flaps up. The co-pilot acknowledged a fix from Wisley at 1036 hours and nothing further was heard from the aircraft. The flaps were then lowered to to investigate the stalling characteristics in this configuration. The stall was initiated about two minutes after the last contact, when the aircraft was between 15 000 and 16 000 ft. Approach to the stall appears to have been normal. When attempting recovery, the elevators responded initially to the control movement but subsequently floated to the fully up position in spite of a large push force on the control column. The aircraft then descended in a substantially horizontal fore and aft attitude at about 180 ft/sec (54 meters per sec). During the descent it banked twice to the right and once to the left and at one stage the engines were opened up to full power. This action resulted in a large nose-up pitch which was followed by a pitch down when power was taken off. The aircraft then assumed the substantially horizontal attitude in which it made impact with the ground. The final portion of the flight was observed by numerous eye witnesses who commented on the low level of engine noise and a sharp report from the aircraft which was heard while it was in the air. The aircraft had approached from the southwest, in a stable stalled condition, and crashed at about 1040 hours in a flat attitude. Following impact, the aircraft moved forward about 70 ft and some 15 ft to the right before coming to rest. It exploded and caught fire. All seven crew members, four engineers and three test pilots, were killed.