A Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI-R was operating a scheduled domestic cargo flight from San Jose (California, USA), via Wilmington (Ohio, USA) to Atlanta (Georgia, USA). After an uneventful first sector, the aircraft was approaching Atlanta Municipal Airport in the early morning hours.
The aircraft in its final position (Source: baaa-acro.com © Richard Vandervord)
The Caravelle was following a Lockheed L-100 TriStar on the approach to runway 26. After passing the Outer Marker the speed of the Caravelle was kept high and it closed in on the TriStar, encountering the wake turbulence. Although the aircraft was rolling left and right and the approach became unstable the crew continued the approach to runway 26. The unstabilised approach caused the aircraft to land hard, causing the lefthand main landing to collapse. The aircraft continued down the runway on the remaining landing gears for approximately 4.526 feet (`1380 meters) before veering to the left and going off the paved area of the runway. The aircraft continued for another 250 feet (76 meters) before coming to a stop in the grass adjacent to the runway. The crew shut the aircraft down and evacuated the aircraft none of them sustained any injuries. The aircraft didn't come off so well, it was written off as damaged beyond repair.
The aircraft in better days (Source; baaa-acro.com © Werner Fischdick)
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident and identified the following probable causes;
The Pilot In Command failed to follow approach procedures and directives
Poorly planned and executed approach
Fast approach from the Outer Marker, closing the gap behind the preceding aircraft
Wake turbulence
An NTSB factsheet on the accident (NTSB Identification: ATL80FA057) is accessible by clicking for the readers' reference by clicking on the .pdf file below;
** Editorial note **
V2 Aviation - Training & Maintenance has not been able to obtain a full investigation report on this accident. This blog is therefore based on several internet sources. Should there be an inconsistency in the blog don't hesitate to get in touch with us. There are two possibilities to do that, via the comments function at the bottom of this page or via the contact page of the website.