22nd of April 2008, High Speed, Blog #743

A British Aerospace BAe-146-200 was operating a domestic flight between Craiova Airport and Bucharest-Otopeni International Airport (both in Romania) on this day in aviation history in 2008.

On board were a crew of 6 and 67 passengers.

The aircraft at its final position, shortly after the accident (Source & © AIAS)

After an uneventful flight, the aircraft was stabilised on the approach for runway 08L at Bucharest when the crew contacted ATC at 18:13 local time. Runway 08L is 3,100 meters (10,170 feet) long; however, due to work in progress, the last 1,400 meters (~4,600 feet) of the runway were not available.ATC cleared the aircraft to land on runway 08L, providing the crew with the latest wind information: 280° at 8 knots.

During the latter stage of the approach (after receiving the landing clearance), the weather deteriorated rapidly, with heavy rain and gale-like winds from varying directions. At 18:15 local time, the aircraft touched down on the centerline of runway 08L, but well down the runway—approximately 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) from the threshold. At the time of touchdown, the aircraft had a tailwind, and the runway was contaminated with water. With the engines at idle, the brakes were applied (the BAe-146 series aircraft is not equipped with thrust reversers), but the pilots observed that the deceleration was insufficient to stop the aircraft before the displaced threshold.

At this point, the captain decided to use the high-speed turnoff to vacate the runway. This was done at high speed and with a large turn radius, which caused the No. 1 main wheel (left-hand main landing gear outboard wheel) to burst.

The left-hand main landing gear (L) and the failed #1 Main wheel (R) (Source & © AIAS)

While the aircraft was still travelling at a relatively high speed, the crew attempted to turn the aircraft onto the taxiway. This caused the aircraft to spin 120° to the left around the yaw axis and drift towards the edge of the taxiway.Shortly before coming to a stop, the right-hand main landing gear failed and folded under the fuselage.

At 18:16 LT, the captain made a MAYDAY call to ATC, informing them that they were evacuating the aircraft. There was no fire, and all occupants evacuated safely without injury.

Damage to the aircraft was so extensive that it was considered damaged beyond repair.

The Romanian authorities (AIAS investigated the accident and, on 25 January 2022, published their report—13 years and 9 months after the incident.

They identified the following cause:

• The runway was vacated at high speed after landing.

Contributory causes identified were:

• Sudden worsening of weather during final approach and landing

• Late touchdown

Estimated ground track of the aircraft (Source & © (Source & © AIAS))

** Editorial note **

V2 Aviation - Training & Maintenance has not been able to obtain an 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.