An ATR 72-212 had already completed a series of four flights on this day in 2015 and was now being readied for the fifth and final sector of the day. Fro Mandalay to Yangon International Airport, both in Myanmar. There were 49 passengers and 5 crew onboard for the ~550 km (340 miles flight).
The failed right-hand main landing gear (source & © MAIB)
At 17.20 lt (local time) the ATR took off from Mandalay and set course to Yangon International Airport. The take-off, climb and cruise were uneventful the first officer was the pilot flying (PF) for the sector.
As the aircraft descended towards Yangon ATC provided weather information to the crew, stating that the visibility was 6 kilometers.
At 4 kilometres (2,5 miles) from the runway, the flight contained landing clearance from ATC; "Flight ABC, wind calm, runway 21, cleared to land, caution landing runway wet after landing vacate via Charlie" The clearance was read back by the Captain (pilot monitoring - PM for the flight).
At the decision height (250 feet) the approach lights and the runway were insight while they were in light rain. At 50 feet height, the rain suddenly increased and the visibility instantly reduced. At that time the captain took over control of the aircraft from the first officer. A few seconds later a hard touchdown followed. The aircraft skidded and veered to the left of the runway centerline. The crew was unable to correct the directional movement of the aircraft and they left the paved surface of the runway. Finally coming to a stop 2800 feet from the threshold and 75 feet from the edge of runway 21. An evacuation was initiated by the cabin crew once the aircraft came to a stop, and all occupants safely vacated the aircraft although 1 passenger reportedly sustained a serious injury, requiring surgery and 18 days of hospitalisation.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of Myanmar (MAIB) investigated the accident. in their report (available by clicking here) they listed the extensive damage to the aircraft;
L/H main landing gear separated from aircraft, trunion leg and shock absorber broken
R/H main landing gear shock absorber broken
The nose landing gear collapsed
Fuselage wrinkled, deformed and torn in several places
L/H propellor blades broken Damaged L/H Propellor (Source & © MAIB)
Passengers Service Units fell down
The separated left-hand main landing gear (Source & © MAIB)
The conclusion of their report stated that the primary cause of the accident was the fact that no go-around was performed when the approach became unstable and a bounced landing was performed in low visibility. As contributing factors the following points were listed;
a) The visibility was very low and the runway centerline lightings were not able to be seen intermittently.
b) The runway was wet and it was raining heavily.
c) The pilot in command took over the control of the plane from the copilot (14) seconds just before the first impact.
The aircraft being recovered (Source & © MAIB)
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