Holiday jet crash caused by crack

Nov 21 2003

By Tony Barrett Daily Post Staff

The Spanair plane after it crash landed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport

AN AEROPLANE carrying holidaymakers returning from a break in the sun was forced to crash land at Liverpool John Lennon Airport due to metal fatigue in its landing gear.

An official accident report released last night revealed a fatigue crack had contributed to the collapse of the undercarriage as the plane touched down in May, 2001.

It also revealed the crack had not been discovered in four earlier safety checks.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report on behalf of the Department of Transport confirmed this was the third case of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 suffering landing gear failure due to fatigue cracking.

The report stated: "Inspection and other mandatory preventive measures taken following two similar accidents did not prevent the occurrence of this third accident.

"This was probably due to the small size of cracks which are required to be detected before reaching a critical dimension."

The AAIB made five safety recommendations, including suggesting that authorities "provide guidance to the recommended best practice for the evacuation of infants and small children down escape slides with minimum delay."

The incident sparked a full scale emergency with a fleet of ambulances and fire engines racing on to the runway.

More than 1,500 holidaymakers were left facing long delays after the airport was closed while paramedics treated the injured. Most were transferred to Blackpool and Manchester airports after incoming flights were diverted.

All 45 passengers and six crew were evacuated from the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 when the pilot carried out an emergency landing after the aircraft developed difficulties with its landing gear.

The plane was being operated by holiday airline Spanair and was flying into Liverpool from Palma in Majorca.

The right main landing gear collapsed on touchdown at Liverpool, with witnesses at the airport describing seeing a puff of smoke from the tyres and hearing a bang at the time.

This was immediately followed by the aircraft dropping to the right, with the crew then announcing an emergency evacuation.

The incident shocked onlookers at the crowded airport who saw the right wing of the MD-80 scraping along the runway before the aircraft came to a halt 160 metres away from where it initially touched down.

There was a delay as cabin crew decided on the best way to evacuate small children and infants down the escape slides.

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Crack led to air accident

A fatigue crack that contributed to the collapse of the undercarriage of a holiday jet landing at Liverpool airport had not been found in four earlier checks, an official accident report has found.

It was also the third case of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 landing gear failure due to fatigue cracking, added the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report.

All 45 passengers and six crew were safely evacuated from the MD-80 in the Liverpool airport incident which ended with the plane's right wing touching the Tarmac.

There was a short delay over the best way of evacuating small children and infants down the escape slides and there was no guidance on this in the safety briefing or on safety cards, said the report.

The MD-80 was being operated by holiday airline Spanair and was flying into Liverpool from Palma in Majorca on May 10, 2001.

The right main landing gear collapsed on touchdown at Liverpool, with witnesses at the airport describing seeing a puff of smoke from the tyres and hearing a bang at the time of touchdown.

This was immediately followed by the aircraft "dropping" to the right, with the crew then announcing an emergency evacuation.

All but one passenger used escape slides to clear the aircraft, that passenger getting out via an overwing escape exit.

"Inspection and other mandatory preventive measures taken following two similar accidents did not prevent the occurrence of this third accident," said the AAIB report.

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Last Updated: Friday, 21 November, 2003, 06:41 GMT

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Metal fatigue caused jet scare

The collapsed plane at Liverpool Airport

The problems were not spotted in four safety checks

A fatigue crack that led to a jet's undercarriage collapsing on landing was not found in four earlier checks, a report has said.

There was also a short delay in evacuating children and babies down escape slides, the Air Accident Investigation Branch report into the incident at Liverpool airport found.

All 45 passengers and six crew were safely evacuated from the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, which was operated by holiday airline Spanair and was flying into Liverpool from Palma in Majorca in 2001.

The report said it was the third case of such a plane's landing gear failing due to fatigue.

Aircraft dropped

Witnesses reported seeing a puff of smoke from the tyres and hearing a bang at the time of touchdown.

The aircraft dropped to the right, finishing with the plane's wing touching the tarmac and the crew announced an emergency evacuation.

The AAIB made five safety recommendations in the report.

These included suggesting authorities "provide guidance to the recommended best practice for the evacuation of infants and small children down escape slides with minimum delay".

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S3/2001 - Douglas (Boeing) MD-83, EC-FXI

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AAIB Bulletin No: S3/2001	Ref: EW/C2001/05/01	Category: 1.1

Aircraft Type and Registration:	Douglas (Boeing) MD-83, EC-FXI
Serial Number:	49630
Year of Manufacture:	1989
Date & Time (UTC):	10th May 2001 at 1232 hrs
Location:	Liverpool Airport, UK
Type of Flight:	Public Transport (Passenger)
Persons on Board:	Crew - 6	Passengers - 45
Injuries:	Crew - none	Passengers - none
Nature of Damage:	Major damage to right wing flaps, slats and skin, punctures in fuselage skin, some ingestion damage to the right engine
Commander's Licence:	Airline Transport Pilot's Licence
Commander's Flying Experience:	4,990 hours (of which 4,015were on type)
Information Source:	AAIB Field Investigation

The aircraft was engaged on a holiday charter and was landing at Liverpool Airport after a flight from Palma, Majorca. An automatic landing on Runway 27 was carried out with the first officer being the pilot flying. Initial data from the aircraft's Flight Recorders showed that the right Main Landing Gear (MLG) failed immediately upon touchdown. The aircraft slid along the runway and came to a halt some 1,600 metres further on, resting on its right flaps, slats and wingtip. An emergency evacuation was carried out. There were no serious injuries and there was no fire.

Examination of the aircraft showed that the right MLG strut cylinder had fractured below the attachment trunnions, releasing the wheels/axle assembly back into the flaps and wing/fuselage fairing. The lower portion of the failed cylinder remained attached only by the sidestay. A closer inspection revealed the presence of an anomaly on the forward outer surface of the cylinder fracture, which subsequent examination identified as a fatigue crack measuring approximately 3.5mm long and 1.1mm deep.

The location and overall size of the crack appears similar to the one which caused failure of a MLG on another MD-83 aircraft, registration G-DEVR, on 27 April 1995 at Manchester Airport, UK. As a result of the Manchester accident (reported in AAIB report 1/97), the FAA ordered mandatory modification to the aircraft's braking system and also a one-time Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) inspection of the critical area.

The AAIB is concerned that the measures put in place following the accident to G-DEVR, have failed to prevent what appears to be a similar accident. The AAIB is aware of a further case of MLG failure due to a similar mechanism, occurring to an aircraft of the same type with a Chinese operator in April 1997.

Examination of the fractured component from EC-FXI, the maintenance records of the aircraft and the conduct of the flight is continuing but, pending the outcome of these investigations, the AAIB made the following Safety Recommendation:-

Safety Recommendation No.2001-54

The Federal Aviation Authority and the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group urgently review the continued airworthiness of the MD-83 MLG strut. In particular, the need for repeat inspection of the strut in the critical area be considered and the ability of the mandated NDE inspection to detect embryonic fatigue cracks in the material, given the small critical crack size, should be re-assessed.

The Chief Inspector of Air Accidents has ordered a Formal Investigation of this accident.

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