Stobart AT72 at Manchester on May 15th 2014, uncontrollable nose wheel steering on landing

Last Update: January 8, 2015 / 16:13:53 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 15, 2014

Classification
Report

Airline
Stobart Air

Flight number
EI-3728

Departure
Cork, Ireland

Destination
Manchester, United Kingdom

Aircraft Registration
EI-FCY

Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200

ICAO Type Designator
AT72

A Stobart Air Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A on behalf of Aer Lingus, registration EI-FCY performing flight EI-3728 from Cork (Ireland) to Manchester,EN (UK) with 48 passengers and 4 crew, was on final approach to Manchester's runway 23R with the first officer being pilot flying, when both multifunction computers failed causing the nose wheel steering to become inoperative, however, without any aural warning and without activation of master caution or master warning leaving the flight crew unaware of the failure. The landing was continued, after touchdown the aircraft began to veer uncontrollably left, the captain (41, ATPL, 6,263 hours total, 5,028 hours on type) assumed control applying rudder and nose wheel steering but also was unable to stop the aircraft from veering left, the commander managed however to stop the aircraft on the left side of the runway.

The AAIB released their bulletin reporting that following the stop on the runway the first officer noticed that both Multifunction modules indicated fault. The Multifunction computers were reset which restored functionality of all systems and the aircraft was able to taxi to the apron.

The commander later reported that she got aware of some engine indications missing from the engine and warning display, the nose wheel steering was ineffective during the landing roll.

According to the aircraft manufacturer the master caution light should flash if both Multifunction computers fail.

The AAIB analysed: "Failure of both MFC 1B and 2B causes the weight-on-wheels system to be unavailable, which results in the NWS becoming inoperative. When the commander realised that the NWS was inoperative, she concentrated on stopping the aircraft but also noticed that there were unusual indications on the EWD. The pilots diagnosed and rectified the dual MFC failure after they observed the fail lights on the overhead panel. They were unaware of the failure until after the aircraft had stopped. After landing, the commander applied some rudder before attempting to use the NWS to keep the aircraft straight. The FCOM indicates that the rudder is effective in maintaining directional control above 40 kt. However, when the commander took control, it is likely that the aircraft speed was such that rudder authority alone was insufficient to correct the deviation from the centreline."

The AAIB reported following safety actions were taken.

The manufacturer has issued a Service Bulletin that recommends the installation of MFC computers modified to S5 standard to address the cause of the dual MFC failure experienced by this crew. At the time of publication of this report, the implementation of the Service Bulletin has been delayed pending resolution of technical issues associated with it.

The manufacturer has identified some inaccuracies in the FCOM, which it will amend.

The operator has introduced dual MFC failure scenarios into flight crew recurrent training.
Aircraft Registration Data
Registration mark
EI-FCY
Country of Registration
Ireland
Date of Registration
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Manufacturer
ATR-GIE AVIONS DE TRANSPORT REGIONAL
Aircraft Model / Type
ATR 72-212 A
ICAO Aircraft Type
AT72
Year of Manufacture
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Serial Number
Jnen Subscribe to unlock
Maximum Take off Mass (MTOM) [kg]
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Engine Count
H Subscribe to unlock
Engine
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Main Owner
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Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 15, 2014

Classification
Report

Airline
Stobart Air

Flight number
EI-3728

Departure
Cork, Ireland

Destination
Manchester, United Kingdom

Aircraft Registration
EI-FCY

Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200

ICAO Type Designator
AT72

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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