Flyme AT72 at Gan on May 21st 2015, runway excursion on landing
Last Update: June 27, 2019 / 15:43:07 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
May 21, 2015
Classification
Incident
Cause
Runway excursion
Airline
Flyme Villa Air
Flight number
VP-661
Departure
Fuvahmulah, Maldives
Destination
Gan, Maldives
Aircraft Registration
8Q-VAS
Aircraft Type
ATR ATR-72-200
ICAO Type Designator
AT72
The flight had originated in Male (Maldives) as VP-660. The return flight was cancelled.
No Metars are available, the local weather station reported strong rain showers at 20:00L, visibility of 1000 meters, temperature 28 degrees C, dew point 26 degrees C, winds from southsouthwest at 9 knots.
On Jun 2nd 2015 the French BEA reported in their weekly bulletin that the aircraft went left off the south side of the runway onto the grass before returning onto the runway, where the aircraft was stopped. The right hand propeller blades were found damaged in a post occurrence inspection. Maldives Accident Investigation board rated the occurrence a serious incident and opened an investigation.
Maldives' CAA released their final report concluding the probable causes of the incident were:
Causal Factors
Loss of control after touch down due to aquaplaning effect.
Contributing factors
- LH wiper inoperative and deferred under the following conditions:
# One or both may be inoperative, provided:
(a) No precipitation is forecasted during a period from one hour before until one hour after the estimated time of departure and arrival at the takeoff and destination aerodromes,
(b) Affected wipers are not part of the equipment required for the intended operation.
- Heavy rain at the time of landing with limited visibility;
- Aircraft approached the runway at a heading of 299 degrees however the flight path indicated an angle to the left of the runway centre line. Aircraft landed 8.5 metres left of centreline of the runway;
- Standing water on the runway;
- Aquaplaning of the aircraft;
- Aircraft touchdown zone was partly covered with moss growth;
The CAA reported the captain (29, ATPL, 4,000 hours total, 900 hours on type 200 thereof in command) was pilot flying, the first officer (36, CPL, 1,780 hours total, 1,530 hours on type) was pilot monitoring until about 500 feet AGL on approach to Gan's runway 28, when the captain handed controls to the first officer over concerns, the heavy rainfall and the captain's defective windscreen wiper could cause loss of visual reference.
The CAA described the damage to the aircraft:
- No. 2 main wheel found with FOD. (Something sharp has pierced into the tire, however no signs of air leakage from the wheel)
- No.3 main tire found with a small damage on the sidewall. Piece of rubber of approx. 4 inches missing.
- RH propeller total of 5 propeller blades damaged. (Propeller blades appeared to have hit the runway)
- Tail skid has evidence of touching the runway surface.
The aircraft manufacturer (the CAA wrote 5 lines of analysis referencing the ATR analysis as part of their analysis) analysed:
On short final, the AP was disconnected descending through 630ft and, as reported by the CAPT, the F/O took manual command of the airplane (recorded loads on RH pitch control column). From there, the manual control led the airplane to descend below a 3° descent gradient and to roll at +/- 5°.
Passing 550ft, VS mode was increased to -1000 ft/min. The airplane was at 1.5 nm from the runway threshold. The YD was disengaged descending through 340 ft. The IAS was 134 kt Power levers were at a position slightly above Flight Idle (Fl).
A flare was commanded when the airplane was at around 10 ft RA and at 150m from the runway threshold. The F/O pitch control input average was around 10 daN A peak of force at 20 daN allowed the airplane to flare over the beach in front of the runway and the displaced threshold. The airplane flew over the runway threshold at around 4 ft RA. The power levers were retarded to Fl position.
The magnetic heading of the airplane was 280° (runway QFU was 284°). A de-crab manoeuver (1st significant RH rudder pedal effort) was performed just prior or while the MLG touched the ground.
The touchdown could not be evaluated with precision as aircraft accelerations were not available in the QAR The MLG of the airplane might have touched the ground at around 130 m after the runway threshold, at around 106 kt with a pitch attitude of about 1.4° and a left roll angle (around 3”). The power levers remained in Fl position (TQs decreased to 0%) until the nose gear touched the ground. The CAPT reported the “touchdown was smooth".
The 1st RH rudder pedal input reached 28 daN (rudder deflected at 8°, IAS was 102 kt), which led the airplane to nose right (the magnetic heading reached 282°) and then it was released,.
During the landing roll, the power levers were retarded to Ground Idle (Gl) position and a 2nd RH rudder pedal input was performed. It reached 60 daN (rudder surface deflected at 25°, IAS was 83 kt). As a response, the airplane nosed right (magnetic heading rapidly increased towards 300° and kept increasing). The airplane might have skidded at this moment. The CAPT reported “at a sudden I noticed that we were skidding from the runway and took the control in-order to bring the aircraft under control”.
A 3rd rudder pedal input on the LH side was recorded (it reached 90 daN and was maintained, the rudder surface deflected at 28°, IAS was around 70 kt). At this time, just prior the landing gears exited the runway, an asymmetrical reverse was commanded: PL#1 was retarded to full REV position whereas PL#2 was retarded to half REV position. At this moment, ENG#2 parameters (TQ, NP, NH, NL, FF) suddenly decreased from nominal values associated with a drop of ENG#2 oil pressure. A MASTER WARNING was triggered and ENG 2 FLAME OUT ON GROUND check-list was displayed on the Engine Warning Display. The CAPT reported “I think I saw No. 2 Engine was out but primary indications shows that it was not completely out".
Until then, no brake input was detected either LH side pedals or RH side pedals. The maximum magnetic heading reached by the airplane was finally 324°.
Despite RH rudder pedals input and commanded reverse on engines, the airplane left the runway and "both wheels were out on the grass", as reported by the CAPT. Maximum excursion was at around 430m from the runway threshold.
The CAPT reported “it took probably 3 seconds to a complete stop back on the runway, (...) After we brought the aircraft under control I noticed that No. 2 engine parameters were back to normal", as ENG#2 oil pressure that increased back to nominal value. Then, previous displayed check-list was replaced by AFTER LANDING check-list.
The CAPT reported the airplane was “taxied back to the apron. While taxing I noticed that was a problem in braking the aircraft since when brakes are being applied there was a noise but I continued taxing the aircraft to the apron".
Incident Facts
Date of incident
May 21, 2015
Classification
Incident
Cause
Runway excursion
Airline
Flyme Villa Air
Flight number
VP-661
Departure
Fuvahmulah, Maldives
Destination
Gan, Maldives
Aircraft Registration
8Q-VAS
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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