Air Berlin A321 at Dusseldorf on Sep 19th 2015, tyre damage on takeoff, debris punctures wing

Last Update: February 16, 2016 / 23:31:55 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Air Berlin D-ABCK, Airbus A321 — Air Berlin D-ABCK, Airbus A321 (Photo credit: a.gembi / Flickr / License: CC by-nd)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Sep 19, 2015

Classification
Accident

Airline
Air Berlin

Flight number
AB-3156

Departure
Dusseldorf, Germany

Destination
Kos, Greece

Aircraft Registration
D-ABCK

Aircraft Type
Airbus A321

ICAO Type Designator
A321

An Air Berlin Airbus A321-200, registration D-ABCK performing flight AB-3156 from Dusseldorf (Germany) to Kos (Greece) with 171 passengers and 7 crew, departed Dusseldorf's runway 23L and was climbing out of Dusseldorf when tyre debris was found on the runway. The crew of D-ABCK was informed about the debris, stopped the climb at FL270, descended the aircraft to FL100 and diverted to Munich (Germany) for a safe landing about 70 minutes after departure. Passengers observed a hole in the upper surface of the right hand wing.

Air Berlin confirmed that parts of the tyre separated during departure from Dusseldorf which damaged the wing.

Germany's BFU opened an investigation into the occurrence.

A replacement Airbus A321-200 registration D-ABCQ reached Kos with a delay of 8.5 hours.

On Feb 16th 2016 Germany's BFU released their interim report as part of their September bulletin in German reporting that following departure from runway 23L the crew received indications of "Spoiler 5" and "Flap System 2", a flight attendant reported hearing two bangs during the departure roll. The crew of the next departure reported tyre debris on the runway. The first officer (38, ATPL, 4,031 hours total, 287 hours on type) visually examined the right hand wing and found that the right hand wing had a hole of about 10 by 10cm above the gear well. The captain (56, ATPL, 14,459 hours total, 126 hours on type) therefore decided to divert to Munich, where the aircraft landed safely on runway 26R.

An examination of the tyres showed that most of the tread of tyre #3 had separated from the tyre. The debris collected from the departure runway was identified mainly parts of the tread as well as a number of plastics components. On the landing runway in Munich other parts of the tread were recovered.

The BFU reported that tyre #3 had accumulated 5644 landings since manufacture, had been retreaded in March 2015 and had done 176 landings since being mounted on the aircraft. The last check of the tyre had been done 48 hours prior to the occurrence, the tyre was cold at 225psi and showed no anomaly.

The main damage to the aircraft were in the area of the right main gear shaft, the top cover had been penetrated. The right wing's lower surface was damaged. The right engine inboard cover as well as the right hand elevator showed impact marks by rubber. Inside the right main gear shaft two hydraulic lines, one of the right main gear actuator and one for the alternate brakes, and a cable harness were damaged (two wires were severed, 8 damaged) affecting Flap Position Sys 2, Slat Position Sys 2, Engine #2 Loop A fire and overheat protection, Engine #2 Throttle ctr unit chan A, Engine #2 fadec und Spoiler 5. The indications, the crew received, were thus a direct consequence of the damaged cable harness.