S1/2012 BAE Systems Jetstream 31, G-CCPW, 8 March 2012

1 © Crown copyright 2012 AAIB Special Bulletin: S1/2012 G-CCPW EW/C2012/03/03 This Special Bulletin contains facts which have been determined up to the time of issue. It is published to inform the aviation industry and the public of the general circumstances of accidents and serious incidents and should be regarded as tentative and subject to alteration or correction if additional evidence becomes available. The investigation is being carried out in accordance with The Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 1996, Annex 13 to the ICAO Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU Regulation No 996/2010. The sole objective of the investigation shall be the prevention of accidents and incidents. It shall not be the purpose of such an investigation to apportion blame or liability. Extracts may be published without specific permission providing that the source is duly acknowledged, the material is reproduced accurately and is not used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. ACCIDENT Aircraft Type and Registration: BAE Systems Jetstream 31, G-CCPW No & Type of Engines: 2 Garrett Airesearch TPE 331-10UGR-5164 turboprop engines Year of Manufacture: 1987 Location: Runway 26, Isle of Man Airport Date & Time (UTC): 8 March 2012 at 1757 hrs Type of Flight: Commercial Air Transport (Passenger) Persons on Board: Crew - 2 Passengers - 12 Injuries: Crew - None Passengers - None Nature of Damage: Right main landing gear yoke pintle fractured, right engine and propeller blades damaged Commander’s Licence: Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence Commander’s Age: 58 years Commander’s Flying Experience: About 6,000 hrs (of which about 1,500 hrs were on type) Information Source: AAIB Field Investigation Synopsis The aircraft’s right main landing gear failed as it landed on Runway 26 at Isle of Man Airport. The right main landing gear detached, the aircraft slid along the runway on its remaining landing gears, right wingtip and luggage pannier and came to rest on the grass adjacent to the runway. The passengers and crew vacated the aircraft without injury. The mechanism to final failure is not yet fully understood, but was initiated as a result of stress corrosion cracking in the forward yoke pintle at the top of the right main landing gear leg. One Safety Recommendation is made. 2 © Crown copyright 2012 AAIB Special Bulletin: S1/2012 G-CCPW EW/C2012/03/03 History of the flight The aircraft and crew were operating a passenger service from Leeds Bradford International Airport to Isle of Man Airport. The flight had been routine and the crew were flying a day, visual approach to Runway 26, in good weather, with the surface wind reported as 210° at 14 kt. The commander was the pilot flying (PF) and the co‑pilot, who had recently joined the company, was nearing the end of his line training on type. The approach was flown with full flap and the gear locked and confirmed down by the three green gear indicators. The landing weight was estimated to be 13,448 lb (6,099 kg) and the crew recalled that the V ref was about 105 kt. Almost immediately the aircraft touched down it leaned to the right and there was an unusual noise. The commander levelled the aircraft with a left roll input. However, as the speed decayed the lean increased and it became apparent that there was a problem with the right gear. The commander continued to apply left aileron and rudder. Both pilots recognised that the aircraft was likely to leave the paved surface and so the co-pilot held the control wheel and rudder to allow the commander to apply nosewheel steering and operate the feather levers 1 . The left engine was shut down and feathered as the aircraft departed the runway. The right engine was also shut down but its propeller did not feather as the mechanism appears to have been damaged when the blades contacted the runway. The aircraft left the paved surface, yawed to the right and slid sideways before it came to a stop 90° to the runway heading. The Air Traffic Controller Officer located in the visual control room of the tower, to the north of the runway, saw the right propeller strike the runway as the gear collapsed. This was also seen by the airport fire‑fighter on duty at the Airport Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) watch office, located to the south of the runway. Both pressed their respective crash alarms while the aircraft was still moving and the AFRS arrived at the aircraft less than 2 minutes after it had come to a stop. The commander shut down the aircraft while the co‑pilot entered the passenger cabin, ascertained that there were no significant injuries and opened the rear passenger door. The passengers and crew deplaned without injury. Runway marks and debris The aircraft left a number of marks on the runway surface starting approximately 90 m from the start of the threshold markings. The first marks were made by the right engine propeller blades cutting into the runway surface. Sections of the right landing gear yoke pintle were found at 150 m and 180 m from the runway threshold near the right landing gear door. Flight data The aircraft was equipped with a 25 hour continuous- loop Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) that recorded five parameters: time, pressure altitude, indicated airspeed, normal acceleration and heading. The normal acceleration at touchdown, after adjusting for maximum accelerometer drift of 0.04 g, was established as 1.72 g. This was the highest value recorded during the 20 flights recorded on the DFDR. Additionally, a Terrain Avoidance Warning System (TAWS) installed in the aircraft recorded 30 separate parameters including Radio Altitude (Rad Alt) and Footnote 1 The appropriate feather lever shuts off fuel to its engine as well as feathering the propeller. 3 © Crown copyright 2012 AAIB Special Bulletin: S1/2012 G-CCPW EW/C2012/03/03 pressure altitude at a higher sampling rate than the DFDR. From this altitude information it was established that the rate of descent, just prior to touchdown, was 463 ft / min (7.7 ft/sec). This is within the landing gear limit load defined for a touchdown with a rate of descent of 10 ft/sec at the maximum landing weight of 14,900 lb (6,758 kg). The aircraft was also equipped with a 30 minute continuous-loop Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which recorded crew speech and ambient flight deck sounds from an area microphone. From the area microphone it was possible to identify a loud mechanical noise and the propeller blades striking the runway as the aircraft touched down. The information from the DFDR, TAWS and CVR has been combined and is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 Data recorded during the landing Touchdown 4 © Crown copyright 2012 AAIB Special Bulletin: S1/2012 G-CCPW EW/C2012/03/03 Aircraft damage The right landing gear had broken away from its trunnions as a result of a failure of the forward yoke pintle housing (refer to Figure 2). However, the landing gear remained attached to the aircraft by the radius arm (retraction jack) and hydraulic pipelines. The downlock microswitch, which is fitted to the radius arm, remained intact and when electrical power was selected ON all three green landing gear position lights illuminated. The blades on the right propeller had been badly damaged and the right engine appeared to be distorted in its engine mounts. The right aileron balance horn, wingtip and a section of the pannier had abraded away. There was some distortion to the right wheel well and flaps where the landing gear had broken away; there was no evidence of a leak from the wing fuel tanks. The main cabin door and over-wing emergency exit both opened freely. Apart from the failure of the yoke forward pintle on the right main landing gear, there was no visible evidence that the aircraft had sustained a heavy landing. Metallurgy The main landing gear is manufactured from DTD 5094 aluminium alloy, which is known to be susceptible to Stress Corrosion Cra

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S1/2012 BAE Systems Jetstream 31, G-CCPW, 8 March 2012

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