Flybe jet's brakes FAIL sending it ROLLING across the taxiway
- 4 years ago
A Flybe jet rolled over the tarmac and collided with a grounded Loganair plane at a Scottish airport this summer after ground crew removed wheel brackets without the pilots noticing.
The jet began to move across the taxiway at Aberdeen International Airport while the pilot and co-pilot tried to brake, an accident report shows.
But the braking system failed and the plane collided with a parked Loganair plane at 5.75 mph, clamping its nose under the engine of the other plane.
A report on the incident, which took place on June 16, has been published by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
The Flybe plane had been aground in Aberdeen since the budget airline’s collapse in March, but it was to be flown empty to an airport in Germany, where it would be returned to storage.
Since the plane hadn’t flown for months, the two pilots had to had planned to arrive at the airport earlier than usual to allow extra time to prepare for the flight and to carry out inspections of the aircraft.
The aircraft was parked on a self-maneuvering platform with a one degree slope.
Shortly after the pilots boarded, the ground crew removed the 12 wheel chocks placed around the wheels without the pilots knowing.
The Flybe jet is depicted rolling down taxiway D towards the parked and empty Loganair aircraft as pilots attempted to brake.
According to the AAIB report: “During the pre-departure checks, the blocks were removed from both the main wheels and the nose wheels.
“Neither pilot had authorized the removal of wheel chocks, and neither had noticed that all wheel chocks had been removed.”
About 45 minutes after the blocks were removed, ground crew noticed the jet slowly rolling forward and alerted the pilots on board.
Both pilots stepped on the toe brakes and the commander moved the parking brake lever out and back twice to park, but the plane continued to roll.
The Flybe plane hit the bottom of the Loganair plane’s second engine, “lifting the right landing gear off the ground.” The plane had been aground since the budget airline’s collapse in March, but was to be flown to Germany for storage.
The commander recalled that when the plane started moving, he noticed that the pressure of the parking brake hydraulic system was zero on the display.
Three engineers, seeing the plane start to roll, ran to try and stop it by pushing and pulling on the headrest.
One ground crew member ran to get some blocks and another jumped off the cabin door and moved to left gear where he also pushed the strut.
However, the aircraft continued to gain speed as it crossed taxiway D towards the parked and empty Loganair aircraft.
The engineers and a ground crew then attempted to slow the Flybe jet by pushing the plane’s nose, but eventually had to give up when it crashed into the Loganair jet at 5 knots (5.75 mph).
The Flybe plane hit the bottom of the Loganair plane’s second engine, “lifting the right landing gear off the ground.”
The jet came to a complete stop with its nose clamped under the Loganair plane’s engine and there were no injuries.
The entire damage caused by the impact included damage to the forward fuselage area and the windshield and the right nacelle was dented.
The AAIB report states, “Safety action has been taken by the CAA, aircraft operator, maintenance organization, groundhandling company and airport operator with regard to the removal of wheel chocks during flight preparation.”
Source: Source
Comments