Incident Overview

Date: Thursday 3 February 2000
Aircraft Type: Boeing 707-351C
Owner/operator: Trans Arabian Air Transport – TAAT
Registration Number: ST-APY
Location: 4 km W off Mwanza Airport (MWZ) – ÿ Tanzania
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Component Affected: Radio Altimeter Integral LightRadio Altimeter Integral Light
Category: Accident
An aircraft experienced a series of critical events during a flight to Mwanza, resulting in a near-miss landing. Initial radio communication indicated a malfunctioning altimeter integral light, leading to the crew utilizing the Flight Management System (FMS) without proper troubleshooting. The aircraft was grounded due to a lack of power at the airport, requiring the use of a standby generator. After the generator activated, the runway lights were rendered inoperable, and the aircraft was instructed to execute a visual approach. A pilot maneuver resulted in the aircraft deviating from the runway, overshooting it, and ultimately impacting a lake. The pilot then initiated a corrective maneuver, resulting in a yawing motion and a subsequent halt.An aircraft experienced a series of critical events during a flight to Mwanza, resulting in a near-miss landing. Initial radio communication indicated a malfunctioning altimeter integral light, leading to the crew utilizing the Flight Management System (FMS) without proper troubleshooting. The aircraft was grounded due to a lack of power at the airport, requiring the use of a standby generator. After the generator activated, the runway lights were rendered inoperable, and the aircraft was instructed to execute a visual approach. A pilot maneuver resulted in the aircraft deviating from the runway, overshooting it, and ultimately impacting a lake. The pilot then initiated a corrective maneuver, resulting in a yawing motion and a subsequent halt.

Description

The aircraft was departed Khartoum for a flight to Mwanza where it was supposed to pick up a cargo of 38 tonnes of fish fillet from Vick Fish Processors for delivery in Europe. When it went dark en route to Mwanza, the radio altimeter integral light was found to be unserviceable. The crew were not able to fix the problem and the continued using the FMS. The crew contacted Mwanza tower at 16:58 and were being advised that there was no power at the airport and that efforts were being made to use a standby generator. Further information passed on the crew reportedly included VOR, DME and NDB all unserviceable, weather: wind calm, 8 km visibility, temperature 25deg C and QNH 1015. After holding for 10 minutes, the airport generator came on and the runway lights went on. The first officer, who was pilot flying, started a visual runway 12 approach. When well established on finals with full landing configuration, the captain told the f/o that he was too low, and a few seconds later he told the f/o he was too high. Both the captain and the flight engineer then told the f/o to go around. The f/o overshot and climbed to 5500 feet on the downwind leg. Turning on the left base the captain remarked that the turn was too tight: “.. I will do a 360-degree turn to the right and position you finals”. The captain thus took over control and started a right turn at 4400 feet. Just before completing the turn, the f/o said: “do not go down anymore, the altimeter is reading 4100 feet”. Almost aligned with the runway, the f/o took over control again. At that same moment the aircraft bounced 2 or 3 times yawing to the left and came down to a halt in the middle of the lake.

Primary Cause

Faulty Radio Altimeter Integral Light and Reliance on FMS without proper diagnostics.Faulty Radio Altimeter Integral Light and Reliance on FMS without proper diagnostics.

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