Incident Overview

Date: Sunday 22 February 1998
Aircraft Type: Boeing 737-2K3
Owner/operator: Chanchangi Airlines, lsf Aviogenex
Registration Number: YU-ANU
Location: Kaduna Airport (KAD) – ÿ Nigeria
Phase of Flight: Taxi
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 24
Component Affected: The left main landing gear number 2 brake unit.The left main landing gear number 2 brake unit.
Investigating Agency: AIPBAIPB
Category: Accident
This incident occurred during a flight from Lagos to Kaduna involving a Boeing 737. The pilot initiated four rejected take-off exercises due to visibility concerns, exceeding the required cooling period. A critical failure of the left main landing gear number 2 brake unit resulted in a catastrophic fire, spreading across the taxiway and causing significant damage to the aircraft. The pilot?s decision to initiate these exercises, based on an inaccurate estimate of brake temperature reduction, led to the rapid and uncontrolled fire. The pilot?s actions directly resulted in a significant safety hazard and loss of the aircraft.This incident occurred during a flight from Lagos to Kaduna involving a Boeing 737. The pilot initiated four rejected take-off exercises due to visibility concerns, exceeding the required cooling period. A critical failure of the left main landing gear number 2 brake unit resulted in a catastrophic fire, spreading across the taxiway and causing significant damage to the aircraft. The pilot?s decision to initiate these exercises, based on an inaccurate estimate of brake temperature reduction, led to the rapid and uncontrolled fire. The pilot?s actions directly resulted in a significant safety hazard and loss of the aircraft.

Description

The Boeing 737 completed a flight from Lagos (LOS) through Abuja (ABV) to Kaduna (KAD) and was parked for over an hour. At 14:45 UTC, the Chief Pilot of Chanchangi Airline approached the Air Traffic Controller stating that he would like to fly around the circuit for a training flight. He was told that the visibility was 600 meters which was below the landing minima and was then advised against it. The pilot then suggested that he would carry out a “Rejected Takeoff” training. Additional persons boarded the flight to witness the exercise. At 15:37 UTC the pilot requested a take off clearance which was granted, and was directed to proceed to the holding point of runway 05. The prevailing visibility was 600 meters and the wind was 090 at 10 knots. Four rejected take off training runs were carried out within an interval of twelve minutes. In the conditions at Kaduna, a single exercise of a rejected take off would have required a cooling period of at least ten minutes. At the end of the fourth run, the left main landing gear number 2 brake unit had started to burn. The pilot steered the airplane off the runway into the last taxiway. Fifty meters from the runway 05 threshold the left inner wheel failed and leaving a molten rubber footprint on the taxiway and at the same time the hydraulic fluid of the brake units started to spill tracing an oily track along. Pieces of broken wheel rim were randomly shed for a distance of 150 meters when the rims appeared to undergo a major collapse. The footprint of the two left wheels became more pronounced for a distance of 120 meters when there was a positive turn to the left indicating a total failure in roll from the left wheel assembly. The zigzag motion continued for about 699 meters until the aircraft could no longer be easily moved and the pilot called for the fire trucks. The aircraft burnt to ashes on the spot. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The decision of the instructor pilot to carry out four rejected take-off exercises within a time interval of twelve minutes was the main cause of the accident. His estimate of reducing the brake temperatures by avoiding the use of brakes was a fabrication which is contradicted by the fact that the brake units on the left main landing gear did heat up and started the fire.”

Primary Cause

The pilot?s decision to initiate four rejected take-off exercises within a time interval of twelve minutes, based on an inaccurate estimate of brake temperatures, directly caused the fire through a combination of factors including brake unit failure, a lack of adequate cooling, and the pilot?s flawed judgment.The pilot?s decision to initiate four rejected take-off exercises within a time interval of twelve minutes, based on an inaccurate estimate of brake temperatures, directly caused the fire through a combination of factors including brake unit failure, a lack of adequate cooling, and the pilot?s flawed judgment.

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