Incident Overview

Date: Wednesday 12 July 2000
Aircraft Type: Airbus A310-304
Owner/operator: Hapag-Lloyd
Registration Number: D-AHLB
Location: Wien-Schwechat International Airport (VIE) – ÿ Austria
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 151
Component Affected: Aircraft Engine and Landing GearAircraft Engine and Landing Gear
Investigating Agency: UUS AustriaUUS Austria
Category: Accident
A flight from Khania, Crete, Greece, experienced a significant incident involving a landing gear problem that ultimately led to a diversion to Munich. The crew initially raised the right hand main landing gear, but subsequent fuel shortage and a decision to continue with the gear down resulted in a diverted flight to Vienna-Schwechat Airport. Upon approaching, insufficient fuel was detected, and the engines failed, causing a slide of approximately 600 meters before the aircraft came to rest. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the left main gear and the front engine, and the crew experienced a loss of situational awareness due to excessive workload and stress.A flight from Khania, Crete, Greece, experienced a significant incident involving a landing gear problem that ultimately led to a diversion to Munich. The crew initially raised the right hand main landing gear, but subsequent fuel shortage and a decision to continue with the gear down resulted in a diverted flight to Vienna-Schwechat Airport. Upon approaching, insufficient fuel was detected, and the engines failed, causing a slide of approximately 600 meters before the aircraft came to rest. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the left main gear and the front engine, and the crew experienced a loss of situational awareness due to excessive workload and stress.

Description

Flight 3378 departed Khania, Crete, Greece, at 10:59 for a flight to Hannover. The crew encountered problems fully raising the right hand main landing gear. It was decided to continue flight with the gear down and to divert to Mnchen. During the flight the calculated spare fuel (EFOB) at Mnchen decreased on the FMS. The crew now decided to divert to Vienna-Schwechat Airport instead. Approaching Vienna it appeared that there was not enough fuel on board. At about 12nm short of the runway, at about 4000 feet altitude both engines quit. The crew were able to restart one engine for a short period of time, managing to reach the airport. The aircraft landed in the grass some 500 m from the runway 34 threshold. The left main gear broke off and the no. 1 engine and wing sustained substantial damage as the aircraft slid for 600 m before coming to rest. CAUSES: Continuation of the flight with a landing gear problem until the engines failed due to fuel shortage. Crew: – Failure to comply with the company’s rules on fuel reserves, caused by several human factors, with extreme work load and stress being the important factor (loss of situational awareness). – Determination of the fuel reserves using only the FMS, which, due to its characteristics did not take into account the additional fuel consumption. – Failure to develop alternative strategies to curb the fuel problem. – Failure to comply with a fuel warning (low fuel level warning) and decision to continue the flight to Vienna International Airport, although the plane was in the immediate vicinity of Zagreb Airport. Manufacturer: – Inadequate and misleading documentation (FMS scheme, altitude, terms) for this specific case, particularly in relation to the restriction of FMS. Aviation companies: – Inadequate documentation for “abnormal landing gear up indication” of the abnormal checklist. – Lack of review of the fuel needs by the Operations Division. Contributing factors: – Missing or inadequate preventive measures by manufacturers, approving authority and airlines following the previous publications of ICAO and EU DG VII about problems which, with the introduction of aircraft equipped with modern technologies, occurred and had been identified. – Anthropo-technical construction deficiencies, which favour a misinterpretation of the FMS EFOB display.

Source of Information

http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/A310,_Vienna_Austria,_2000http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/A310,_Vienna_Austria,_2000

Primary Cause

Fuel shortage leading to the crew’s decision to continue the flight with a landing gear problem, compounded by a failure to adequately manage fuel reserves and a lack of alternative strategies to address the situation.Fuel shortage leading to the crew’s decision to continue the flight with a landing gear problem, compounded by a failure to adequately manage fuel reserves and a lack of alternative strategies to address the situation.

Share on:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *