Incident Overview

Date: Tuesday 8 September 1987
Aircraft Type: Airbus A310-222
Owner/operator: Nigeria Airways
Registration Number: 5N-AUG
Location: Port Harcourt Airport (PHC) – ÿ Nigeria
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial, repaired
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 109
Component Affected: Left Main GearLeft Main Gear
Investigating Agency: AIPBAIPB
Category: Accident
A Nigeria Airways flight WT 104 experienced a near-miss landing due to a critical approach error. The flight was cleared to land at Port Harcourt, but the crew initiated an uncoordinated approach, resulting in a significant ground contact issue. The pilot made a decision to continue an unstable approach, leading to a damaged landing gear and a subsequent impact with the runway.A Nigeria Airways flight WT 104 experienced a near-miss landing due to a critical approach error. The flight was cleared to land at Port Harcourt, but the crew initiated an uncoordinated approach, resulting in a significant ground contact issue. The pilot made a decision to continue an unstable approach, leading to a damaged landing gear and a subsequent impact with the runway.

Description

Nigeria Airways flight WT 104 originated at Lagos (LOS). It departed at 17:17 hours UTC and was expected to land at Port Harcourt (PHC) at 17:56. En route at FL290 the crew contacted Port Harcourt ATC and received the 1700z weather. Visibility was given as 3000 metres, wind from 200 degrees at 13 knots and slight rain. About 17:40 the crew received a special weather report, noting an improved visibility of 6 km. The controller cleared the flight to sector altitude (2000ft) and field-in-sight was announced by the captain. On long final, the descent was visual and manual. The aircraft crossed the threshold at about 50ft high. The right main gear touched down first and rolled for about 180 metres before the left gear touched down about 2.4 metres to the runway’s left edge. The nose gear touched down at about 4.9 metres to the edge. The aircraft continued off the left side of the runway. The left main gear first ran into the ditch alongside the runway and fractured the strut. The nose gear also broke off. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The probable cause of the accident was the decision of the Commander to continue an unstabilized approach profile to a touchdown instead of initiating a missed approach at 100ft or more from the ground. The first contributory factor was the touchdown point which was displaced 82ft left of the centre-line and 2 degrees left of the runway direction. The second contributory factor was the open trench close to the runway shoulder which immediately trapped the left main landing gear in a bid to correct to the runway heading with right rudder.”

Primary Cause

The decision to continue an unstable approach profile, specifically the displaced touchdown point, created a hazardous situation.The decision to continue an unstable approach profile, specifically the displaced touchdown point, created a hazardous situation.

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