Incident Overview

Date: Monday 21 May 2018
Aircraft Type: Airbus A330-243
Owner/operator: Saudi Arabian Airlines, lsf Onur Air
Registration Number: TC-OCH
Location: Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) – ÿ Saudi Arabia
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 152
Component Affected: Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) ? specifically the wheel page and nose gear extension monitoring system.Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) ? specifically the wheel page and nose gear extension monitoring system.
Category: Accident
On Saudi Arabian Airlines flight 3818, an Airbus A330-200, a malfunction of the green hydraulic system led to a diversion to Jeddah. The flight crew initiated a return to Madinah after reaching flight level 370, then redirected to Jeddah due to weather and operational considerations. During the diversion, the crew communicated their intention to divert to Jeddah and requested fuel-burn holding, resulting in a controlled landing. The ECAM failure and subsequent lack of a green triangle on the wheel page indicated a potential issue with the hydraulic system’s monitoring, prompting a coordinated low-pass approach with the control tower. The aircraft’s roll and subsequent contact with the runway caused significant damage, highlighting a critical failure in the hydraulic system’s monitoring and control.On Saudi Arabian Airlines flight 3818, an Airbus A330-200, a malfunction of the green hydraulic system led to a diversion to Jeddah. The flight crew initiated a return to Madinah after reaching flight level 370, then redirected to Jeddah due to weather and operational considerations. During the diversion, the crew communicated their intention to divert to Jeddah and requested fuel-burn holding, resulting in a controlled landing. The ECAM failure and subsequent lack of a green triangle on the wheel page indicated a potential issue with the hydraulic system’s monitoring, prompting a coordinated low-pass approach with the control tower. The aircraft’s roll and subsequent contact with the runway caused significant damage, highlighting a critical failure in the hydraulic system’s monitoring and control.

Description

Saudi Arabian Airlines flight 3818, an Airbus A330-200, made a nose-gear up landing at Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia. At 17:24 (14:24 UTC), flight 3818 departed from Madinah-Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport, Saudi Arabia, on a flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The flight was uneventful until reaching flight level 370. At 17:46, the flight reported to ATC that they encountered a malfunction of the green hydraulic system followed by a “green hydraulic system reservoir low level” warning, and requested to hold for coordination and decision. The flight crew decided to return back, but due to weather conditions at Madinah and operational considerations, they decided to divert to Jeddah, which is the main base for their operations. At 17:59, the flight crew advised ATC of their intention to divert to Jeddah and the need to perform fuel-burn holdings, to be within maximum landing weight limitation. Initial approach to Jeddah was initiated at 20:03, the flight crew applied manual (free fall) landing gear extension procedures. However, the Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor (ECAM) did not display a green triangle for the nose wheel on the wheel page. The flight crew coordinated with the control tower to conduct a low pass to confirm the nose gear extension. At 20:19, the first low pass was conducted above runway 16C with no confirmation from the controller. A second low pass was conducted at 21:22 on the same runway. However, neither the control tower nor ground staff were able to confirm the nose gear extension. At 21:32, the flight crew declared an emergency to land with a retracted nose landing gear. ATC cleared flight 3818 to land on runway 34R with emergency services standing by. At 21:50, flight 3818 touched down with the main landing gears at approximately 700 meters from the threshold of runway 34R and continued to roll for approximately 1350 meters before the bottom part of both engine cowls and the nose section belly contacted the runway surface. The friction with the runway surface as the aircraft rolled caused extensive sparks and smoke until the aircraft came to a complete stop at approximately 700 meters from the end of the runway, 5 meters to the right of the runway centerline.

Primary Cause

Failure of the hydraulic system monitoring system on the ECAM, leading to a lack of visual confirmation of the nose gear extension.Failure of the hydraulic system monitoring system on the ECAM, leading to a lack of visual confirmation of the nose gear extension.

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