Incident Overview

Date: Saturday 23 January 1971
Aircraft Type: Boeing 707-437
Owner/operator: Air-India
Registration Number: VT-DJI
Location: Bombay-Santacruz Airport (BOM) – ÿ India
Phase of Flight: Take off
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Component Affected: Aircraft wing structureAircraft wing structure
Category: Accident
A Boeing 737-800, named ‘Nandi Devi’, experienced a catastrophic loss of control during a 3-engined takeoff, resulting in a significant impact with a large mound of earth. The aircraft rapidly accelerated off the runway to the right, causing significant damage to the wing structure and initiating a fire. The pilot?s actions, including applying full takeoff thrust to engines 2 and 3 before reaching a speed of 85 kt, contributed to the incident.A Boeing 737-800, named ‘Nandi Devi’, experienced a catastrophic loss of control during a 3-engined takeoff, resulting in a significant impact with a large mound of earth. The aircraft rapidly accelerated off the runway to the right, causing significant damage to the wing structure and initiating a fire. The pilot?s actions, including applying full takeoff thrust to engines 2 and 3 before reaching a speed of 85 kt, contributed to the incident.

Description

The Boeing, named “Nandi Devi”, ran off the side of the runway while performing a 3-engined takeoff (engine no. 4 out). The no. 3 and no. 4 engines struck a mound of 9 feet high, 188 feet from the runway and were torn off. The aircraft caught fire. During a three-engine practice takeoff the check pilot applied full takeoff thrust on no .2 and no. 3 engines. The aircraft accelerated on two engines and when a speed of 85 kt was attained the pilot experienced little difficulty in keeping directional control of the aircraft. Thereafter, the pilot applied thrust on engine no. 1. The aircraft then went off the runway to the right, no. 3 and 4 engines struck a mound 9 feet high located 188 feet from the edge of the runway and were torn off. The wing structure broke off progressively inward and an intense fire broke out. The check pilot admitted that he did not follow the normal procedure specified by Boeing for a 3 engine takeoff and that due to an incorrect reading of the airspeed, he tried to get airborne before reaching VR . Since the nose had been lifted prematurely, nose wheel steering could not be used and control of the aircraft using rudder alone could not be maintained when power on no . 1 engine was applied . PROBABLE CAUSE: 1) Accident due to loss of control during an attempted three engine takeoff. 2) The loss of control was due to the pilot not following the correct procedure as specified in the approved flight manual.

Primary Cause

Accident due to loss of control during an attempted three engine takeoff.Accident due to loss of control during an attempted three engine takeoff.

Share on:

Leave a Reply

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