Incident Overview

Date: Friday 4 March 2011
Aircraft Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-8-106
Owner/operator: Flugf‚lag ?slands – Air Iceland
Registration Number: TF-JMB
Location: Nuuk Airport (GOH) – ÿ Greenland
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 34
Component Affected: Right Main Landing Gear Strut (MLG) – Specifically, the fuse pin which provides structural integrity to the strut.Right Main Landing Gear Strut (MLG) – Specifically, the fuse pin which provides structural integrity to the strut.
Investigating Agency: HCLJHCLJ
Category: Accident
A DHC-8 passenger plane, TF-JMB, experienced a significant landing accident at Godth†b/Nuuk Airport (GOH) in Greenland. The aircraft sustained substantial damage during a flight from Reykjav¡k Domestic Airport (RKV) to Godth†b/Nuuk Airport (GOH) with an enroute stop at Kulusuk. The flight crew, navigating a runway with a specific offset, deviated to the right of the runway to land. As the aircraft approached, it experienced a hard landing due to a sheared fuse pin on the right main landing gear strut, resulting in a skid and subsequent landing in a rocky area to the right of the runway. The incident highlights a breakdown in CRM during critical final approach conditions caused by a divergence from the operator’s stabilized approach policy.A DHC-8 passenger plane, TF-JMB, experienced a significant landing accident at Godth†b/Nuuk Airport (GOH) in Greenland. The aircraft sustained substantial damage during a flight from Reykjav¡k Domestic Airport (RKV) to Godth†b/Nuuk Airport (GOH) with an enroute stop at Kulusuk. The flight crew, navigating a runway with a specific offset, deviated to the right of the runway to land. As the aircraft approached, it experienced a hard landing due to a sheared fuse pin on the right main landing gear strut, resulting in a skid and subsequent landing in a rocky area to the right of the runway. The incident highlights a breakdown in CRM during critical final approach conditions caused by a divergence from the operator’s stabilized approach policy.

Description

A DHC-8 passenger plane, registered TF-JMB, sustained substantial damage in a landing accident at Godth†b/Nuuk Airport (GOH), Greenland. All 31 passengers and three crew members survived. The airplane operated on a flight from Reykjav¡k Domestic Airport (RKV), Iceland to Godth†b/Nuuk Airport (GOH), Greenland with an enroute stop at Kulusuk. At 12:58, the flight crew of TF-JMB made radio contact with Nuuk AFIS and were informed that the runway in use was 23. The weather was reported to be: wind direction from 170ø at a speed of 24 kts with a maximum of 43 kts, the visibility was 4,000 meters in light snow, moderate blowing snow, a few clouds at 1,800 feet, broken clouds at 3,500 feet, the temperature was zero, the dew point was minus four Celsius and the QNH was 1014 hPa. The flight crew made visual contact with the runway and decided to deviate to the right (west) of the offset Localizer (LLZ) to runway 23. The flight continued towards the runway from a position right of the runway centerline. The flight crew was aiming to land the aircraft at a point between the runway threshold and the touchdown zone. As the aircraft approached runway 23 it was still in the final right turn over the landing threshold. The aircraft touched down on runway 23 between the runway threshold and the touchdown zone and to the left of the runway centerline. The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) data indicated that the aircraft was banking more than 11ø to the right as the aircraft touched down. At the same time the vertical acceleration was approximately 3.9 G and the rate of descent was greater than 13 feet per second. The right main landing gear (MLG) shock strut fuse pin sheared and the right MLG collapsed, the aircraft skidded down the runway and departed the runway to the right. The nose landing gear was separated from the aircraft as the aircraft was entering the unpaved surface. The aircraft came to rest in the rocky area to the right of runway 23. Adverse wind and turbulence conditions at BGGH led to flight crew task saturation on final approach and a breakdown of optimum cockpit resource management (CRM) resulting in a divergence from the operator’s stabilized approach policy. The divergence from the operator’s stabilized approach policy caused an unstabilized approach and a hard landing leading to an excess load of the right MLG at touchdown. According to its design, the right MLG fuse pin sheared as a result of stress

Source of Information

http://www.visir.is/islensk-vel-brotlenti-a-flugvellinum-i-nuuk—allir-farthegar-omeiddir/article/2011110309425, http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/DH8A,_Nuuk_Greenland,_2011_(RE_HF)http://www.visir.is/islensk-vel-brotlenti-a-flugvellinum-i-nuuk—allir-farthegar-omeiddir/article/2011110309425, http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/DH8A,_Nuuk_Greenland,_2011_(RE_HF)

Primary Cause

Stress fracture of the fuse pin in the right main landing gear strut, leading to a catastrophic failure during final approach and landing.Stress fracture of the fuse pin in the right main landing gear strut, leading to a catastrophic failure during final approach and landing.

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