Incident Overview
Description
The Ilyushin cargo plane operated on a flight from Dubai to Colombo. The airplane was operated by Phoenix Aviation and chartered by ExpoAir. Using GPS and DME the airplane approached Colombo. The approach controller cleared flight 3002 to descend to FL150. After reaching that altitude the navigator passed on the QNH and QFE values for Colombo: 1009 mb and 756 mm Hg. The altimeters were updated with this information. However, the copilot erroneously programmed 765 mm Hg into the altimeter. After turning left onto finals the aircraft, 14 km from the runway, descended to an altitude above sea level of 60 meters. The airplane descended slowly until the landing gear contacted the surface of the sea at a distance of 10,7 km short of runway 04. Climb power was applied and the navigator reported that they were going around: “PHG 3-0-0-2 go around, again I call you established localizer”. At a height of 60-90 meters however, the captain decided to continue the approach. Assuming the undercarriage had been substantially damaged, he decided to carry out a belly landing on the side of the runway. Touchdown was accomplished 50 meters to the right of the runway and 450 meters passed the threshold. The aircraft skidded and came to rest 2230 meters further on. The Ilyushin was away and parked in a corner of the airport, where it was still noted in May 2004.
Primary Cause
Incorrect altimeter reading and subsequent descent.Incorrect altimeter reading and subsequent descent.Share on:
