Japanese investigators believe a Korean Air Boeing 737-900 suffered a tail-strike at Osaka's Kansai airport as it pitched up during a go-around, after the aircraft bounced on landing. The aircraft (HL7725) had conducted its approach to runway 06L in a tailwind and the captain, who was flying, opted to reduce thrust to idle earlier than usual in order to avoid a long touchdown. But as the aircraft entered the flare at 30ft, with 2° nose-up attitude, the first officer felt the rate of descent was excessive. He intervened – without making any call-out – by pulling the control column aft. The aircraft pitch increased to 3.5° as it touched down with an impact of 1.87g. Its main landing-gear weight-on-wheels switches activated and the spoilers began to deploy. The aircraft made runway contact a second time, with a 1.66g impact, and flight-data recorder information shows the aircraft's pitch then increased from about 7° to some 10° – above the 8.2° threshold for a tail-strike. "It is highly probable that the lower aft fuselage of the aircraft was damaged [by] contacting the runway because its pitch angle became too high," says the Japan Transport Safety Board, in its probe into the event on 9 April last year. None of the 99 occupants, which included eight crew members, was injured but the aircraft sustained cracks and scratch marks to its aft fuselage underside over a length of 2m, and its tail-skid was broken.

Source: FlightGlobal

Both engines on a Ural Airlines Airbus A321 failed before the aircraft conducted a forced landing in a field outside Moscow.
The Russian carrier says the aircraft lost power in both engines following a severe bird-strike as it departed Moscow Zhukovsky for Simferopol early on 15 August. It came to rest in a field about 5km from the far end of Zhukovsky's runway 12. "Several people sought medical attention," it says, but states that there were no fatalities. A formal commission is being convened to probe the accident. Ural Airlines is crediting the "professionalism" and "co-ordinated actions" of the crew in safely bringing down and evacuating the aircraft. It says the captain, who has been with the operator since about 2013, had logged more than 3,000h while the first officer, employed by the carrier only last year, had some 600h. The aircraft has suffered "significant" damage, it adds. Five cabin crew were on board, the airline indicates. It puts the total number of passengers on board at 224. Federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia says the aircraft struck a flock of gulls, and that the aircraft came down between inner and outer marker beacons for the airport's landing system. "The landing was carried out with the undercarriage retracted," it adds. "Before the landing, the crew shut down the engines." Slides were deployed from all eight exits of the A321.


Source: FlightGlobal

Irish investigators have indicated that an undercarriage fire was behind the aborted take-off by a Boeing 767-300 at Shannon. The incident, involving an Omni Air International aircraft, occurred at about 06:15 and closed the main runway 06/24. Shannon tower transmissions reveal that a controller asked the crew whether the aircraft was emitting smoke. "Is that the brakes, is it?" he queried, referring to the left-hand undercarriage of the jet. The crew responded by stating that the aircraft was stopping on the runway, and requesting firefighting vehicles and a tug. Controllers subsequently added that a fire was starting on the left-hand main bogie, to which the crew replied that they would evacuate the aircraft from the right side. The radio communications were archived by LiveATC. Although the tower controller had originally expected only a few minutes' delay while the aircraft was towed off the runway, the airport operator subsequently kept the runway shut until the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit permitted the jet's removal.

Source: FlightGlobal