Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8460
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D-ALCQ seen at Bogota in February 2010 | |
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 27 July 2010 |
| Summary | Runway overshoot, spatial disorientation, ATC error, post-crash fire |
| Site | King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 2 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 2 (all) |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas MD-11 |
| Operator | Lufthansa Cargo |
| Registration | D-ALCQ |
| Flight origin | Frankfurt International Airport |
| 1st stopover | King Khalid International Airport |
| 2nd stopover | Sharjah Airport, United Arab Emirates |
| Destination | Hong Kong International Airport |
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Lufthansa Cargo Flight 8460 was an international cargo flight, operated by a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, that, on 27 July 2010 (15 Sha'aban 1431 H), crashed upon landing at King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1]
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the accident was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 registered D-ALCQ,[2] msn 48431, line number 534. The aircraft was delivered to Alitalia in 1993 as I-DUPB and converted to a cargo aircraft in 2004.[3] At the time of the accident, D-ALCQ had completed 10,075 cycles and accumulated 73,200 hours flying time.[4]
Incident
Flight 8460 was an international scheduled cargo flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Hong Kong via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.[3]
The flight to from Frankfurt to Riyadh was uneventful, and weather conditions at Riyadh were good, with sufficient visibility.[2][5]
On arrival in Riyadh the plane crash-landed and broke up on the runway. Both the captain and first officer were able to evacuate the plane using the emergency slide, but were injured in the crash landing. After the crash, a fire consumed the midsection of the aircraft before it was brought under control by the airport emergency services.[5][6]
Investigation
The General Authority of Civil Aviation opened an investigation into the accident. The final report found that the cause of the accident was that the airplane touched down too hard, which caused it to bounce on the runway. The crew did not recognize the bounce and reacted in a way the made the plane bounce even harder. The third and final touchdown was so hard that the aft fuselage ruptured and the plane crashed.[5][6]
Before this accident, there were 29 other bounced or severe hard landings with MD-11 aircraft that caused substantial damage.[5] A similar accident had occurred on FedEx Express Flight 80 in the previous year, were both crew members were killed in a bounced landing.
It was known that detecting a bounced landing in a MD-11 was hard to recognize.[5] The final report made several recommendations to improve training, procedures and flight instruments to help crews to deal with bounced landings.[5]
References
- ↑ "Lufthansa MD-11 Crash Lands at Riyadh". AirlineIndustryReview.com. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- 1 2 Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Lufthansa MD11 at Riyadh on Jul 27th 2010, cargo fire, broke up on landing". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- 1 2 Flyer, K. "Lufthansa Cargo MD-11 Crash Lands at Riyadh ( with Photos, Aircraft's History and Flight History )". Airline Industry Review. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ↑ "Lufthansa Cargo plane accident in Riyadh, 27 JUL 4.15 p. m. LT FRA". Lufthansa Cargo. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Final Accident Report" (PDF). Bundestelle für Fluguntersuchung. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- 1 2 "Accident Description". Aviation Safety Net. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
External links
- Report with photographs of the accident aircraft (in Arabic)
- Final report (Archive) – General Authority of Civil Aviation
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Coordinates: 24°57′28″N 46°51′56″E / 24.9578°N 46.8656°E