Accident Airbus A330-322 D-AERK,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 321861
 
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Date:Thursday 4 October 2007
Time:10:50
Type:Silhouette image of generic A333 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Airbus A330-322
Owner/operator:LTU
Registration: D-AERK
MSN: 120
Year of manufacture:1996
Total airframe hrs:45156 hours
Engine model:Pratt & Whitney PW4168
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 125
Aircraft damage: Substantial, repaired
Category:Accident
Location:over Düsseldorf-Dormagen -   Germany
Phase: En route
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS/EDDL)
Destination airport:Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG/LGTS)
Investigating agency: BFU
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
An Airbus A330-322 passenger plane, D-AERK, sustained substantial damage when it lost engine cowlings after takeoff from Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS).
The airplane landed safely back at Düsseldorf and no one was injured.
The A330 had departed Düsseldorf on a flight to Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG), Greece. It was climbing through FL105 when the crew heard a loud bang, followed by some unusual noises. The crew then checked the locking of the doors and hatches but found no problems. Since no errors were detected by the aircraft monitoring system (ECAM) the flight continued. Shortly afterwards a cabin crew member reported the loss of a large part of the engine cowling of the left engine.
The crew then decided to cancel the flight and return to Düsseldorf. The crew did not declare an emergency. The aircraft landed without further problems in Düsseldorf. At the parking position fuel was seen leaking from the left wing because of hole in the underside of the wing. Further damage was caused to the belly fairing and underlying structure and hydraulics.

CONCLUSIONS:
The accident was due to the fact that the front two or all three of the cowling latches were not properly closed. Contributing to the accident, was that the warning color on the handles was worn.
There was no evidence of a structural failure of the composite cladding.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: BFU
Report number: BFU 1X002-07
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 5 years and 2 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:


Revision history:

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