ASN Aircraft accident Avro RJ100 G-BXAR London City Airport (LCY)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Friday 13 February 2009
Time:19:40
Type:Silhouette image of generic RJ1H model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Avro RJ100
Operator:BA CityFlyer
Registration: G-BXAR
MSN: E3298
First flight: 1997
Engines: 4 Lycoming LF507-1F
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 67
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 72
Aircraft damage: Damaged beyond repair
Location:London City Airport (LCY) (   United Kingdom)
Phase: Landing (LDG)
Nature:International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport (AMS/EHAM), Netherlands
Destination airport:London City Airport (LCY/EGLC), United Kingdom
Flightnumber:8456
Narrative:
A BA CityFlyer Avro RJ100 was substantially damaged during a landing accident at London City Airport (LCY). The 71 occupants evacuated the aircraft using emergency slides.
The nose landing gear of flight BA8456 collapsed after touchdown at London City Airport (LCY) runway 28.
BBC News reported on May 25, 2009 that British Airways had written off the airplane.

Probable Cause:

CONCLUSIONS:
Following a normal touchdown, the fracture of the nose landing gear main fitting allowed the nose gear to collapse rearwards and penetrate the lower fuselage, causing significant damage to the equipment bay and the battery to become disconnected. The penetration of the fuselage allowed smoke and fumes produced by the consequent release of hydraulic fluid to enter the cockpit and passenger cabin. With the battery disconnected and after the engines were shut down, all power to the aircraft PA systems was lost and the remote cockpit door release mechanism became inoperative. No pre-accident defects were identified with the manual cockpit door release mechanism or the PA system.
The nose landing gear main fitting failed following the formation of multiple fatigue cracks within the upper section of the inner bore, originating at the base of machining grooves in the bore surface. These had formed because the improved surface finish, introduced by SB 146-32-150, had not been properly embodied at previous overhaul by Messier Services Inc, despite their overhaul records showing its incorporation. The operator had been in full compliance with the Service Bulletin relating to regular inspection of the main fitting, and embodiment of SB 146-32-150 at overhaul removed the requirement for these inspections by the operator.

Classification:
Landing gear collapse
Runway mishap

Sources:
» BA jobs go after plane write-off (BBC, 25 May 2009)
» BA jet in airport 'hard landing' (BBC, 14 February 2009)


Follow-up / safety actions
BAE Systems Alert Service Bulletin A32-180, issued on 25 February 2009, reintroduced the repetitive in-service inspection requirements of Messier Dowty SB 146-32-149 on nose landing gear main fittings that had SB 146-32-150 embodiment claimed by Messier Services Inc. EASA Airworthiness Directive 2009-043-E, also issued in February 2009, mandated this Service Bulletin.

Messier Dowty published Service Bulletin SB 146-32-174 on 26 August 2009, which introduced an improved ultrasonic inspection technique and a shorter re-inspection interval for the affected nose landing gear main fittings, which superseded SB 146-32-149.

BAE Systems subsequently re-issued Alert Service Bulletin A32-180 (Revision 1), which introduced Messier Dowty SB 146-32-174 and cancelled the requirements of Messier Dowty SB 146-32-149.

Messier Dowty issued Service Bulletin SB 146-32 173 on 30 September 2009, which required borescope inspection of nose landing gear main fittings overhauled by Messier Services, Sterling, Virginia, to verify the proper incorporation of Messier Dowty SB 146-32-150.

EASA Airworthiness Directive 2009-0197-E, published on 7 September 2009, mandated the requirements of BAE Systems Alert Service Bulletin A32-180 Revision 1, and Messier.

EASA issued 3 Emergency Airworthiness Directives

Show all...

Photos

photo of Avro-RJ100-G-BXAR
accident date: 13-02-2009
type: Avro RJ100
registration: G-BXAR
photo of Avro-RJ100-G-BXAR
accident date: 13-02-2009
type: Avro RJ100
registration: G-BXAR
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport to London City Airport as the crow flies is 333 km (208 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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