Runway excursion Accident Airbus A320-231 EY-623,

Date:	Sunday 2 February 2014
Time:	07:36
Type:	Airbus A320-231
Owner/operator:	East Air
Registration:	EY-623
MSN:	428
Year of manufacture:	1994
Total airframe hrs:	54604 hours
Cycles:	23974 flights
Engine model:	IAE V2500-A1
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 194
Aircraft damage:	Substantial, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Kulob Airport (TJU) - Tajikistan
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Moskva-Domodedovo Airport (DME/UUDD)
Destination airport:	Kulob Airport (TJU/UTDK)
Investigating agency:	MAK
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
An Airbus A320-231, registration EY-623, sustained substantial damage in a landing accident at Kulob Airport (TJU), Tajikistan.
The aircraft operated as East Air flight ETJ704 from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport to Kulob.
Weather at Kulob was poor due to heavy snowfall. The airport's single runway, 01/19 (3000 m long, 45 m wide), was cleared of snow on the north side. The south side, from the threshold to the middle of the runway, was partly cleared with path of 21 m wide.
On both sides of the path a 50-95 cm high snow berm was present.
During final approach to runway 01 the pilot in command disconnected the autopilot and switched to manual control of the airplane.
The plane landed on runway 01 at a distance of 230 m from the runway threshold, at a speed of 255 km/h. The wheels of the right hand main gear crossed the border the runway at a distance of about 520 m from the threshold and the aircraft continued along the side of the runway. The wheels left main landing gear remained on the runway. At a distance of 710 m from the threshold both engines quit due to ingress of large amounts of snow. The nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid until it stopped 1190 m from the beginning of the runway. There was no fire and none of the occupants were injured.

CONCLUSION (translation from Russian):
The cause of the accident with the aircraft A320-231 EY-623 was the aircraft collision with a snow berm while landing on an unprepared runway, which was cleared by a width of about 22m (runway width being 45m), and where there were snow berms at a height of 50-95cm along the borders. The aircraft's right main gear contacted a snow berm, which led to the destruction of the nose landing gear and self-termination of engines and the aircraft moving off the runway to the right.
The accident was the result of a combination of the following factors:
- decision by the flight director to receive an aircraft on an unprepared runway;
- the unreadiness of the runway at the time of arrival of the aircraft and the failure to make a corresponding entry in the "Journal of the state of the airfield" with the runway measures.

METAR:

02:00 UTC / 07:00 local time:
UTDK 020200Z 26003MPS 0800 SN FZFG VV003 M09/M10 Q1031 0129//60 RMK QBB100 QFE715/0953

Accident investigation: