A Boeing 707-320C freighter operated by Nigerian airline IAT Cargo overran at Belgium's Ostend airport on 14 November during an emergency landing after one its four engines separated during a flight.
The 31-year-old aircraft (5N-VRG) was flying from Ostend to Lagos, Nigeria, with 35t of cargo and five crew. The incident began about 20min after take-off, during the early hours of 14 November, when the 707 experienced severe turbulence, causing its number 3 Pratt & Whitney JT3D engine to separate.
Although the crew reacted to the engine failure by running through the shut-down procedure , they did not realise that the engine had fallen off. With the aircraft losing hydraulic pressure, the crew decided to divert back to Ostend.
An approach was carried out with undercarriage locked down and flaps fully deployed. With the brakes inoperable and the thrust reverse applied on two engines only, the aircraft ran off the runway and ground looped, ripping off all its landing gear.
The five crew escaped unhurt but it was not until they had left the aircraft that they realised one engine was missing. The 707 is damaged beyond economic repair.
The engine was later found in a wood near Sivry, in the Ardennes, and has now been taken to Brussels for inspection by the Belgian aviation administration flight safety department.
A similar incident involving a Nigerian-operated 707-320 occurred in March 1992, when both engines on the starboard wing separated during severe turbulence while it was en route from Luxembourg to Kano. The aircraft made a successful emergency landing at Istres air force base.
Source: Flight International
