Most runway overruns, according to Flight International’s annual air transport safety reviews, are survivable even when the aircraft are written off. But obstacles or terrain in the overrun area have caused some incidents to be fatal:
- - 26 June 1978 Toronto Pearson airport: Air Canada McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30; total on board 107; fatalities two. The crew aborted take-off on runway 24L because of a gear-unsafe warning, and overran into a ravine.
- 8 October 1979 Athens Athinai airport, Greece: Swissair McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62; total on board 154; fatalities 14. The aircraft touched down long and fast on a wet runway and overran the end, breaking up and catching fire.
- 13 September 1982 Malaga airport, Spain: Spantax McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30; total on board 381; fatalities 50. Aborted above rotate speed when the crew felt a strong vibration. The aircraft ran over a highway, came to rest against a railway embankment and caught fire.
- 14 September 1993 Warsaw airport, Poland: Lufthansa Airbus A320; total on board 70; fatalities two. The aircraft landed in heavy rain with a tailwind on runway 11, landed long and the wheels did not spin up because of aquaplaning, delaying the availability of spoilers and thrust reversers. The aircraft overran the runway, hit an embankment and a navigation aid aerial. A fire in a wing burned into the cabin.
Source: Flight International
