Nigerian investigators have disclosed that the captain of an Air Peace Boeing 737-300, which lost its nose-wheels on landing at Lagos, had suddenly taken control of the aircraft just moments before touchdown.
Nigerian investigators have disclosed that the captain of an Air Peace Boeing 737-300, which lost its nose-wheels on landing at Lagos, had suddenly taken control of the aircraft just moments before touchdown.
The aircraft (5N-BQO) had been arriving from Port Harcourt in daylight and poor weather on 23 July.
Its first officer had been the designated flying pilot, says the Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau.
The crew was initially told to expect runway 18L at Lagos but, owing to low visibility, the flight was switched to runway 18R.
Tower controllers cleared the aircraft for landing, cautioning the crew that the runway surface was wet.
Although the aircraft was descending through intense rain at 500ft, with its windscreen wipers set to ‘high’, the crew had the airport in sight. The autopilot was disengaged at 100ft.
But the captain, during testimony to the inquiry, said she noticed the aircraft was not aligned with the centreline and took control of the aircraft during the height callouts at 50ft and 30ft.
She corrected the aircraft’s course back to the centreline but, according to the crew, visibility was lost as the jet touched down.
The inquiry says the pilots heard a “loud screeching noise” and “saw a lot of debris flying around”. After the aircraft came to a halt, just under 2,500m from the threshold, the crew informed tower controllers that they had suffered a landing-gear collapse and needed towing.
None of the 133 passengers and six crew members was injured.
But the 737 sustained serious damage to its nose-gear assembly, with both wheels breaking off during the landing. The left wheel was found in grass and the right wheel on the runway, both around 1,100m from the threshold. The aircraft also suffered scrapes to the underside of its right-hand CFM International CFM56 engine as a result of runway contact.
Investigators state that the runway surface was scarred and holed by the nose-gear strut for more than 1,500m, and electrical lines and lights were damaged.
The cockpit-voice recorder was found to be overwritten.
In an initial set of safety recommendations the investigation bureau states that Air Peace should ensure that its crews “strictly” adhere to go-around procedures if an approach destabilises below 1,000ft.
