Norwegian investigators have discovered that spoilers did not deploy on the British Aerospace 146-200 which overran the runway while attempting to land at
Four of the Atlantic Airways jet’s 16 occupants were killed when it careered off the slightly-damp runway and down steep terrain, before coming to rest and catching fire.
Wreckage analysis has also revealed evidence that the aircraft suffered ‘rubber reversal’ as it tried to stop – a phenomenon where heat generated by the tyre vaporises the surface moisture and reduces runway contact.
But while ‘rubber reversal’ causes deterioration of the tyre condition, there is no indication any of tyres punctured or deflated.
Flight RC670 had been arriving at Stord, in western
While there was nothing unusual about the airspeed, touchdown point, flap-setting, landing weight or air-brake, preliminary analysis shows that neither of the two independent spoiler systems deployed.
One system controls a single spoiler on each wing, the other controls a pair, giving six in all. These systems are normally activated by the crew on touchdown, but a spokesman for the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board says the inquiry has yet to determine the reason for the failure.
“The crew did not feel it was appropriate to make a go-around,” adds the spokesman. “But in a last attempt to stop the aircraft they tried to put it into a skid. It was actually skidding down the runway at one point.”
Investigators are to examine the aircraft’s maintenance record as part of the inquiry. Atlantic Airways is based in the Faroe Islands and the Faroese ministry of trade and industry says that the jet had undergone a C-check in
Source: FlightGlobal.com
