Colombian investigators probing a Boeing 737-400 overrun accident at Leticia are focusing on an explosion in the main landing-gear during touchdown.
The aircraft (HK-5197) had been operated by AerCaribe, and had been arriving after a freight flight from Bogota on 28 January this year.
Investigation authority GRIAA says the aircraft landed on runway 21 – which was wet – just before 17:00.
As the aircraft reached taxiway A, which is located some 5,000ft from the runway 21 threshold, an "explosion" was heard by airport personnel, it states.
The aircraft used up the entire runway, travelling past the opposite threshold, and came to rest on rough ground.
None of the four occupants – the two pilots plus a technician and dispatcher – was injured, but the aircraft sustained underside damage from the ground contact, with debris ingestion and damage to the landing-gear.
The inquiry has not indicated how far down the 6,600ft runway the aircraft landed.
GRIAA has yet to reach conclusions over the circumstances of the accident, but says it is paying specific attention to possible malfunction of components, particularly the starboard main landing-gear and its outer wheel, and their effect on the dynamics of the landing.
Colombian investigators have also been probing another landing accident involving an AerCaribe 737-400 which occurred at Bogota around three months prior to the Leticia event.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
