APS: NLR-ATSI: Turkish airlines accident again an undershoot
Dit is een origineel persbericht.
Amsterdam, 25 February 2009
Today, a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 landed short of runway 18R of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The cause of the accident is yet unknown. It is clear however, that this is a so-called undershoot accident, according to NLR-Air Transport Safety Institute (NLR-ATSI).
From historical data it is known that undershoots usually are the result of one of three main causes: unstable approaches (e.g. too fast or too high/low), system/engine failure or
unfavourable wind conditions near the runway.
Data from the safety database of NLR-ATSI show that in the period between 2003 and 2007, a total of 45 accidents related to undershoots/overshoots has been reported in commercial aviation worldwide (on average 9 each year or once in 3.9 million flights). Comparison with the preceding 5-year period shows a rise of 45% in accidents related to undershoots/overshoots. In 73% of the undershoot/overshoot accidents the aircraft touched down short of the runway. In the other accidents the aircraft overran the runway or ran off the side of the runway due to an overshoot, or landed beside the runway. All accidents caused damage to the aircraft and in 22% passengers, crew, or people on the ground were injured. 9% of the injuries had fatal consequences.
In the last 20 years, a total number of 115 runway undershoot accidents have been reported for passenger flights.
The most recent accident of this airline:
In the last 20 years, Turkish Airlines has suffered 11 accidents, including the latest accident at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The previous accident of Turkish Airlines occurred on August 21st, 2005 with an Airbus 340 at Don Muang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand. During landing, the A340 was damaged when its tail struck the runway.
The worst accident of Turkish Airlines during the last 20 years occurred with a BAE SYSTEMS RJ Avroliner on January 8th, 2003. The aircraft undershot during the final stage of an approach to Diyarbakir, impacting the ground slightly to the side of the extended centreline of the runway, about 500m short of the runway threshold and 100ft below the airfield elevation. The aircraft broke up during the crash sequence and was destroyed by fire after eventually coming to rest. While this was also an undershoot accident, the circumstances were very different (darkness and poor visibility) from those of the accident today. The aircraft was operating a scheduled service (TK634) from Istanbul. Only 5 of the 80 persons on board survived the accident.
The most recent accident in this category:
A well-known case of an undershoot occurred on January 17th, 2008 at London Heathrow. During the approach of a Boeing 777 to the airport, both engines lost power and the aircraft landed short of the runway. The landing gear separated and the aircraft came to rest at the threshold of the runway. All 152 occupants evacuated safely, but the aircraft was substantially damaged.
AIRLINE / FLEET INFO
Turkish Airlines operates a fleet of Airbus (A310, A319, A320, A321 and A340) and Boeing (737-400, 737-800 and 777-300) aircraft. Turkish Airlines operates 49 aircraft of the type of the accident aircraft (Boeing 737-800). The accident aircraft was built in 2002 and is equipped with CFM56 engines.