Final report issued for Kalitta Air Boeing 747 freighter accident at Brussels

by B. N. Sullivan

The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of Belgium's Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport agency has released its final report on the 2008 Kalitta Air freighter accident at Brussels, Belgium. On May 25, 2008, the Boeing 747-200 aircraft (registration N704CK) overran runway 20 of Brussels Zaventem Airport (EBBR) after a rejected takeoff. The aircraft came to a stop 300 meters beyond the end of the runway, where it broke into three parts. The four crew members and one passenger suffered minor injuries.

The accident aircraft was departing Brussels for Bahrain at the time of the accident. A bird, later identified as a European kestrel, was ingested by the number three engine during the takeoff roll. According to the AAIU report, the bird strike caused "a momentary loss of power, accompanied by a loud bang, heard by the crew and external witnesses, and by flames, seen from the control tower."

The bang and the loss of power occurred four seconds after the V1 speed call-out.

Two seconds after the bang, all four engines were brought back to idle, and braking action was initiated. The aircraft reached a first embankment, dropping from a height of 4 m, and broke in three parts. The aircraft came to a stop just above the top of the railroad embankment.

There was no post crash fire.

Although the captain stated he applied maximum braking power during the stop run, the thrust reversers were not deployed. The captain stated he applied speed brakes, however "the speed brake lever was found in the retract position in the cockpit, while the speed brakes themselves seemed in a stowed / retract position."

The AAIU has determined that this accident "was caused by the decision to Reject the Take-Off 12 knots after passing V1 speed."

The report lists the following contributing factors:

• Engine Nr 3 experienced a bird strike, causing it to stall. This phenomenon was accompanied by a loud bang, noticed by the crew.
• The aircraft line up at the B1 intersection although the take-off parameters were computed with the full length of the runway.
• The situational awareness of the crew,
• Less than maximum use of deceleration devices.
• Although the RESA [runway end safety area] conforms to the minimum ICAO requirement, it does not conform to the ICAO recommendation for length.

Several safety recommendations are included in the report, including this one regarding Kalitta’s training program:

We recommend to modify the training program of the flight crew (initial and recurrent), and related documentation, to highlight the risks involved in rejecting TO around V1, as well as the importance of respecting procedures.

The training program of Kalitta was amended and an in-house DVD training video was developed, that demonstrates proper and improper reject procedures that is modeled after rwy 20 in BRU. The content of the DVD was reviewed by both Boeing and FAA.

This revised training program is currently in place.

The AAIU Final report, in English, is available for download here: Ref. AAIU-2008-13, July 10, 2009 (66-page 'PDF'file)

Alternate source for the same document.

[Photo Source]

Kalitta Air crash may be associated with engine fire

Aviation news website FlightGlobal.com is reporting today that the rejected take-off of a Kalitta Air Boeing 747 freighter that overran a runway and broke up at Brussels several days ago may have been associated with an engine fire. The FlightGlobal.com article says that the crew "rejected the take-off at about the same time as air traffic controllers observed a fire in one of the aircraft’s two right-hand engines."

Quoting "sources familiar with testimony to the investigation," FlightGlobal.com reports that air traffic controllers monitoring the takeoff noticed flames from one of the right hand engines at around the same time that the crew notified ATC that they were rejecting takeoff. The article adds that it is unclear which one of the engines was affected.

FlightGlobal.com also reports:

Tyre marks at the end of the runway and wheel tracks across the grass, extending to the wreckage site, suggest the aircraft was deviating to the right of the centreline as it overran. Brussels Airport has three runways.

Its two parallels are longer than the accident runway, but the source states that runway 20 was always the “planned runway” for the 25 May flight.

The aircraft had been bound for Bahrain with 76t of cargo, and the source points out that runway 20 – which has a length of 2,984m (9,790ft) – was more than adequate for the type, particularly given its relatively light load.

Here is the link to the entire article: Engine fire alert preceded Kalitta 747F rejected take-off - FlightGlobal.com

Kalitta Air Boeing 747 freighter crash at Brussels

Earlier today, May 25, 2008, a Boeing 747-209F aircraft (registration number N704CK) operated by Michigan-based cargo carrier Kalitta Air, overran a runway at Brussels Zaventem Airport (EBBR) after what witnesses said appeared to be a rejected takeoff. The freighter's fuselage broke apart (see video below), but there was no fire. The five crew members evacuated the aircraft using an emergency slide. None of the crew members was injured seriously, and there were no injuries reported on the ground.

According to various news reports, Kalitta Air Flight K4-207 was departing Brussels Zaventem for Bahrain around noon local time when the accident occurred. Witnesses reported hearing a loud bang, after which the aircraft overran the end of runway 02. It was not clear whether the aircraft had completed its takeoff roll and begun to rotate prior to the overrun.

The aircraft came to rest a just inside the airfield's perimeter fence, several hundred meters beyond the threshold of the runway. The fuselage split open just aft of the wings, and photos taken at the scene appear to show another break just forward of the empennage, but this has not been officially confirmed.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has dispatched at team to assist the Belgian government in its investigation of this accident. The NTSB announced:

NTSB investigator Joe Sedor has been designated as the U.S. Accredited Representative, and he will be accompanied by technical specialist in the areas of flight operations, aircraft systems, structures, and powerplants. The U.S. team will also include technical advisors from the FAA, Boeing, and Pratt & Whitney.

The Belgian government is leading the investigation and will release all information on its progress.

Updated information about today's accident will be posted here on Aircrew Buzz as it becomes available. [Links to updates are at the end of this post, after the video.]

A collection of still photos of the Kalitta Air crash at Zaventem Airport can be found on the Belgian website LeSoir.be. Video footage of the aftermath of the accident, from LiveLeak.com:



(If the video does not play or display properly above, click here to view it on LiveLeak.com)

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Related:

• Kalitta Air crash may be associated with engine fire, AircrewBuzz.com, May 29, 2008
• Final report issued for Kalitta Air Boeing 747 freighter accident at Brussels, AircrewBuzz.com, July 11, 2009