Accident Overview
On 8 September 2013, at 16:26 UTC, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited flight TG 679, an Airbus A330-321 aircraft registered as HS-TEF, was landing on runway 19L at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand. The flight had departed from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China, at 13:25 UTC with 12 crew members and 288 passengers, totaling 302 persons on board.
After touchdown, approximately 440 metres from the runway threshold, the two main landing gears and the nose landing gear made contact with the runway. While rolling, after about 760 metres, the right main landing gear (RH MLG) bogie beam fractured. The aircraft then tilted to the right and departed the right side of the runway. The pilot attempted to maintain directional control but the aircraft continued veering right. The damaged bogie beam scraped the runway surface, creating two deep grooves 365 metres in length. The aircraft exited the runway between taxiways B5 and B8, traversed the runway strip for about 100 metres, and came to a stop. Air traffic control observed sparks from the aircraft and alerted rescue services.
After the aircraft stopped, cockpit indications showed a right engine fire warning. The crew initiated the on-ground emergency evacuation procedure, and the pilot and co-pilot were among the last to exit. Rescue and fire fighting personnel arrived, extinguished the fire, and assisted in evacuating all occupants to the terminal.
Injuries
According to the injury report, 15 passengers sustained minor injuries. All other occupants (14 crew and 273 passengers) were uninjured. No fatalities or serious injuries were recorded.
Damage to Aircraft
The aircraft was destroyed. The left and right engines were both destroyed. Components including the right engine pylon and right wing structure sustained damage. The RH MLG bogie beam fractured into three pieces at the forward section in front of the pivot pin. The bogie beam stop pad remained attached to the bracket; one side of its bolt was still connected while the other side had sheared. The bogie beam pivot pin was undamaged. The nose landing gear doors were also damaged.
Other Damage
Runway 19L sustained two grooves, 5–15 centimetres deep, starting 440 metres from the threshold and diverging to the right edge for 365 metres. The soft ground of the right runway strip showed wheel marks and grooves from the damaged bogie beam over a distance of about 100 metres. One runway edge light, one taxiway edge light, one rapid exit taxiway indicator light, one exit sign to taxiway B8, and one foreign object detector were damaged.
Probable Cause
The cause of the accident was the failure of the right main landing gear bogie beam due to stress corrosion cracking that originated from the internal surface of the bogie beam.