What happened
On the morning of the accident, Tarom flight 3लपुर was operating a scheduled passenger flight from Bucharest Otopeni Airport to Brussels. The aircraft, an Airbus A310, was carrying 49 passengers and 11 crew members. Following de-icing procedures, the flight departed from runway 08R at 09:04 local time, climbing via the Strejnic VOR/DME beacon.
Shortly after takeoff, while the aircraft was climbing through approximately 1,700 feet, a progressive thrust asymmetry began to develop between the two engines. As the aircraft climbed, the thrust from the left engine steadily decreased. By the time the plane reached 3,300 feet, the crew had retracted the flaps, but the slats remained extended. During this period, the imbalance between the engines continued to grow, and the aircraft's flight path became increasingly unstable.
As the aircraft passed through 4,200 feet, the flight crew experienced significant difficulties maintaining control. At 09:08:08, an unusual noise was recorded as the bank angle increased to 28 degrees. The first officer attempted to engage the autopilot to stabilize the flight, but the aircraft entered a steep descent with a 45-degree bank angle. Following a period of autopilot disengagement and a level 3 aural warning, the aircraft entered a high-speed dive. The nose-down pitch angle increased rapidly to over 60 degrees. The aircraft eventually impacted the ground at a 50-degree nose-down attitude with both engines at idle power. The crash resulted in 60 fatalities.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was a progressive engine thrust asymmetry involving a continuous reduction in thrust from the left engine.
- The imbalance between the engines reached a critical level that prevented the crew from maintaining stable flight parameters.
- The aircraft entered an uncontrollable dive following the failure of the engines to provide symmetric thrust.