ZS-NRM Forced Landing in Merebank After Takeoff Engine Failure

Incident Overview and Witness Observations During the takeoff roll, pilots in another airliner observed smoke pouring from the right engine of ZS-NRM. The witnessing crew was reluctant to advise an abort, fearing potential blame if the decision proved incorrect. Instead, they contacted the tower to ask whether ZS-NRM was aware of the smoke. By the time air traffic control responded, ZS-NRM had already become airborne, though its landing gear remained extended. Another aircraft at a holding point then informed ZS-NRM that its undercarriage was still down. The captain of ZS-NRM subsequently transmitted an instruction to the co-pilot to raise the gear, rather than using the intercom. During this transmission, a sound that may have been a warning was audible in the background. ## Forced Landing and Casualties After becoming airborne, ZS-NRM climbed to approximately 500 feet above mean sea level before losing altitude. The aircraft made a forced landing on a small field in the Merebank residential area, about 1.4 km from the end of the runway. During the forced landing, a member of the public was struck by the wing. The three crew members were seriously injured, and the captain later died from those injuries. ## Official Findings The official probable cause was an engine failure after takeoff followed by inappropriate crew response. This resulted in the loss of both lateral and directional control, misidentification of the failed engine, and the subsequent shutdown of the remaining serviceable engine. Contributing factors included the separation of the second-stage turbine seal plate rim, the failure of the captain and first officer to implement crew resource management procedures prescribed in the operator’s training manual, and the crew’s failure to follow the correct after-takeoff engine failure procedures prescribed in the aircraft’s flight manual.