Incident Summary
On 27 July 2016, at approximately 21:12 UTC, an ATR72-600 aircraft, registration CN-COH, experienced a serious incident at Benslimane Airport (GMMB), Morocco. The aircraft was operated by RAM Express on a technical ferry flight from Benslimane to Casablanca/Mohammed V. The crew consisted of two pilots; no passengers were on board. No injuries were reported.
Sequence of Events
The crew performed two rejected takeoffs (RTO) due to speed indication problems. During the first takeoff attempt on runway 32, speed indication anomalies occurred, leading to an uncommanded lift-off, after which the captain decided to abort. The aircraft taxied back for a second attempt on runway 14. During the second takeoff, an IAS DISAGREE warning appeared, indicating a speed difference between the captain's and first officer's instruments, prompting a voluntary abort. After the second RTO, while taxiing on the taxiway, the air traffic controller alerted the crew to a fire on the right engine. The crew executed the engine fire procedure and evacuated the aircraft. The airport fire service extinguished the fire, which was found to originate from the brake unit and spread to the right main landing gear and lower right wing structure.
Damage
The fire caused significant damage to the right main landing gear, including the wheel rim (tire completely burned) and brake assembly. The upper structure near the landing gear fairing and adjacent windows were thermally degraded. The left landing gear and other areas were unaffected.
Aircraft and Crew Information
The aircraft, an ATR72-600 (serial number 1034), was owned by Royal Air Maroc and had accumulated 7,599 cycles at the time of the incident. It had recently undergone a Check A maintenance at Benslimane. Both pilots held valid licenses and type ratings on the ATR72-600; the captain had 14,000 total flight hours, including 6,500 on type, and the first officer had 4,776 total hours, with 1,286 on type.