Incident Overview
On 25 November 2010 at 2052 UTC, a Boeing 737-8K5 (registration G-FDZR) operating a scheduled passenger flight from Arrecife, Lanzarote to Newcastle Airport experienced a runway excursion during landing rollout. The aircraft stopped with its nose wheel 10 ft beyond the marked runway end, but remained on paved surfaces. There were no injuries to the 8 crew or 189 passengers, and the aircraft sustained no damage.
Flight History
During the outbound sector, the pilots had anticipated snow showers at the estimated arrival time and carried an additional 1,100 kg of fuel to allow diversion to Edinburgh if needed. Using the C-Land laptop application, they calculated landing performance and determined that a wet runway with a slight tailwind would be acceptable. They also decided that contamination exceeding 3 mm would be unacceptable.
On approach, the crew received runway inspection reports indicating 100% contamination with 3-4 mm of snow, prompting a go-around. After airborne holding, at 2040 hrs ATC reported that the runway had been swept and now had 2 mm of wet snow. The crew updated their landing calculation for a wet runway and conducted a second ILS approach.
Landing Sequence
The co-pilot was the pilot flying. The aircraft touched down approximately 150 m beyond the ideal touchdown point, abeam Taxiway F. After touchdown, the co-pilot selected full reverse thrust, and autobrake was active. At 97 kt groundspeed, he deselected autobrake and selected idle reverse, which was achieved by 60 kt. Manual braking was applied, with the co-pilot reporting that he felt the anti-skid system operating. The commander initially assessed deceleration as normal, but after annunciating 60 kt, became concerned about the remaining runway length. He made a non-standard “50 kt” call, applied manual braking, and took control. The aircraft remained close to the centreline throughout the landing run and stopped with its nose beyond the red runway end lights.
Post-incident Observations
After shutdown, the pilots disembarked passengers via steps and transport. Both pilots walked the runway and assessed the surface as very icy. The Airport Operations Unit (AOU) had visually inspected the runway after sweeping and reported 2 mm of wet snow in patches. The Airport Fire and Rescue Services watch manager noted that the black runway surface was clearly visible and that his vehicle experienced no grip issues.
Recorded Data
Flight data recorder information showed a touchdown speed of 140 kt CAS (approximately 147 kt groundspeed). Upon touchdown, ground spoilers deployed, autobrake and reverse thrust activated. Initial deceleration ranged 0.26 to 0.21 g. At 97 kt groundspeed, reverse was reduced to idle and autobrake disengaged. Manual braking was then applied, initially significantly more on the right main landing gear brakes (2,000-3,000 psi) than the left (500 psi). After autobrake disengagement, deceleration averaged 0.12 g over the final 30 seconds, with full manual braking not increasing deceleration until the final two seconds (0.34 g peak).
Airport Information
Runway 07 at Newcastle has a landing distance available of 2,209 m and a width of 45 m. The runway had been swept shortly before the incident and visually assessed as having 2 mm of wet snow. A standard depth gauge was not used; visual assessment was performed by the AOU operative from a vehicle.
The AAIB made two Safety Recommendations (not detailed in this article).