What happened
On the scheduled flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Santiago, via Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, an Air France Boeing 747-200 experienced a serious incident upon arrival at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport. After landing on runway 14 approximately 400 meters from the threshold, the crew deployed the thrust reversers. During this process, the aircraft drifted from the runway centerline and exited the right side of the pavement roughly 2,000 meters from the threshold.
The aircraft traveled across a grass area for 765 meters before encountering a drainage ditch and a concrete step on the load apron. The impact caused the landing gear to collapse backward, resulting in the complete separation of the left wing gear. As the plane spun for another 275 meters on the apron, the left outboard wing struck an illumination stand. During the excursion, engines 2, 3, and 4 continued to operate at maximum reverse thrust, while engine number one surged to a high level of forward thrust. Following the shutdown of the engines, passengers evacuated via three escape slides on the left side of the aircraft. Airport emergency services responded to a fire that ignited near engines 2 and 3.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified several contributing factors involving mechanical failure and human performance. The primary cause was the breakage of the engine number one throttle cable, which prevented the crew from controlling engine power. This failure was linked to vibrations caused by a hydraulic pump ripple in the CF6-50E engine, which induced oscillations in the pulley system.
Technical deficiencies were also noted regarding maintenance and hardware:
- An unauthorized aluminum pulley was used instead of the manufacturer-recommended phenolic version, leading to the creation of abrasive alumina particles.
- Improper maintenance involving an undersized screw prevented the secure fixation of the pulley bracket, exacerbating component wear.
Human factors and procedural gaps were also identified. The crew's fatigue may have delayed their recognition of the engine malfunction. Furthermore, deficiencies in the aircraft flight manual meant there were no specific instructions for managing a reverser deployment failure paired with an engine runaway. Finally, a lack of specific simulator training for this scenario and deviations from standard operating procedures regarding reverse lever use and instrument monitoring contributed to the loss of control.