Flight History
On 4 October 2020, an Airbus A320-214, registration N740AV, operated by Avianca was scheduled for three flights: Cartagena to Bogotá (AV8551), Bogotá to Pasto (AV8597), and Pasto to Bogotá (AV8598). At 10:51 local time, the aircraft departed from runway 02 at Antonio Nariño Airport (SKPS) in Pasto, Colombia, with 143 passengers and 5 crew members on board.
Incident Details
During the takeoff roll, while engine power was being applied, portions of the asphalt runway surface detached and struck the aircraft. The crew continued the flight to Bogotá. Upon arrival, during taxi to the gate, the crew noticed a loss of directional control when attempting a left turn using the nose wheel steering. The aircraft was stopped, and when taxi resumed, directional control was regained.
Damage
A post-flight inspection by maintenance personnel revealed that pieces of asphalt of various sizes had struck, perforated, and lodged in both sides of the horizontal stabilizer, causing significant damage to the aircraft.
Investigation
The investigation was conducted by the Colombian accident investigation group (GRIAA). It determined that the runway surface at Antonio Nariño Airport had a failure of adhesion between asphalt layers, leading to the detachment of surface material. The detached asphalt became foreign object debris (FOD) that impacted the aircraft during the takeoff sequence.
Probable Cause and Contributing Factors
The probable cause of the serious incident was the lifting of the asphalt surface of the runway due to adhesion failure between layers. Part of the asphalt detached and impacted the aircraft during power application at the start of takeoff from runway 02.
Contributing factors included:
- Deficient installation of the geogrid reinforcement during a previous runway repair, which created a failure plane between asphalt layers.
- Insufficient control and supervision of the contractor and oversight entity involved in the prior runway maintenance.
- Deficient risk management of the airport infrastructure, which, if performed, could have allowed early detection of surface defects before detachment caused aircraft damage.
- Irregular wear of the asphalt surface at runway 02.