What happened
On March 8, 2015, a Spice Jet Ltd. Bombardier Q-400, registration VT-SUA, was performing a scheduled flight from Bangalore to Hubli. The aircraft was carrying 78 passengers and 4 crew members. During the approach, air traffic control informed the crew of heavy rain and thunderstorms, which had reduced visibility to approximately 3000 meters. The crew initially entered a holding pattern due to these weather conditions.
As visibility improved to 4000 meters, the pilot requested a descent for runway 26. The pilot reported establishing visual contact with the runway at roughly 6 nautical miles from the threshold. The aircraft landed on the runway; however, the pilot noted that while focusing on the far end of the runway due to the wet surface, the aircraft began drifting left of the centerline. Despite the application of full reverse thrust on both engines to correct the drift, the aircraft veered toward the left edge of the runway.
During the excursion, the aircraft struck a runway edge light, causing the left landing gear to collapse. This impact caused the left propeller blades to strike the runway surface and shear off. The aircraft continued to move, resulting in the nose landing gear collapsing under overload conditions and the aircraft belly making contact with the runway. The aircraft eventually came to a stop approximately 52 meters from the runway centerline. There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries among the 82 people on board. The crew successfully initiated an evacuation via the right-side doors, assisted by emergency services.
Findings
- The runway surface was wet due to heavy rain and thunderstorms.
- The pilot's attention was focused on the far end of the runway, leading to a failure to notice the lateral drift.
- The aircraft veered off the centerline due to the wet runway conditions and loss of directional control.