What happened
On January 23, 2001, at 01:44 UTC, a Boeing 747-243B Special Freighter, registration I-DEMC, was performing a cargo flight from Chicago to Milan Malpensa. During the landing phase on runway 35R, the aircraft experienced a sudden and prolonged contact between the underside of the number 4 engine nacelle (the outer engine on the right wing) and the runway surface.
The flight crew was operating under Low Visibility Operations (CAT II). While the approach was initially stabilized, the pilot flying (PF) attempted to correct a slight lateral deviation from the runway centerline at approximately 60 feet above the ground. This intervention resulted in excessive control inputs, causing the aircraft to tilt sharply to the right. As a result, the right main landing gear strut fully compressed, and the left main gear remained several meters above the ground. The resulting angle caused the engine nacelle to scrape the runway for approximately 7 to 8 seconds, causing significant metal loss on the lower drainage fin.
Following the contact, the pilot flying initiated an unexpected go-around. During this maneuver, the crew performed the climb with the landing gear and flaps still extended, and exceeded the maximum circuit altitude. The aircraft landed successfully on a subsequent approach.
The investigation
The ANSV investigation relied on data from the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and interviews with the crew, as the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and radio communications were not available for review. The investigation examined the flight path, the pilot's manual control inputs, and the meteorological conditions, which included rain and fog.
Findings
- The primary cause of the damage was the unstable aircraft attitude caused by excessive and incorrect control inputs by the pilot flying while attempting to correct a minor runway centerline deviation.
- The pilot flying's decision to initiate a go-around was unexpected by the other crew members.
- The go-around maneuver was executed improperly, with delayed retraction of the landing gear and flaps.
- A lack of correct read-back of instructions from Air Traffic Control contributed to the event.