Aircraft and Crew
The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, registered SE-RDL, manufactured in 1990. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 turbofan engines. The commander, aged 61, held a Norwegian Air Transport Pilot's Licence and had accumulated 15,744 total flight hours, including 8,000 hours on type. In the 90 days preceding the incident, he had flown 257 hours, and 5 hours in the last 24 hours.
Incident Details
On 17 July 2003 at 2314 UTC, the aircraft was operating a public transport passenger flight with six crew and 134 passengers on board. While landing at Londonderry, Northern Ireland, the underside of the starboard wing and fuselage sustained stone damage. No injuries were reported among the crew or passengers.
Investigation
Londonderry Airport Air Traffic Control reported the incident to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). As the aircraft was Swedish-registered and operated by a Swedish company, the Swedish investigation authority conducted the investigation. The AAIB assisted by performing flight data recorder replay and analysis, and providing meteorological and airfield data, as well as photographic evidence. The Swedish report (RL 2004:30e) is available on the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority's website.