What happened
On 10 May 2001, a Douglas (Boeing) MD-83, registration EC-FXI, was performing a passenger charter flight from Palma, Majorca, to Liverpool Airport. During the approach to Runway 27, the aircraft executed an automatic landing with the first officer acting as the pilot flying. Immediately upon touchdown, the right main landing gear failed. This caused the aircraft to slide along the runway for approximately 1,600 metres before coming to a stop. The impact resulted in the aircraft resting on its wingtip and right-side flaps and slats. While the aircraft sustained major damage to the right wing skin, flaps, and slats, as well as punctures to the fuselage and engine ingestion damage, there were no injuries to the 45 passengers or 6 crew members on board. An emergency evacuation was successfully completed.
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage and flight recorder data to determine the cause of the gear failure. The inspection of the right main landing gear strut cylinder revealed that a fracture had occurred below the attachment trunions. This failure caused the wheels and axle assembly to be released into the wing and fuselage fairing, as well as the flaps and slats. The lower part of the cylinder remained connected only by the sidestay. Upon detailed inspection of the fracture surface, investigators discovered a fatigue crack measuring roughly 3.5mm in length and 1.1mm in depth.
Findings
- The primary cause of the incident was a fracture in the right main landing gear strut cylinder.
- The fracture originated from a small fatigue crack on the forward outer surface of the cylinder.
- The failure mechanism and crack dimensions were noted to be similar to a previous incident involving a Douglas (Boeing) MD-83, registration G-DEVR, at Manchester Airport in 1995.
- Despite previous FAA-mandated modifications to braking systems and one-time inspections following the 1995 event, the existing safety measures failed to prevent this recurrence.