Incident Details
A chartered aircraft was departing from Troyes-Barberey Airport in France, tasked with transporting 17 individuals who had been involved in a bus accident two days earlier to Biggin Hill, United Kingdom. During the takeoff roll, after covering 1,100 meters at a speed of approximately 100 knots, the right engine's power dropped from 93% to 40%. Simultaneously, the temperature of the right engine increased. The aircraft began to veer to the right, prompting the captain to abort the takeoff and initiate emergency braking.
Despite the braking effort, the aircraft could not stop within the remaining runway distance. It overran the runway, rolled for about 150 meters, penetrated a fence, and ultimately collided with the localizer antenna. All 19 occupants evacuated without injury, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage and was declared a total loss.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the accident likely resulted from a combination of factors: a mispositioning of the Speed Levers at the time of takeoff, which caused overheating of both engines and forced the takeoff to be aborted; and inadequate preparation and management of the takeoff, leading to an underestimation of the acceleration-stop distance and a delayed decision to reject the takeoff.
Contributing Factors
Several contributing factors were identified:
- Fouling of the brakes, which reduced their effectiveness.
- Failure to update the aircraft's base weight in the operations manual.
- The crew's very limited experience on the aircraft type.
- The aircraft's total weight was 300 kg above its maximum takeoff weight (MTOW).
These factors collectively compromised the aircraft's ability to safely abort the takeoff within the available runway length.