Narrative:The aircraft was engaged on a scheduled passenger flight from London-Heathrow, and was landing, at night, on runway 33 at Leeds/Bradford Airport. On arrival in the vicinity of Leeds, the pilot was passed the following weather: Wind 110 degrees /10 kts, visibility 2 km., sky obscured, vertical visibility 200 ft. He was also advised that snow bad fallen, but that runway 33 had been cleared to a width of 30 metres, leaving snowbanks on either side, some 12 to 15 inches in height, and that a recent check on the runway surface had shown braking action to be "Good ". On receipt of this information, the pilot decided that he would make a radar approach to runway 33, accepting a tail-wind component of about 5 kts. (No radar letdown procedure was available for runway 15 because of work being done to extend the runway). During the approach, intermittent sight of the ground was obtained from 600/700 ft. and continuous visual reference was established at 250 ft. At about four miles, the pilot re-checked that the tailwind component was still acceptable and, when he was able to see all the approach and runway lights, selected full flap. After touch-down, the aircraft drifted, or slid, to port, and the pilot was unable to correct this movement before the port wheels struck the bank of snow at the side of the cleared runway. The pilot reported that he found braking action to be poor and that he was unable to get the aircraft back on to the centre line before the nosewheels also struck the snowbank. The pilot brought the aircraft to a standstill on the runway, some 900 metres from the 33 threshold, and was able to taxi to the apron. Examination of the aircraft revealed damage to the nosewheel members, and to the wing root and port flap. A check on the braking action after the accident showed it still to be "Good".
Classification:
Runway excursion
Sources:
» Accidents to Aircraft - A United Kingdom Survey for the year ended 31 st December 1965 / Ministry of Aviation
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does
not display the exact flight path.
Distance from London-Heathrow Airport to Leeds/Bradford Airport as the crow flies is 276 km (172 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.