ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A310-324 ST-ATN Khartoum-Civil Airport (KRT)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Tuesday 10 June 2008
Time:20:26
Type:Silhouette image of generic A310 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Airbus A310-324
Operator:Sudan Airways
Registration: ST-ATN
MSN: 548
First flight: 1990-08-23 (17 years 10 months)
Total airframe hrs:53233
Cycles:21524
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney PW4152
Crew:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 11
Passengers:Fatalities: 29 / Occupants: 203
Total:Fatalities: 30 / Occupants: 214
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Khartoum-Civil Airport (KRT) (   Sudan)
Crash site elevation: 384 m (1260 feet) amsl
Phase: Landing (LDG)
Nature:International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Damascus International Airport (DAM/OSDI), Syria
Destination airport:Khartoum-Civil Airport (KRT/HSSS), Sudan
Flightnumber: 109
Narrative:
An Airbus A310-324 passenger plane, registered ST-ATN, was destroyed in an accident at Khartoum-Civil Airport, Sudan. There were 203 passengers and 11 crew members on board. One crew member and 29 passengers were killed.
The aircraft was operated with a deactivated no. 1 engine reverser as per Minimum Equipment List (MEL) procedures, being a carry forward defect. This was accepted by the pilot who operated the return flight from Khartoum to Amman.
Sudan Airways Flight 109 was the return leg from Amman, Jordan to Khartoum, Sudan with an en route stop at Damascus, Syria. The airplane diverted to Port Sudan due to inclement weather at Khartoum. After staying on ground at Port Sudan for about 1:15 hour, and being informed that the weather was getting better, the captain decided to continue to Khartoum.
Weather was poor with CB clouds and a thunderstorm as the Airbus approached Khartoum. The flight was cleared to land on runway 36 with wind information given as 320 degrees at 7 knots. In reality however, there was a 15 knot tail wind. The runway was reported being wet.
The Airbus touched down 900 metres past the runway threshold and the captain selected both thrust reversers to maximum reverse. Reverser no. 2 deployed normally and no. 1 remained stowed. Because of asymmetrical reverse, the airplane skidded to the right. Ten seconds after touch down both reversers were stowed and thrust levers were set to idle. The captain put the aircraft back to the centre line by using differential braking. The captain then switched the anti-skid off and applied full braking on both pedals, causing the wheels to lock. The aircraft longitudinally overran the runway and came to a stop 215 meters after the runway end. Then it caught fire on its right side.
Fire services arrived late at the scene of the accident due to acute shortage in fire fighting personnel, and the fact that there was no means of communication between the fire station and the vehicles.

Probable Cause:

Cause of the accident:
"The accident was due to a long flaring distance (900 meters from R/W threshold) on a wet slippery runway without selecting Auto brake and with one deactivated engine reverse in such rainy conditions. The remaining available landing distance turned out to be too short to allow the captain to stop the aircraft before the end of the runway.
Contributing factors:
The wind information was not appropriate as it was tail wind at time of landing. The crew was not aware about the aircraft ground speed and the tail wind."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: AAICD Sudan
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years and 5 months
Accident number: CAA/ACC/ST-ATN, A310
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Late landing
Runway excursion (overrun)

Sources:
» SKYbrary 
» AFP

METAR Weather report:
14:30 UTC / 17:30 local time:
HSSS 101430Z 12013KT 3000 M TS/RA FEW050CB SCT056 BKN140 Q1011 NO SIG=

17:00 UTC / 20:00 local time:
HSSS 101700Z 27002KT 9/9 TS RA OV ST FEW050 SCT056 BKN140 26/26 Q1013 NO SIG=

18:30 UTC / 21:30 local time:
HSSS 101830Z 15010KT 9/9 FEW050 CB TS TO E SCT 056 Q1010=

19:00 UTC / 22:00 local time:
HSSS 101900Z 14007KT 9/9 FEW050 CB TS TOE SCT056 30/19 Q1010 NO SIG=


Photos

photo of Airbus-A310-324-ST-ATN
accident date: 10-06-2008
type: Airbus A310-324
registration: ST-ATN
photo of Airbus-A310-324-VT-EVF
accident date: 10-06-2008
type: Airbus A310-324
registration: VT-EVF
 

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 Damascus International Airport to Khartoum-Civil Airport as the crow flies is 2008 km (1255 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.

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.
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Airbus A310

  • 255 built
  • 9th loss
  • 7th fatal accident
  • 7th worst accident (at the time)
  • 8th worst accident (currently)
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 Sudan
  • 5th worst accident (at the time)
  • 6th worst accident (currently)
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