ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-221F 5N-BJN Accra-Kotoka Airport (ACC)
ASN logo
 
 
Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Saturday 2 June 2012
Time:19:10
Type:Silhouette image of generic B722 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Boeing 727-221F
Operator:Allied Air
Registration: 5N-BJN
MSN: 22540/1796
First flight: 1982-04-16 (30 years 2 months)
Total airframe hrs:40251
Cycles:25380
Engines: 3 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17A (HK3)
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Ground casualties:Fatalities: 10
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Accra-Kotoka Airport (ACC) (   Ghana)
Crash site elevation: 62 m (203 feet) amsl
Phase: Landing (LDG)
Nature:Cargo
Departure airport:Lagos-Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS/DNMM), Nigeria
Destination airport:Accra-Kotoka Airport (ACC/DGAA), Ghana
Flightnumber:DHV111
Narrative:
Allied Air Flight 111, a Boeing 727-221 Cargo aircraft, departed Lagos-Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Nigeria at 18:28 hours local time. Destination was Abidjan, Ivory Coast, with a stop at Accra-Kotoka International Airport.
On the descent into Accra, the aircraft was cleared by Accra Approach initially to FL050 and later cleared to 2000ft. It was again instructed to climb to 3000ft due to high ground. On arrival at Accra, the captain flew an Instrument Landing System (ILS) coupled approach, until he saw the runway. He then disconnected the autopilot at 500ft and manually flew the aircraft. After disconnecting the auto-pilot, he came into heavy IMC conditions in rain. The aircraft experienced an unstable approach at a high speed of 167kts and landed with a wind of 050/15kts at an airspeed of 154kts and about 5807ft from the threshold of runway 21 and 4000ft from the threshold of the runway 03 in nil visibility. The crew deployed thrust reversers and applied the normal brakes as well as the emergency pneumatic brakes but these actions were ineffective to stop the aircraft. Normally deploying the thrust reversers or applying the brakes would bring the nose wheel down. However, the nose gear was kept up. The speed brakes were not deployed. The crew reported seeing red lights rushing towards them soon after the main wheels touched the ground for the landing run.
The aircraft overran the runway and destroyed the threshold lights and the approach lights on runway 03. It knocked out the ILS Localizer transmitter structure and mounts, broke through the airport perimeter wall. The aircraft crossed Giffard Road, collided with a Mercedes-Benz TN 207 minivan killing all ten persons on board. It uprooted a tree by the road side before finally coming to a stop at an open space near El-Wak Sport Stadium.
The right side of a taxi cab on the road was grazed by flying debris from the localizer transmitter structures carried along by the right wing of the aircraft. The leading edge of the wing was extensively damaged.
The aircraft came to a rest outside the airport perimeter wall 1171ft (350m) from the threshold of runway 03.

Probable Cause:

The probable causes of the accident were:
The decision of the Captain to continue with the landing instead of aborting at the missed approach point especially when he could hardly see through the windshield and when he did not know how far he had gone down the runway because of the rain and the tail wind components.

Contributory factors:
a. the Captain disconnected the auto-pilot and flew the aircraft manually in an unstable approach.
b. the Captain landed the aircraft at 4000ft to the threshold of Runway 03, 6060ft from Runway 21. He could not stop within the available distance.
c. the Captain chose to land with a tailwind of 050/15Kts in excess of maximum allowable tailwind of 10Kts.
d. the crew concentrated on tracking the Localizer rather than watching for threshold and runway edge lights. They suffered from fixation.
e. the Captain did not deploy speed brakes on landing.

Accident investigation:

Investigating agency: AIB Ghana
Status: Investigation completed
Accident number: final report
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Landing after unstabilized approach
Runway excursion (overrun)

Sources:
» GhanaWeb
» AFP

METAR Weather report:
18:00 UTC / 18:00 local time:
DGAA 021800Z 17005KT 9999 FEW016 SCT031 FEW030CB 27/24 Q1013 TEMPO 5000 -TSRA BKN010
Wind 170 degrees at 5 knots; Visibility 10+ km; few clouds at 1600 feet AGL; scattered clouds at 3100 feet AGL; few cumulonimbus clouds at 3000 feet AGL; Temperature 27°C, Dew point 24°C; pressure 1013 mb; temporary: visibility 5000 m during thunderstorm and rain with broken clouds at 1000 feet AGL


Follow-up / safety actions

AIB Ghana issued 7 Safety Recommendations

Show all...

Photos

photo of Boeing-727-221F-5N-BJN
accident date: 02-06-2012
type: Boeing 727-221F
registration: 5N-BJN
photo of Boeing-727-221F-5N-BJN
accident date: 02-06-2012
type: Boeing 727-221F
registration: 5N-BJN
 

Aircraft history
date registration operator remarks
16 APR 1982 N368PA Boeing First flight
26 MAY 1982 N368PA Pan American World Airways delivered
04 DEC 1991 N368PA Pan American World Airways operated Pan Am's last revenue flight (PA436, Bridgetown-Miami)
MAR 1992 N368PA stored at Albuquerque, NM
22 JAN 1993 N368PA Express One registered
AUG 1994 N368PA Express One converted to -221F freighter
09 DEC 1997 C-FACN All Canada Express registered
19 SEP 2006 5N-BJN Allied Air bought

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 Lagos-Murtala Muhammed International Airport to Accra-Kotoka Airport as the crow flies is 398 km (249 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

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.
languages: languages

Share

Boeing 727

  • 1832 built
  • 118th loss
» safety profile

 Ghana
  • 2nd worst accident
» safety profile

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org