Sudan Airways Flight 109

Sudan Airways Flight 109 was an international scheduled Amman–Damascus–Khartoum passenger flight, operated with an Airbus A310, that crashed on landing at Khartoum International Airport on 10 June 2008 at approximately 17:00 UTC, killing 30 of 214 occupants on board.[1][2][3]

Sudan Airways Flight 109
The aircraft involved in the accident is seen here on approach to Dubai International Airport in April 2008 (2008-04)
Accident
Date10 June 2008
SummaryRunway overrun
SiteKhartoum International Airport
15°35′22″N 32°33′11″E
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAirbus A310-300
OperatorSudan Airways
RegistrationST-ATN
Flight originQueen Alia International Airport
StopoverDamascus International Airport
Last stopoverPort Sudan New International Airport
DestinationKhartoum International Airport
Passengers203
Crew11
Fatalities30
Survivors184

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Airbus A310-324, c/n 548, tail number ST-ATN, that had its maiden flight on 23 August 1990 as F-WWCV.[4] Equipped with a twin-PW4152 powerplant, it was delivered new to Singapore Airlines on 22 October 1990 and registered 9V-STU.[4][5] Re-registered VT-EVF, it was delivered to Air India on 10 March 2001.[4] The aircraft was finally registered ST-ATN, and was delivered to Sudan Airways on 1 December 2007.[4] According to Airbus, it had accumulated 52,000 flight hours and 21,000 cycles.[6]

The 60-year-old captain had logged 14,180 flight hours, including 3,088 hours on the Airbus A310. The 50-year-old first officer had 9,879 hours, with 3,347 of them on the Airbus A310.[7]:14

Description

The flight originated in Amman. Its final destination was Khartoum, with an intermediate stop in Damascus. However, a sandstorm and heavy rain prevented the aircraft from landing in Khartoum, and forced the crew to divert to Port Sudan. The aircraft was later allowed to fly back to its original destination.[8]

The flight landed at Khartoum Airport at 17:26 UTC, but was not able to stop within the length of the runway. The aircraft overran the runway and came to rest 215 metres (705 ft) beyond the end of runway 36. A fire then erupted on the starboard side of the aircraft.[7]:8 The slides on the side of the fire could not be deployed; passengers evacuated the aircraft using the port side slides.[7]:9

Cause

The overrun was caused by a combination of a long landing flare, the wet runway, landing without autobrakes, and landing with the port thrust reverser deactivated.[7]:39 The inoperative reverser caused the plane to veer to the right when the captain activated reverse thrust in both engines.[9] Low visibility and heavy rain and winds were also present at the time of the accident.[10] Contributing to the long landing flare was the fact the crew had been incorrectly informed that they had a 7-knot (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) headwind for landing, when they actually had a 15-knot (28 km/h; 17 mph) tailwind.[7]:39

Casualties

Out of 203 passengers and 11 crew members on board the aircraft,[7]:8 29 passengers and 1 crew member lost their lives.[7]:9 Many of the casualties were children with disabilities, as well as seniors returning from treatment in Amman.[11]

Notable passengers

Abbas al-Fadini (Member of the Parliament of Sudan) was on board the flight and survived unscathed.[12]

See also

References
  1. Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 5 June 2012.
  2. Heavens, Andrew (11 June 2008). "Dozens killed in Sudan air crash". The Independent. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016.
  3. "Passenger plane crashes in flames in Sudan". CNN. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  4. "Airbus A310 MSN 548". AirFleets.net. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  5. "Accident information : Airbus A310 Sudan Airways ST-ATN". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  6. Learmount, David (13 June 2008). "Sudan A310 "veered off runway" during landing". Flightglobal. Flight International. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012.
  7. "Final Report: Accident involving Sudan Airways Airbus 310, Registration ST-ATN, At Khartoum Airport, On 10th of June 2008 at 1726 UTC" (PDF). Air Accident Investigation Central Directorate. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2014.
  8. "Dozens die in Sudan jet inferno". BBC News. 10 June 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014.
  9. Kaminski-Morrow, David (8 April 2013). "Fatal Sudan A310 overrun crew unaware of tailwind". London: Flightglobal. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. 
  10. "14 still missing after air crash blaze". CNN. 11 June 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012.
  11. "Sudan Airways Airbus crashes at Khartoum airport". Sudan Tribune. 10 June 2008. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  12. "At least 28 die in Sudan air crash disaster". London: The Times. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008.(subscription required)
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