The Traffic Accident Investigation Center has completed its Interim Investigation Report plane crash Embraer Airlines Marathon at Air Serbia flight JU324 to Dusseldorf, which occurred in February 2024 at Nikola Tesla Airport.
The report showed what had been assumed, that the plane's crew made a series of wrong decisions that led to the plane's tail hitting the grass and then the antenna off the runway.
An airplane with 106 passengers and five crew members on a flight to Dusseldorf from Belgrade was severely damaged during takeoff from Nikola Tesla Airport on February 18, 2024.
The plane of the Greek Marathon Airlines, which was flying for the needs of Air Serbia, returned to the Belgrade airport with heavy damage, and fuel was leaking from it.
What does the report say?
As stated in the Interim Report on the investigation, a large container was placed under the plane to collect the leaking fuel, firefighters soaked the part of the runway where the fuel had spilled with firefighting foam, and a cooling fan was installed on the rear left side in case the landing gear overheated.
"The aircraft sustained physical damage to the left side of the fuselage, the left wing-fuselage junction, the left wing leading edge, the left air conditioning system, the left horizontal stabilizer and the lower fuselage," the investigation report states.
During the accident, not only the plane was damaged, but also the approach lights at the airport, the flashing lights that were located in the grassy area outside the runway, as well as the individual lights of the approach bars were broken.
The FFM (Far field Monitor) antenna for that runway was broken, and a five-meter long antenna pole was found in a field outside the airport zone, about 60 meters from the fence located about 175 meters from the end of the asphalt surface in the continuation of the runway.
There were no injuries in the accident, and the passengers and crew were evacuated from the plane via the air bridge.
How did the plane hit the grass and the antenna?
The plane that was supposed to take off to Dusseldorf in the late afternoon of February 18, 2024 was cleared by air traffic control that day to go to position D6, from where it was supposed to take off.
Since the aircraft was in position D5 (a point closer to the end of the runway), air traffic control urgently addressed the crew and advised them to return to the previous position D6.
The report states that air traffic control's position was that the "prescribed conditions for a safe take-off" were not met from point D5. It is added that despite the observed deviation from the planned take-off point, the control cannot prohibit the pilots from taking off, because according to the regulations the captain has the right to make the final decision on the control of the aircraft.
The report states that after a short calculation, the crew decided they could take off from intersection D5.
However, shortly after takeoff, the crew noticed technical problems on the plane, and reported vibrations and an unusual sound coming from the plane's fuselage to air traffic control, and reported problems with the flaps.
Air Serbia passenger: Right after takeoff, something broke
Insufficient take-off runway length
The investigation showed that air traffic control informed the crew in time that they only had 1.273 meters of runway available. According to the official performance of the Embraer company for the type 195 LR with 500 nm fuel, the minimum required length of the runway for take-off is 1.432m, and the investigation showed that 1.440 meters was necessary considering the total mass of the aircraft.
The crew asked for a "minute" to perform checks, i.e. calculation of parameters for take-off using the co-pilot's hand-held tablet, and they decide that they have enough length.
It will turn out that the pilot entered the wrong data during the check, so among other things, he reduced the total weight of the aircraft.
"The crew confirms that they are able to take off from the D5 intersection and the plane begins its take-off run. The plane took off leaving a cloud of dust behind and with a weak climb. According to the statements given, the cabin crew estimated that the plane had normal acceleration on take-off. According to the statements, the flight crew on the plane made changes in engine thrust in order to get as high a speed as possible," the report says.
It is added that at 80 knots (kts) the crew declared that everything was fine, while at 100 knots they noticed that there was not enough length of the runway.
"Considering the available length of the runway, and the speed at which the plane was traveling, the crew decided that it was safer to continue the takeoff because they estimated that the plane would soon take off. According to the statements, the crew set the engine thrust to maximum and decided to delay the turn-up of the front part of the plane as much as possible in order to be able to use the maximum available length of the runway and the asphalt section in the continuation of the runway," the report reads.
As it is added, immediately after leaving the runway and the asphalt part next to the runway, according to the statement of the flight crew, the plane started to shake, after which the impact of the plane against an object was heard. The cabin crew members stated that just before take-off they felt vibrations as if the plane was going over bumps, and immediately after leaving the ground it hit an object.
About an hour after takeoff, the plane made an emergency landing back at the Belgrade airport.
Failure to comply with procedures
The report states that non-compliance with standard operating procedures led to the entry of different data, and the absence of a standard "departure briefing" resulted in incorrect data being entered into the aircraft's flight management and navigation system.
The investigation showed that the captain displayed authoritative behavior, that he pressured the first officer that it was possible to safely take off the D5, to which he succumbed without independently checking the performance on his computer, "omitting changes to the speeds and FLEX in the flight management system (FMS) and the configuration of the aircraft."
"Without static take-off, the first officer initially adds power, after which the system automatically adds power to the FLEX 33. Upon reaching 80 knots (kt), the captain notices that the end of the runway is approaching and notes this. The first officer adds that the runway is 'really short', but does not correct the thrust - it continues with the entered value, instead of adding power to the final position (TOGA mode). According to the release speeds V1 and Vr, the first officer starts the rotation with a full deflection of the half-rudder, which leads to raising the nose of the aircraft to 10 degrees of the longitudinal axis of the aircraft (pitch-up)", the report states.
Then the tail of the aircraft comes into contact with the grassy surface after the runway and the aircraft hits the localizer antenna.
"After they saw that the plane was not going into climb and after additional trimming, the first officer added power and the plane entered the stable climb phase," it added.
Who was flying the plane?
The pilot of the plane on the flight from Dusseldorf was a 58-year-old man with a license to fly since November 2013. The co-pilot was 44 years old, and his license was valid from October 2016.
Both were tested for alcohol after the accident, and the result showed that there were no traces of alcohol in their bodies.
The crew of the Greek company, which Air Serbia leased together with the plane, had previously "completed two sectors Belgrade - Vienna and Vienna - Belgrade, which most likely served as a check of the crew for obtaining a title within the process of acceptance into the company", the report says.
It is added that the crew was assigned to the following two sectors in the status of regular line duty, the first of which was the flight JU324 Belgrade - Dusseldorf on which the accident occurred.
Source: H1
