747 cargo plane skids off runway
FOUR HURT
HALIFAX• Federal investigators have arrived in Halifax to piece together why a Boeing 747 cargo plane skidded off an airport runway Wednesday, leaving a trail of debris and sending four crew to hospital.
The Skylease Cargo jet overshot Runway 14 just after 5 a.m. — the third serious incident at Halifax’s Stanfield Airport in 15 years.
Airport spokeswoman Theresa Rath Spicer said Flight KKE 4854 was arriving from Chicago in rainy conditions.
“It did land and then overshot the runway,” Rath Spicer said. “There were four crew on board at the time. They were removed from the aircraft and transported to hospital with what are described as minor injuries.”
She said it wasn’t clear what caused the accident.
Larry Vance, an aviation analyst and accident investigator who spent 25 years with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said it appears the plane was landing with a strong tailwind — something he called an “immediate red flag.”
“Normally airplanes take off and land into the wind, that’s just a standard procedure that’s been going on since the Wright brothers,” he said.
While it’s possible to land with a tailwind, Vance said there would be little room for “deviations” such as a high airspeed or delayed touchdown.
Another potential factor could have been the rainy conditions, he said.
“It takes longer to stop on a wet runway. It could be they got into a situation we call hydroplaning.”
The badly damaged plane was sitting Wednesday on a slight incline far off the runway and within about 50 metres of a fence that marks the perimeter of the airport boundary. Two of its engines appeared to be attached but were heavily damaged, while two other engines were sheared off completely.
“The motors were tore off and the wings were cracked off. And it looked like halfway through the plane it was broke in half,” said John Fudge, one of many people who came to look at the plane before police sealed off a nearby road.
“It was kind of crazy to see that ... I figured it would have been worse than what it was, but luckily it’s not.”
A team of Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived at the airport Wednesday. Board spokesman Chris Krepski said investigators will examine the aircraft and terrain, interview witnesses and crew members and take possession of the flight data recorders.
Vance said investigators will examine whether there were any mechanical issues with the plane — in particular with the breaking system or reverse thrusters.