Cable tie blocking the landing gear mechanism led to emergency landing that left two passengers hurt on Flybe flight from Belfast to Inverness
- The Bombardier Dash 8 plane was forced to divert to Belfast International
- The 53 passengers and four crew on flight BE331 were told to ‘brace’ for impact
- A harness had been jammed by a rogue cable tie, keeping the nose doors open
A Flybe flight’s emergency landing that led to two passengers suffering injuries was caused by a rogue cable tie stopping the nose door from closing.
The Bombardier Dash 8 propeller plane was flying from Belfast City airport to Inverness when it was forced to divert on to the runway at Belfast International.
The 53 passengers and four crew on flight BE331 endured a tense two hours circling above the Irish Sea to burn fuel before making their descent.
As the aircraft swooped down on to the tarmac without its nose landing gear, the pilot told everyone to ‘brace’ before it screeched on to the runway where it finally came to a stop, tipping forward on its nose.
A Flybe flight’s emergency landing that led to two passengers suffering injuries was caused by a rogue cable tie stopping the nose door from closing
As the aircraft swooped down on to the tarmac without its nose landing gear, the pilot told everyone to ‘brace’ before it screeched on to the runway where it finally came to a stop, tipping forward on its nose
The Bombardier Dash 8 propeller plane was flying from Belfast City airport to Inverness when it was forced to divert on to the runway at Belfast International
The emergency diversion, which happened in 2017, came when cockpit diagnostics revealed that nose landing gear doors had not closed after they had been retracted.
The Department of Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found that a damaged electrical harness affected the readings of a sensor so that the nose landing gear doors started to close while the landing gear was still moving.
This then caused the gear to become jammed in the ‘up’ position, so that it would not extend when commanded by the crew.
The investigation determined that the harness had been secured with a non-flexible cable tie which restricted it from flexing, leading to a fatigue failure of the harness.
An evacuation was carried out ‘in an orderly manner’. Two people suffered minor injuries.
The AAIB said the aircraft manufacturer has taken measures to rectify the landing gear problem.
The AAIB’s report said: ‘The aircraft touched down at 1332 hrs on the main wheels and the nose was held off as the speed decayed and gently lowered onto the runway.
As the aircraft came to a stop, both engines were shut down and when stopped, the commander ordered the evacuation
The 53 passengers and four crew on flight BE331 endured a tense two hours circling above the Irish Sea to burn fuel before making their descent
‘As the aircraft came to a stop, both engines were shut down and when stopped, the commander ordered the evacuation. The cabin crew responded and described the passengers as being calm.
‘The forward left door and the rear left and right doors were opened. The forward left door, which has built-in stairs, lay flatter than normal as it could not achieve its full downward travel.
‘This made exiting the aircraft more difficult, but no one fell whilst using it. At the rear, some passengers were reluctant to jump given the door sill height but some of the passengers who had left the aircraft returned and assisted them from below.
‘Smoke and a smell of burning entered the flight deck and so the flight deck door was opened which allowed it to clear.
‘The flight crew used the ‘on ground emergencies’ checklist to ensure they had completed all the required actions before leaving the flight deck and checking there was nobody on the aircraft. They then vacated the aircraft.
‘The passengers had been gathered together by the Fire Service and were transported to the terminal on buses provided.’
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