TACA A320 accident at Tegucigalpa

[Anthony T]

A Grupo TACA Airbus A320 operating flight TA390 this morning overran the runway at Tegucigalpa, Honduras, killing the pilot, one passenger and a motorist.

The aircraft is an A320-233 Airbus, was registered in the Republic of Ireland EI-TAF, series number 1374 built on January 4th 2001. Until May 29th it had accumulated 21,957 flight hours and 9,992 landings.

[Tom Lohdan]

More details - http://avherald.com/h?article=4077cedf&opt=0

The fire chief of Honduras has confirmed 4 fatalities, amongst them the captain of the flight. The first officer is said to be in critical condition. Most passengers are reported survived, though several are still trapped within the aircraft. Passengers in the business class section have been most affected.

Photo - http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2008/05/30/536785.html

[Brian Wilkes]

WOW:eek:

[David N]

For those who do not know the type of approach and skill required to land at this airport have a look at this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_z5HtME9n8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAxAso8xSo0&feature=related

This would have been the same approach the A320 made with a 20m drop at the other end.

[Andrew McLaughlin]

Just saw it on CNN whilst awaiting boarding for CX161 at HKG...did you see those dip*****s scrambling to safety with their carry on luggage on the footage.... :eek::rolleyes:

[Tom Lohdan]

http://avherald.com/h?article=4077cedf/0001&opt=0

The fire chief of Honduras has confirmed 5 fatalities, amongst them the captain of the flight, and 38 injuries.

The deputy director of Aeronáutica Civil de Honduras, Boris Ferrera, said: "We believe, it could have been a mechanical failure. It is currently presumed, that it was a brakes failure."

According to aviation professionals witnessing the landing at the Toncontin airport the airplane touched down within the landing zone - opposite to other reports, that the airplane may have landed long.

The airplane had already attempted at least another approach but aborted the landing. Passengers reported, that the captain told them, that they couldn't land because of weather being overcast, and they flew several "laps" until they touched down. They then felt a sudden shock and thud - and then walked off the airplane. Many passengers were carrying off their handbaggage.

[Rhys Xanthis]

wow those youtube videos are amazing! paticularly the AA one...amazing!

[Tom Lohdan]

Waited, but doesn't seem to more to this apart from the offical report

http://avherald.com/h?article=4077cedf/0016&opt=0

The director of Honduras' Aeronáutica Civil, René Rodríguez, said on Monday, that the runway had been resurfaced three months ago, adding, that several pilots had complained since, that there was poor braking action on the runway. The management of the airport, Interairports, did not respond to inquiries and requests, he added. The TACA A320 was "in compliance with all requirements to operate", he continued dismissing suspicions the airplane could have been overloaded. René Rodríguez is expected in Washington Tuesday together with the black boxes of the TACA airplane.


There is translation of the ATC communication

Not a bad site avherald.com, they seem to get the details and info.

[David Knudsen]

Here are all the relevant details from the accident compiled into a single report for those who haven't seen it.

From http://aviation-safety.net/

ASN ACCIDENT DIGEST 2008-8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 30 MAY 2008
Time: ca 09:40
Type: Airbus A320-233
Operator: TACA International Airlines
Registration: EI-TAF
C/n / msn: 1374
First flight: 2000
Engines: 2 IAE V2527E-A5
Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:
Passengers: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Total: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 124
Airplane damage: Written off
Location: Tegucigalpa-Toncontin Airport (TGU) (Honduras)
Phase: Landing
Nature: International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: San Salvador-Comalapa International Airport (SAL)
Destination airport: Tegucigalpa-Toncontin Airport (TGU)
Flightnumber: 390
TACA Flight 390 is a regular flight from San Salvador (SAL), El Salvador to Miami (MIA), USA with an intermediate stop at Tegucigalpa (TGU), Honduras. The A320 took off from San Salvador around 09:05 and landed at Tegucigalpa's runway 02 around 09:40. It overran the runway, onto a street and came to rest against an embankment. Runway 02/20 is a 6112 x 148 feet (1863 x 45 meters) asphalt runway. The current NOTAM advised a.o. that the runway could be wet: "RWY 02/20 OPR BUT CTN ADVISED DUE TO WET SURFACE ON RAINY SEASON. 06 MAY 16:00 2008 UNTIL PERM. " Weather around the around the time of the accident (15:40 UTC) was reported by the following METARs: MHTG 301500Z 19004KT 2000S -DZ FEW008 BKN020 OCV080 21/19 Q1016 2KM S SW WSW D/C 8KM PCPN CL HZ= [Wind 190 degrees at 4 knots, light drizzle, Ceiling 2,000 ft. broken clouds, few clouds at 800 ft., overcast 8,000 ft., Temperature 210C, Dewpoint 190C, QNH 1016 mB] MHTG 301600Z 20009KT 3000SW -DZ FEW006 BKN020 OVC080 22/20 Q1017 3KM SW WSW W 8KM CTE E PCPN CL D/C UNL HZ AVION DE TACA ACCIDENTADO EN LA PISTA 19 EN EL AEROPUERTO TONCONTIN= At the morning of the accident, tropical storm Alma buffeted Nicaragua's Pacific coast but was losing force as it headed inland over southern Honduras.

[Tom Lohdan]

Again for the sake of the Mods who delete posts, please don't repost stuff that is posted via links on the thread. If you reply to a thread, read the links, please!

It's very easy to cut/paste a news item, but it's a art to understand a thread and actually post new items in relation to the current thread, and not just the cut/paste of the published article.

Investigators have started to remove parts including tyres from the airplane, that could help to identify the cause of the accident. It is expected, that the airframe will be removed from its crash position starting Monday.

In a press conference on Thursday the investigators have explained, that the investigation is just at the beginning and no conclusions to the cause have yet been reached.

Link (http://avherald.com/h?article=4077cedf/0022&opt=0)

Includes video (via links)