Virgin Atlantic Flight 024
G-VSKY, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
DateNovember 5, 1997 (1997-11-05)
SummaryEmergency landing after left main landing gear failed to deploy
SiteHeathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom
51°27′53″N 00°27′53″W / 51.46472°N 0.46472°W / 51.46472; -0.46472
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAirbus A340-311
Aircraft nameChina Girl
OperatorVirgin Atlantic
RegistrationG-VSKY
Flight originLos Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States
DestinationHeathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom
Passengers98
Crew16
Fatalities0
Injuries7
Survivors114 (all)

Virgin Atlantic Flight 024 was a regularly scheduled Virgin Atlantic passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to London, United Kingdom. On 5 November 1997, the Airbus A340 operating the flight was forced to make an emergency landing in London Heathrow Airport after the left main landing gear didn't deploy. During the landing, the aircraft was damaged and later repaired. All 114 passengers and crew aboard survived, but 7 passengers were slightly injured during evacuation.[1][2][3]

Aircraft

The aircraft was an Airbus A340-311, registered G-VSKY with manufacturer serial number 016. It made its first flight on 3 November 1993, and was delivered soon after to Virgin Atlantic on 21 January 1994. At the time of the accident the aircraft had flown 19,323 hours. It was fitted with four CFM International CFM56-5C2 low-bypass turbofan engines.[4][5][6]: 10 

Incident

At 05:09 GMT (21:09 local time), flight VS024 departed from runway 24L in Los Angeles after a 19-minute delay. While climbing, the crew noticed that it took the landing gear a bit longer to retract. Later, during a routine in-flight systems scan, it was noted that the brake temperature sensor on the inboard rear wheel of the main landing gear had failed, but the flight was otherwise uneventful..[6]: 3 

At 15:04 GMT, while on final approach to Heathrow Runway 27L, the crew received an aural "Gear not safe" alert after deploying the landing gear, upon which the crew elected to go around and return to a holding pattern.[6]: 3–4 

The crew decided to fly near the ATC tower, to check the landing gear status from the Earth. It was found out that the left main landing gear was stuck in partially deployed position. The crew tried to complete several manoeuvres to make the gear come out, but it didn't deploy. The crew was thinking to touch the runway with the right main landing gear and immediately go around, the idea was to shake the landing gear up. However, the idea wasn't tried, as it was too dangerous and the pilots never did this before.[6]: 4–5 

When the crew realised that it was impossible to deploy the left main landing gear, they alerted an emergency. The cabin crew started to prepare passengers for an emergency landing. In 16:08 captain saw, that only a small amount of fuel was left. He declared a "Mayday". The crew started to land the plane on runway No. 27L, because at the landing the plane was expected to turn to the left, what would bring it away from the airport buildings. Also, the pilots wanted to land the plane on the right side of the runway, so it will have more space to stop until it will leave the runway. According to the checklist, after the touch down the crew had immediately turn off all 4 engines. However, the captain decided that after the touching only the 1st and 4th engine will be turned off, after the engine number 2, and finally the engine number 3.[6]: 5–6 

As planned, after the landing the 1st and the 4th engines were turned off, the 2nd and the 3rd engine were turned off as planned too. The captain tried to hold the left wing in the air as long as possible, what led to the engine number 4 (the outer right one) to touch the runway. As the plane lost speed, the 1st and 2nd engine touched the runway and caused a short fire. The tyres on the right main landing gear burst. When the nose gear touched the runway the plane started to veer to the left. As the plane came to a stop, the cabin crew started the evacuation, where 7 passengers were slightly injured.[6]: 6–7 

Cause

The reason of the incident were the following factors:[7]

  • Full deployment of the left main landing gear was prevented because the unrestrained end of the brake torque rod No. 6 had become trapped in the keel beam structure within the gear bay. It jammed the landing gear in a partially deployed position.
  • The torque pin which had connected the No. 6 brake torque rod to the wheel brake had disengaged during the landing gear was retracted after takeoff from Los Angeles, allowing the unrestrained rod to pivot freely about the retained end.
  • The torque pin and its retaining assembly had been subject to higher axial and torsional loads than predicted during aircraft braking in service. These loads were the result of elastic deformation of the wheel axle, brake and torque rod, and due to assembly without the correct axial clearance as a result of prior undetected displacement of the associated bushes. The precise mode of failure of the retaining assembly bolt, nut and cotter pin could not be ascertained in the absence of these parts.
  • This design of wheel brake assembly had satisfactorily passed the related certification wheel brake structural torque test. However the latter contained no requirement to use a representative axle or other means to reproduce the axle deflections which occur during aircraft braking in service. In result it didn't require post torque test strip assessment of brake assemblies, which resulted in an overstressing deformation which did not produce component failure.

Aftermath

The aircraft was seriously damaged. 3 engines and the landing gear, the pylons, especially the one from engine number 2, were damaged. The runway 27L was damaged after the landing gear tyres burst.[6]: 8 

Virgin Atlantic still uses the flight number 024 on Los Angeles—London route, but instead of the Airbus A340-300, there flies either a Boeing 787-9 or an Airbus A350-1000.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Virgin Atlantic – Airbus – A340-311 (G-VSKY) flight VS024". Aviation Accident Database.
  2. ↑ Peters, Luke (11 November 2022). "25 Years Ago: How A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340 Landed Without Fully Extended Landing Gear". Simple Flying. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Emergency landing 'all in a day's work'". The Independent. 6 November 1997. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "Airbus A340-311 Virgin Atlantic G-VSKY". airfleets.net.
  5. ↑ "D-AIEL Lufthansa Technik Airbus A340-300". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Report on the accident to Airbus A340-311, G-VSKY, at London Heathrow Airport on 5 November 1997" (PDF) (Official accident report). Air Accidents Investigation Branch. 29 June 2000. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A340-311 G-VSKY London-Heathrow Airport (LHR)". aviation-safety.net.
  8. ↑ "VS24 (VIR24) Virgin Atlantic Flight Tracking and History". FlightAware. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
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