An Airbus A330-243 was operating an international passenger flight between Medinah (Saudi Arabia) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). Onboard a crew of 10 and 152 passengers. After the aircraft took off, the aircraft climbed to its cruise flight level 370 without any issues.
The aircraft shortly after the evacuation (source; baaa-acro.com © unknown)
Shortly after reaching FL 370 the crew contacted AATC and informed them that they had a failure of the green hydraulic system followed by a "green hydraulic system reservoir low level" warning and wanted to enter a holding pattern for troubleshooting and coördination with the company. The decision was made to divert to Jeddah due to the weather in Medinah. The fact that Jeddah was the airline's main base no doubt played part in the decision. ATC was informed about the intention to divert to Jeddah and
the requirement to remain in the hold to burn fuel to reduce the landing weight below the maximum landing weight. When approaching Jeddah the crew applied the required checklist for an approach without the Green hydraulic system and used the gravity extension to lower the landing gear. Both main gears locked down, however, the nose landing gear did not lockdown. In consult with ATC, two low passes were flown over runway 16C, in both cases, ATC and ground staff were unable to confirm the nose landing gear was down.
Close up of the nose section (source; baaa-acro.com © unknown)
Subsequently, the crew declared an emergency and was vectored by ATC to runway 34R. The aircraft touched down 700 meters from the threshold of runway 34R and rolled on the main gears for ~1350 meters before the nose section of the aircraft and the bottom of the engine cowls came in contact with the runway. This cause a shower of sparks to develop accompanied by smoke. The aircraft came to a stop 700 meters from the end of the runway and 5 meters from the centerline of the runway. Passengers and crew evacuated the aircraft safely, and no injuries were reported. The aircraft, 17 years old, was damaged beyond repair and scrapped.
Video of the landing (Source; Twitter @arabnews)
V2 Aviation - Training & Maintenance has not been able to obtain an investigation report on this accident. This blog is therefore based on several internet sources. should there be an inconsistency in the blog don't hesitate to get in touch with us!
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