ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A300B4-203 F-BVGK Sana'a International Airport (SAH)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Wednesday 17 March 1982
Time:08:10
Type:Silhouette image of generic A30B model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Airbus A300B4-203
Operator:Air France
Registration: F-BVGK
MSN: 070
First flight: 1979-02-22 (3 years )
Total airframe hrs:9053
Cycles:3376
Engines: 2 General Electric CF6-50C2
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 13
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 111
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 124
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Sana'a International Airport (SAH) (   Yemen)
Crash site elevation: 2199 m (7215 feet) amsl
Phase: Takeoff (TOF)
Nature:International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Sana'a International Airport (SAH/ODSN), Yemen
Destination airport:Cairo International Airport (CAI/HECA), Egypt
Flightnumber:AF125
Narrative:
While travelling at 95 knots during takeoff from San'a International Airport, an explosion was felt, followed by shimmy and vibrations. The crew, thinking a tyre had exploded, aborted the takeoff. The explosion was in fact caused by an uncontained failure of the stage 1 HP compressor disk of the no. 2 engine. Debris punctured the fuel tank, causing a fire on the right hand side of the aircraft. The propagation of a low cycle fatigue crack on one of the embossments of the disk rim caused the disk fracture.

Probable Cause:

CAUSES: "The accident directly resulted from the uncontained explosion of a first stage high pressure turbine disk of the right hand engine. The propagation of a low cycle fatigue crack on one of the embossments of the disk rim was at the origin of the disk fracture.
This cracks, which existed before, had not been detected during the inspection conducted in the operator's workshops, according to the method defined by the manufacturer and in accordance with the requirements of the airworthiness authority. The investigations showed that it was necessary, not only to reduce the intervals between the inspections of these disks and conduct two independent sequential inspections, but also to modify the design and make sure they were progressively replaced by the new type. It seems obvious that the limit life validation methods used at the time of the accident, were still insufficient, as far as the probability of non-detection of cracks was concerned."

Classification:
Rejected takeoff
Uncontained engine failure
Runway mishap

Follow-up / safety actions

CAMA Yemen issued 4 Safety Recommendations

Show all...

Photos

photo of Airbus-A300B4-203-F-BVGK
accident date: 17-03-1982
type: Airbus A300B4-203
registration: F-BVGK
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Sana'a International Airport to Cairo International Airport as the crow flies is 2077 km (1298 miles).

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Airbus A300

  • 561 built
  • The first loss
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 Yemen
  • 8th worst accident (at the time)
  • 14th worst accident (currently)
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