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| Date: | Sunday 3 August 2008 |
| Time: | 18:50 |
| Type: |  Boeing 767-2N0ER |
| Owner/operator: | Air Zimbabwe |
| Registration: | Z-WPE |
| MSN: | 24713/287 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 216 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Category: | Incident |
| Location: | Near London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Harare-Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (HRE/FVRG) |
| London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft was making its final approach into London Gatwick Airport, on a passenger flight from Harare. The crew later reported that, on selecting flaps to 15°, they felt an unusual roll motion but the aircraft quickly stabilized. The crew continued the approach and the landing was normal, without further incident. During their post-flight external inspection, the crew noticed that the compartment for the right over wing escape slide was open and the slide itself was missing. The actuating mechanism was hanging from the compartment and had caused slight dents and perforations in the adjacent fuselage skin. A deflated over wing slide was found a few days later, under the approach path into Gatwick, and it was traced to the incident to Z-WPE. By that time the aircraft had been repaired and had flown several subsequent sectors. The aircraft had been repaired and dispatched without a detailed inspection to determine the cause of the slide compartment opening.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fc15ed915d1371000891/Boeing_767-200__Z-WPE_03-09.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6387870 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 10 March 1994 | Z-WPE | Air Zimbabwe | 0 | London-Gatwick Airport (LGW/EGKK) | |
min |
| 8 May 2008 | Z-WPE | Air Zimbabwe | 0 | Lilongwe Airport, Central Region |  |
min |
| Bird strike | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Mar-2025 08:05 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 27-Mar-2025 08:06 | ASN | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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