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| Date: | Monday 23 June 1997 |
| Time: | 17:08 |
| Type: |  Boeing 737-46B |
| Owner/operator: | British Midland |
| Registration: | G-OBMN |
| MSN: | 24123/1663 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Engine model: | CFMI CFM56-3 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 185 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Location: | Mahon-Menorca Airport (MAH/LEMH) -
 Spain
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | London-Stansted Airport (STN/EGSS) |
| Mahon-Menorca Airport (MAH/LEMH) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft suffered a tail scrape on landing at Mahon-Menorca Airport (MAH).
The flight was planned to operate a flight from London (Stansted) to Mahon, Spain, before returning to Luton. The aircraft was serviceable prior to departure and carried 179 passengers, which represents a full passenger load. Because of the cost of fuelat the destination it was normal to carry surplus fuel from Stansted in order to reduce the amount required during the refuel at Mahon. Therefore, the limiting weight considered for the departure from Stansted was the maximum landing weight at Mahon. Thus with a take-off weight of 61,724 kg and a projected fuel burn of 5,566kg the planned landing weight was 56,158 kg, which was 87 kg below the maximum authorized landing
weight of 56,245 kg. However, whilst the planned arrival fuel was 6,484 kg the recorded arrival fuel was 6,680 kg; the aircraft thus arrived with 196 kg more fuel than planned which resulted in the aircraft being 109 kg above the maximum authorized landing weight when shutting down at Mahon. Whilst not significant in itself this did ensure that the aircraft was at a high mass for the approach and landing.
The weather obtained by the crew for the arrival at Mahon included a surface wind of 230°/10 kt, variable between 190° and 270°, visibility in excess of 10 km, scattered cloud with a base of 2,000 feet, the surface temperature was 24°C and the QNH was 1016 mb. Runway 19 was the runway in use. It has a High Intensity Approach Lighting System with the PAPIs set at 3_ and is 7,710 feet long. The crew elected to fly the VOR/DME approach for Runway 19 with the commander as the handling pilot; Flap 30 was the planned landing flap setting. When both crew members could clearly see the runway and the approach lights the commander reverted to a visual approach and he deselected the auto-pilot at an estimated altitude of 1,200 feet at which point the aircraft was in the landing configuration with the gear down and the flaps set to 30. At this stage the crew estimated that the aircraft was a little high on the glide path but by 600 feet the aircraft was stabilised on the correct visual approach path. The reference landing speed for the weight and configuration was 143 KIAS and the crew planned to fly the approach 5 kt above this speed
in accordance with both their Standard Operating Procedures and guidance provided in the Boeing Flight Training Manual; their approach speed was therefore 148 KIAS. The crew considered the approach and subsequent landing to be entirely satisfactory although they were aware that the attitude indicator reached approximately 10 degrees during the flare which, whilst slightly prolonged, led to a soft touchdown. Although the crew were not concerned that they may have scraped the tail during the landing the commander did inspect the tail bumper during his walk round at Mahon and saw no indications of damage. There were no comments from either the cabin crew or the passengers suggesting that the tail of the aircraft may have contacted the ground.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f09b40f0b613420002cf/dft_avsafety_pdf_500588.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6149155 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 5 April 1996 | G-OBMN | British Midland | 0 | 20 NM from Wallasey VOR |  |
non |
| Incapacitation | ||||||
| 30 December 2012 | PK-LII | Lion Air | 0 | Pontianak-Supadio International Airport (PNK/WIOO) |  |
|
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Apr-2025 06:25 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 04-Apr-2025 06:28 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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