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| Date: | Friday 28 November 1997 |
| Time: | 20:03 |
| Type: |  Saab 340A |
| Owner/operator: | British Midland Commuter |
| Registration: | G-GNTF |
| MSN: | 340A-113 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1988 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 26 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Location: | Nottingham-East Midlands Airport (EMA/EGNX) -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Nottingham-East Midlands Airport (EMA/EGNX) |
| Brussels-Zaventem Airport (BRU/EBBR) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The first officer was to be the handling pilot for the sector. He was aged 42 years, held an Air
Transport Pilot's Licence and had 2,405 hours of flying experience of which 605 were on type. He
was qualified by the operator to handle the aircraft to the same crosswind limits as commanders.
Normal practice in the SAAB 340 is for the pilot occupying the left seat to taxi the aircraft and
align it on the runway for take off using the nosewheel steering. Irrespective of which pilot handles
the take off, the left seat pilot operates the nosewheel steering during the early part of the take-off
run but releases the handwheel at a pre-determined airspeed when airflow over the rudder is
sufficient to provide aerodynamic directional control.
The aircraft arrived at East Midlands Airport from Aberdeen at 1705 hrs and underwent
rectification to repair the left side windscreen wiper which was required to be serviceable before
despatch in wet weather. At about 1945 hrs the flight crew walked out to the aircraft to prepare for
a flight to Brussels. It was raining when the commander carried out an external inspection and he
noted that the apron surface was wet but not flooded. The cabin crew attendant arrived at the
aircraft a few minutes after the flight crew. By then it was raining steadily and she noticed that the
apron was very wet under foot. After her arrival the crew had a quick status briefing before the
passengers arrived on foot in what the attendant described as "pouring rain" with pools of standing
water on the apron. Preparations for flight were completed uneventfully and at 1955 hrs the aircraft
was pushed back by a tug. The commander noticed that it was still raining steadily as he taxied the
aircraft towards the threshold of Runway 27 but he noticed nothing abnormal about the aircraft's
behaviour. Whilst taxiing both pilots used their windscreen wipers intermittently and they formed
the impression that the intensity of the rain had reduced slightly. Checks including full and free
movement of the flight controls were completed for a 15° flap take off and the aircraft was cleared
to enter the runway and depart without delay, having been passed a surface wind of 210°/19 kt. The
commander aligned the aircraft with the Runway centreline and allowed it to move forward a few
metres to ensure that the nosewheels were straight. At this point he reminded the co-pilot of the
existence of a strong crosswind from the left before passing control of the control column and
rudder pedals to the co-pilot. However, in accordance with his own customary practice the
commander kept his toes on the base of the rudder pedals so that he could follow through the co-
pilot's rudder pedal inputs during take off.
At 2002 hrs the commander set the Constant Torque on Takeoff (CTOT) switches to ON and
placed his hands on the power levers. He noticed that the co-pilot had applied a suitable amount of
right rudder to counteract the crosswind whilst he himself used the nosewheel steering to keep the
aircraft aligned with the runway. Next the commander advanced the thrust levers to take-off power
when the co-pilot requested it. At about 60 kt the commander released the nosewheel steering
handwheel, noted the engines were stabilised within 1% of the required 103% torque and called
"your controls" to the co-pilot. Moments later, at an estimated airspeed of 80 kt, the aircraft
suddenly and rapidly swerved to the left. The co-pilot reported that he applied full right rudder
pedal but this did not arrest the yaw and the aircraft began to travel sideways, still tracking close to
the runway centreline but heading towards the left side. The commander called "Stop Stop" and
took control as he retarded the thrust levers and attempted to apply more right rudder but found that
full right rudder pedal was already applied. At the same time he reached over and grasped the
nosewheel steering handwheel and steered into the skid in an attempt to regain directional control.
At this stage the commander had the impression that the aircraft was aquaplaning with a sideslip
angle of about 50° and moving towards the left hand edge of the runway. He attempted to use
reverse thrust to aid directional control and control was partially regained as the aircraft slowed.
However, the commander was unable to prevent the aircraft from leaving the runway. Initially he
thought that only the left main gear had tracked across the grass before he was able to turn the
aircraft right relative to the runway heading and steer it back onto the concrete. It was discovered
later that all three wheel sets had entered the grass. After bringing the aircraft to a halt on the
runway the commander asked for the fire service to inspect the aircraft, which they did. He also
spoke to the cabin crew attendant and instructed her to inform the passengers that they would be
returning to the apron. After inspection by the fire crew, who reported no visible damage, the
aircraft was taxied back to the apron without any further difficulty.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fdc340f0b61342000867/dft_avsafety_pdf_500663.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/5899199 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 24 January 1992 | HB-AHO | Crossair | 0 | Friedrichshafen Airport (FDH) |  |
sub |
| Runway excursion | ||||||
| 13 February 1999 | G-GNTF | British Midland Airways | 0 | East Midlands Airport | |
sub |
| Heavy landing | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Apr-2025 18:11 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 12-Apr-2025 18:12 | ASN | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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