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| Date: | Monday 25 May 1992 |
| Time: | 04:25 |
| Type: |  Boeing 747-212B |
| Owner/operator: | Virgin Atlantic Airways |
| Registration: | G-TKYO |
| MSN: | 21939/449 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1980 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 266 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Location: | Near Tokyo-Narita International Airport (NRT/RJAA) -
 Japan
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Tokyo-Narita International Airport (NRT/RJAA) |
| London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Flight VS 901 from Narita Airport, Tokyo, to London Heathrow was off-stand, on schedule, at 0355
hrs. Neither the Technical Log from the previous flight, nor the pre-flight checks for this flight, had
revealed any significant technical abnormality and the take-off, from runway 34, was achieved without event. The noise abatement procedure at Narita required that climb power was set at 1500 feet amsl, with the climb to the acceleration height of 3000 feet made at V2 +10 kt (182 kt).
The initial climb was uneventful until, at 3000 feet/220 kt and as the flaps were retracted from 10° to 5°, a severe vibration was felt which appeared to emanate from the left side of the aircraft. The crew thought that a landing gear door had not seated properly and so, since the vibration ceased after about five seconds, the rest of the flap was retracted on schedule. However, when the aircraft then accelerated to a climb speed of 272 kt (V2 +100 kt) the vibration returned, although to a lesser degree, and the commander, believing that it was speed-related, reduced the speed by 10 kt. Although this caused the vibration to reduce, it could still be felt on the flight deck as a small, though rapid, horizontal circular movement of the floor.
The aircraft continued the climb to FL 290 and was above cloud with the 'Seatbelt' sign out, when a
flight attendant came into the flight deck and said that the vibration in the area of door 3 left was very severe, and was alarming the passengers. The commander therefore asked the supernumary flight engineer to go into the cabin and make a visual inspection of the affected area, and the aircraft exterior. When he returned to the flight deck and reported that there was a significant 'hole' in the upper surface of the left wing, at the inboard trailing edge, the commander asked ATC for clearance to jettison fuel and return to Narita. He then accompanied the same engineer to inspect the damage for himself and was told that the size of the hole had already increased.
The flight engineer then positioned himself at door 3L so that he could observe the progress of the
damage and, if necessary, report to the commander from that intercom station. The fuel jettison was
successfully accomplished off the coastline to the southeast of Shoshi, at the minimum height of
6000 feet, and the aircraft returned to Narita. The commander had meanwhile consulted the Flight
Manual, which required an increment of 5 kt to the Vref, and decided to use 30° flap for the landing,
which was subsequently accomplished without further event. However, by the time they had landed,
the hole in the left wing had further increased in size
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f3dd40f0b613460004fd/Boeing_747-212B__G-TKYO_08-92.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6476956 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 19 August 1994 | G-TKYO | Virgin Atlantic Airways | 0 | New York-Newark Liberty International Airport, NJ (EWR/KEWR) |  |
min |
| 10 December 1995 | N616FF | Tower Air | 0 | Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport (AMS) |  |
min |
| Wingtip, pod strike | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Apr-2025 14:23 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 15-Apr-2025 14:25 | ASN | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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