Thomson Airways Flight 1526

On 21 July 2017, a Boeing 737-800, operating as Thomson Airways Flight 1526 from Belfast International Airport and bound for Corfu, Greece with 185 people aboard, suffered a "serious incident" during takeoff, colliding with a runway approach light during departure. The incident was investigated by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and determined to be the result of an incorrect temperature input into the aircraft's flight computer resulting in underperformance at take-off. The area beyond the runway and the terrain beyond were largely unobstructed, and the aircraft eventually climbed away undamaged. The remainder of the flight to Corfu was uneventful. The "serious incident" at take-off was realized and reported when airport staff subsequently observed minor ground damage. The investigation report concluded that the crew could not reasonably have been expected to recognize the anomalously low speed sooner or intervene more effectively.[1] The report listed several examples of aircraft underperformance at takeoff, reviewed the history of relevant industry efforts, and recommended that a Takeoff Acceleration Monitoring System and associated certification standards should be developed without further delay.[2]

Thomson Airways Flight 1526
C-FWGH, the aircraft involved.
Incident
Date21 July 2017
SummaryAircraft struck a runway approach light on departure due to incorrect temperature entry into flight computer resulting in insufficient power.
SiteBelfast International Airport, Northern Ireland
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-800
OperatorSunwing Airlines on behalf of Thomson Airways
RegistrationC-FWGH
Flight originBelfast International Airport, Northern Ireland
DestinationCorfu, Greece
Occupants185
Passengers179
Crew6
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Survivors185 (all)

Aircraft

The incident aircraft was a Boeing 737-86J(WL) serial number 38124, registration C-FWGH. The aircraft was delivered to Air Berlin in 2011 as registration D-ABMC. The aircraft entered Sunwing Airlines fleet in 2017 following the bankruptcy of Air Berlin. During the time of the incident Thomson Airways had leased the aircraft for the summer season from 29 April until 31 October 2017.

Incident details

The outside air temperature was 16 °C, but the operating crew entered incorrect figures (variously -47 °C and -52 °C) for the airport outside air temperature, into the flight management computer, resulting in miscalculation of the required N1, the engine fan speed (low-pressure compressor speed) required on the take-off run.[3] (Both incorrect figures appeared as OATs on the flight plan: -47 °C at the first waypoint after top-of-climb, -52 °C at top-of-climb.[3] Delays around reporting the incident meant that the Cockpit Voice Recorder information was not available for the investigation.[3][4])

When the co-pilot returned from the exterior inspection, he listened to the ATIS to find out the runway in use and the weather conditions. Using the passenger and baggage figures from the ground handling company, and the weather information from the ATIS, each pilot completed weight and balance, and performance calculations independently on his EFB. These calculations were then crosschecked before the information was entered into the FMC. The flight crew then completed a taxi and takeoff briefing covering items such as the expected taxi and departure routing and including a discussion on the handling of emergencies during the takeoff and departure. At some point during the cockpit preparation, [the first incorrect] figure of -47 °C was entered into the FMC as the outside air temperature (OAT).

— AAIB, Report on the serious incident to Boeing 737-86J, C-FWGH | Belfast International Airport on 21 July 2017

As the aircraft departed Runway 07, the crew noticed unusually slow acceleration as well as a low climb rate, a fact noted by witnesses on the ground. Shortly after lifting off the runway one of the aircraft's landing gear collided with a supplementary runway approach light. The light was knocked loose from its mounting and crushed while the 737 suffered no damage. Crewmembers were not made aware of the incident until ATC personnel at Belfast airport filed an incident report with the AAIB.[5]

Map of Belfast International Airport

Analysis

Usage of inaccurate takeoff data can be fatal, as it can lead to runway overruns and possibly collisions with obstructions. One such close call event happened at Melbourne Airport in 2009 when the pilots of an Emirates flight entered incorrect take off data, leading to a too low thrust setting. This led to the aircraft overrunning the runway for some 150m before taking off, and barely clearing the airport perimeter fence. This incident is a case where checklists and other safeguards have failed the pilots.[6] Once airborne the crew checked the take-off performance data: the N1 level was 81.5%, far below the required level of 92.7%. Thrust was only increased when the aircraft reached 800 feet, about 4 km after becoming airborne.[7]

Neither the installed flight management computer software nor the Electronic flight bags (EFBs) in use helped in detecting the data input error.[8] A recent software release had not yet been installed, and the software omitted the cross-check of the pilot input data against the outside air temperature actually measured. The pilot became aware of the aircraft's underperformance late in the take-off run but did not intervene effectively. The Report explored various human-factors aspects of the incident, concluding that the pilots could not reasonably have been expected to respond more quickly to the developing situation, either before or after becoming airborne. It reviews and lists recent incidents of aircraft underperformance at take-off, reviews industry efforts to provide automatic warning in such situations, and calls for closer regulatory attention to pilots' portable computers ('electronic flight bags').[3]

Relevance to aircraft systems

This incident was included in discussions of proposed new aircraft equipment:

  • Extended duration Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)[4]
  • Takeoff Performance Monitoring System (TOPMS) or Takeoff Acceleration Monitoring System (TAMS).[3][9] A 2019 research paper explores the cause of this serious incident, caused by erroneous data entry. The paper "summarises a basic takeoff acceleration monitoring system and the effect this would have had on the July 2017 event".[10]

References
  1. Ranter, Harro (2017-07-21). "Serious incident Boeing 737-86J (WL) C-FWGH, 21 Jul 2017". Aviation Safety Network >. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  2. "Investigator calls for take-off acceleration monitoring". Flight Safety Australia. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  3. "Aircraft Accident Report AAR 2/2018 - C-FWGH, 21 July 2017". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  4. Cookson, Simon (2020). Stanton, Neville (ed.). "Overwritten or Unrecorded: A Study of Accidents & Incidents in Which CVR Data Were not Available". Advances in Human Factors of Transportation. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. Springer International Publishing. 964: 702–714. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-20503-4_63. ISBN 9783030205034.
  5. "Boeing 737 Narrowly Avoided Disaster in Belfast After Crew Error". Bloomberg.com. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  6. Albright, James (2018). "Dodging the Golden BB". code7700.com. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  7. Kaminski-Morrow, David (2018-11-21). "Probe into 737 near-overrun details temperature blunders". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  8. "B738, Belfast International UK, 2017 - SKYbrary Aviation Safety". www.skybrary.aero. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  9. Benard, Bart (2019). "Take-Off performance incidents: do we need to accept them or can we avoid them?" (PDF). ISASI Technical Papers.
  10. Hoare, Steve (2019). "Erroneous takeoff performance: Why the past is still highly relevant today" (PDF). ISASI Technical Papers.
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