Plane to make emergency landing in Tallinn landed with stopped engines
The Airbus A320-214 aircraft of Latvian airline Smartlynx to make an emergency landing at Tallinn Airport during a training flight on Feb. 28 narrowly escaped catastrophe, as by the time the aircraft landed, both of the plane's engines had stopped.
The Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau (OJK) has inspected all of the flight recordings of the plane to make the emergency landing in Tallinn and is now focusing its investigation on the aircraft's navigation system.
Based on gathered information, the OJK said that the aircraft departed from Tallinn Airport at 12:02 p.m. to conduct training flights. Onboard were a captain-instructor as well as a second pilot, four students and a Civil Aviation Administration inspector. Practiced during the training flight were runway approaches as well as landings.
After a successful runway approach at 5:04 p.m., the aircraft was unable to regain altitude. The aircraft did not react to any instructions, lost altitude and collided with the runway. During the collision, th aircraft's engines touched the runway, and the covering flaps of the aircraft's main landing gear fell apart, the bureau said.
Following this collision, the aircraft managed to regain altitude and the pilots were able to stabilize the aircraft and turn back in order to land on the runway. Both engines, however, stopped after the plane's turn.
The pilot of the aircraft requested and was granted permission to make an emergency landing. The aircraft landed at 5:11 p.m., about 150 meters from the runway, coming to a halt 15 meters south of the runway.
All of the aircraft's tires broke in the course of the training. The instructor and one of the students sustained mild injuries as a result of the accident.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS