2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident

European Air Transport OO-DLL

Occurrence
Date	22 November, 2003
Summary	Missile attack, loss of flight controls
Site	Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq
Aircraft type	Airbus A300B4-203F
Operator	European Air Transport for DHL
Registration	OO-DLL
Passengers	0
Crew	3
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Survivors	3 (all)

On 22 November 2003, shortly after takeoff from Baghdad, an Airbus A300 cargo plane, operating for DHL Aviation, was struck on the left wing tip by a surface-to-air missile. Severe wing damage resulted in fire and complete loss of hydraulic flight control systems. Because outboard left wing fuel tank 1A was full at takeoff, there was no fuel-air vapour explosion. Liquid jet fuel dropped away as 1A disintegrated. Inboard fuel tank 1 was pierced and leaking.

Returning to Baghdad, the 3-person crew made an unprecedented injury-free landing of the crippled aircraft, using differential engine thrust as the only pilot input.

Paris Match Reporter Claudine Vernier-Palliez accompanied a Fedayeen commando unit on their strike mission against the DHL aircraft. (Her report translated here.)

Sara Daniel, a French weekly newsmagazine journalist claimed receipt, from an unknown source, of a video that showed insurgents, faces concealed, firing a missile at the A300. Daniel was researching a feature about Iraqi resistance groups but she disclaimed any specific knowledge of the people who carried out the attack.

Destination and crew

The aircraft took off from Baghdad International Airport en route to Bahrain International Airport at 06:30 UTC with an experienced crew of three: two Belgians (Captain Eric Gennotte and First Officer Steeve Michielsen) and a Scot (flight engineer Mario Rofail).

Moments following the strike

To reduce risk of ground attack, the aircraft was executing a rapid climbout. At about 8,000 feet (2,450 metres), a 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14 Gremlin) surface-to-air missile struck the left wing tip. The warhead damaged trailing edge surfaces and structure and caused fire. All three hydraulic systems lost pressure and flight controls were disabled. The aircraft pitched rapidly up and down in a roller-coaster phugoid, oscillating between a nose-up and a nose-down position, trying to re-establish the Angle of attack from which it was disturbed.

As in the case of the 1989 United Airlines Flight 232 disaster in the USA, Captain Gennotte could only use thrust to modify pitch, speed and altitude and vary throttles asymmetrically to control yaw and turn the aircraft. Flight engineer Mario Rofail executed a gravity drop to extend the landing gear, a procedure normally accomplished with hydraulic power. Early deployment of the gear was critical to a safe outcome because increased drag helped reduce speed and stabilize the Airbus.

In about 10 minutes of experimentation, the crew learned to manage turns, climbs and descents. After a meandering trajectory, they executed a right turn and initiated a descent path to Baghdad International Airport.

File:DHL Iraq missile 3.jpg

Reverse thrust.

File:DHL Iraq missile 2.jpg

Left wing damage

Final approach and emergency landing

Because of left wing damage and fuel loss, Rofail had to monitor the engine closely. If fuel flow were lost from the left side, the flight engineer must feed from a right tank without losing thrust. Survival was dependent on accurate control of power from each jet engine.

Gennotte and Michielsen set up for a final approach to runway 33R. Because the aircraft drifted to the right, away from the intended course, Gennotte decided to use the shorter runway 33L. Visibility was excellent and the pilots managed a controlled descent. They knew that, counter-intuitively, they could not retard throttles before touchdown without risking the nose or a wing smashing disastrously into the ground.

At about 400 feet (120 meters), surface generated turbulence upset the aircraft balance and the right wing dipped. With thrust adjustments, the roll was controlled but the aircraft touched down off the runway centerline. Rofail deployed full reverse thrust immediately but the Airbus veered off the paved runway. Running through rough soft ground, throwing a huge plume of sand and dragging a razor wire barrier, the aircraft stopped in about 1,000 meters.

The crew exited down the left emergency slide. Fearing an explosion, the crew started to move away from the crash site, but emergency ground personnel with the US Air Force stopped them from doing so as there was buried explosives (mines) that were meant to be used against Saddam Hussein's forces in Operation Iraq Freedom. The crew was later evacuated from the runway to safety.

Awards and aftermath

The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (founded 1929) jointly honoured crewmembers with the Gordon-Burge Memorial Award. This is awarded to flight crew whose action contributed outstandingly by saving their aircraft or passengers, or made a significant contribution to future air safety. This annual award is made only if a nomination is considered to be of significant merit.

Flight Safety Foundation Professionalism Award in Flight Safety was presented to the crewmembers for their “extraordinary piloting skills in flying their aircraft to a safe landing after a missile strike following takeoff from Baghdad, Iraq.”

In May 2006, Captain Eric Gennotte, together with Armand Jacob, an Airbus experimental test pilot, gave a presentation to the Toulouse branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society titled “Landing an A300 Successfully Without Flight Controls”.

In addition to severe wing and undercarriage damage, both jet engines suffered ruinous abuse by ingesting debris. The already aging aircraft has not flown again.

The incident became widely discussed. For Mario Rofail, the flight engineer, it was a point on which to retire.

The US Air Force Security Policeman who risked his life to run through the unexploded mine field was TSgt Steven E. Klunk. He ran to the burning aircraft and escorted the 3 crew members to the safety of his vehicle. He was never recognized for his heroism.

See also

• United Airlines Flight 232
• Japan Airlines Flight 123
• Flying an airplane without control surfaces
• CAMPS
• Flight Guard
• Northrop Grumman Guardian

External links

• Aviation Safety Network profile, with pictures
• Hawker's gallery of the incident
• Agence France-Presse article about the incident

Sources and references

• Video of Terrorist and plane, launching the missile and impact
• Flight Safety Foundation Award Citation
• Australian Government Civil Aviation Safety Authority
• Australian Society of Air Safety Investigators
• Aviation Week and Space Technology, 12/08/03
• Mayday (also known as Air Emergency and Air Crash Investigation), Season 3, Episode 2: Attack Over Baghdad