MK Airlines Flight 1602

MK Airlines Flight 1602

The aircraft involved in the incident at Filton Airfield, England on 10 October 2004, four days prior to the accident.
Accident
Date	14 October 2004
Summary	Pilot error due to inadequate company-related management of aircraft
Site	Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Nova Scotia, Canada
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 747-244B/SF
Aircraft name	(previously Waterberg)
Operator	MK Airlines
Registration	9G-MKJ
Flight origin	Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, US
Stopover	Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Enfield, Nova Scotia, Canada
Destination	Zaragoza Airport, Spain
Passengers	0
Crew	7
Fatalities	7 (all)
Survivors	0

MK Airlines Flight 1602 was a Boeing 747-200F cargo flight from Bradley International Airport, Connecticut, USA to Zaragoza Airport, Spain with an intermediate stop at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Nova Scotia, Canada. It crashed on take-off killing the crew of 7. It is currently the 19th worst aviation accident involving a Boeing 747 aircraft.

Aircraft and Crew

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 747-244BSF with the registration 9G-MKJ. Its first flight was October 24, 1980 and was delivered to South African Airways on November 6 of that same year with the registration ZS-SAR. On November 11, 1992 it was leased to Garuda Indonesia with the registration 3B-NAS. On December 4, 1994 it was returned back to South African Airways with the same registration it had before. MK Airlines acquired the aircraft on March 20, 2000 with the registration 9G-MKJ. It has approximately 80,619 flight hours and approximately 16,368 flights completed before the accident. It was powered by 4 Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines. It was originally constructed as a Combi Aircraft before being converted to a full freighter aircraft in 1995.

Of the crew onboard flying the Captain had approximately 23,200 flight hours 4,000 of which in the Boeing 747, the First Officer had approximately 8,537 flight hours, while the Flight Engineer had approximately 2,000 flight hours.

Crash

At approximately 12:03 AM EST on October 14, 2004 MK Airlines flight 1602 departed Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut for a flight to Zaragoza, Spain with a stop in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The aircrafts cargo consisted of lawn tractors. At approximately 2:12 EST the aircraft landed on runway 24 at Halifax after an uneventful flight from Hartford. At Halifax the aircraft was loaded with 53,000 kg of lobster and fish. After fueling, the total fuel load was 89 400 kg. The planned takeoff weight was 353 000 kg. The Boeing Laptop Tool (BLT) was then used to calculate the takeoff speeds. Since the software was last used before the takeoff from Bradley, it still contained those figures. The airport information and weather was changed to Halifax, but somehow the takeoff weight was not changed and remained showing 240.000 kg. Takeoff performance data were generated, resulting in incorrect V speeds and thrust setting being transcribed to the takeoff data card. It is most likely that the crew did not adhere to the operator's procedures for an independent check of the takeoff data card, so the erroneous figures went unnoticed.

It was dark, but the weather was fine as the airplane was cleared to taxi to runway 24 (8800 ft / 2682 m long) for departure. After push back, the aircraft began to taxi, the flaps were extended to 20°, and the horizontal stabilizer was set to 6.1 trim units, where it remained for the duration of the flight. The flight control checks were completed during the taxi. The aircraft entered runway 24 at Taxiway Delta and backtracked to the threshold. The aircraft then made a 180° turn to the right and, upon lining up with the runway, the thrust levers were advanced and a rolling takeoff was commenced at 06:53:22.

At the start of the takeoff roll, the thrust levers were smoothly advanced from ground idle thrust (approximately 1.0 EPR) to takeoff power with all final EPR settings indicating between 1.3 and 1.33. The aircraft accelerated through 80 KCAS (06:53:46) approximately 1800 feet (550 m) from the threshold. At 130 KCAS, the control column was moved aft to 8.4° to initiate rotation as the aircraft passed the 5500-foot (1680 m) mark of runway 24 (3300 feet / 1010 m of runway remaining). The aircraft began to rotate. The pitch attitude stabilized briefly at approximately 9° nose-up, with airspeed at 144 KCAS. Because the 747 still had not lifted off the runway, the control column was moved further aft to 10°, and the aircraft responded with a further pitch up to approximately 11°; initial contact of the lower aft fuselage with the runway occurred at this time. The aircraft was approximately at the 8000-foot (2450 m) mark and slightly left of the centreline. The control column was then relaxed slightly, to 9° aft.

The pitch attitude stabilized in the 11° range for the next four seconds, and the lower aft fuselage contact with the runway ended briefly. With approximately 600 feet (185 m) of runway remaining, the thrust levers were advanced to 92 per cent and the EPRs increased to 1.60. With 420 feet (130 m) remaining, the lower aft fuselage contacted the runway a second time. As the aircraft passed the end of the runway, the control column was 13.5° aft, pitch attitude was 11.9° nose-up, and airspeed was 152 KCAS. The highest recorded nose-up pitch of 14.5° (06:54:24) was recorded after the aircraft passed the end of the runway at a speed of 155 KCAS. The aircraft became airborne approximately 670 feet (205 m) beyond the paved surface and flew a distance of 325 feet (100 m). The lower aft fuselage then struck an earthen berm supporting an instrument landing system (ILS) localizer antenna. The aircraft's tail separated on impact, and the rest of the aircraft continued in the air for another 1200 feet (370 m) before it struck terrain and burst into flames.

Rescue

On seeing the fireball of the aircraft, the Halifax International Airport tower controller activated the crash alarm. The airport ARFF units responded and arrived at the accident site approximately five minutes after the crash alarm sounded. The Halifax International Airport ARFF firefighters were the first on the scene and took command of the situation. Although they were responding outside the airport perimeter security fence, they suspected that the aircraft was still on airport property. According to the TSB report the accident was not survivable by any of the seven crew members.

Investigation

An investigation into the crash led by the TSB revealed that the flight crew had used the incorrect speeds and thrust setting during the take-off attempt, with incorrect take-off data being calculated when preparing the flight (incorrect V speed calculation, as the result of the crew re-using a lighter take-off weight of 240,000 kg from the aircraft's previous take-off at Bradley, instead of the correct weight of 353,000 kg). The official report blamed the company for serious non-conformances to flight and duty time, with no regulations or company rules governing maximum duty periods for loadmasters and ground engineers, resulting in increased potential for fatigue-induced errors.

MK Airlines disputed the findings, citing the fact that the cockpit voice recorder was too heavily damaged in the post-crash fire to yield any information. [1]

See also

• Asiana Airlines Flight 991
• National Airlines Flight 102
• UPS Flight 6

External links

External images
Photos of the crashed airliner from AirDisaster.com
Pre-crash photos of the airliner at airliners.net

• MK Airlines Flight 1602 final accident report
• MK Airlines Flight 1602 final accident report Template:Fr icon