Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) (Ottawa) yesterday (March 30) issued its first information and preliminary report on the crash landing of Air Canada flight ACA 624 at Halifax, Nova Scotia early on March 29:
Collision with terrain involving an Air Canada Airbus A320 at Stanfield International Airport, Halifax, Nova Scotia
The occurrence
On March 29, 2015, at approximately 1240 a.m., Air Canada flight ACA 624, an Airbus A320, on a scheduled flight from Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Ontario (YYZ), to Halifax, Nova Scotia (YHZ), collided with terrain approximately 1100 feet from the threshold of Runway 05, eventually coming to rest about 1100 feet down the runway. There were 133 passengers and 5 crew members on board; all of whom exited the aircraft. Twenty-five people were taken to hospital for treatment of injuries.
What we know
The initial impact was significant and caused substantial damage to the aircraft. The main landing gear separated and the underside of the aircraft was heavily damaged (fuselage and wings). During this impact, the aircraft collided with a localizer antenna array – part of the instrument landing system – and became airborne again, travelling forward on Runway 05. There is an extensive debris field between the localizer antenna location and the threshold of the runway.
During the first day on site, Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigators documented the wreckage, the impact marks and the debris field. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and the flight data recorder (FDR) were recovered from the aircraft and have been sent to the TSB Engineering Laboratory in Ottawa, Ontario.
Investigation team work
The investigation team is led by the Investigator-in-Charge, Doug McEwen. Mr. McEwen has been an investigator with the TSB for 18 years. He is assisted in this investigation by experts in flight operations, air traffic services, weather, aircraft structures, aircraft systems, aircraft engines, and human performance.
Some of these experts come from within the TSB, but assistance is also being provided by the following organizations: Transport Canada (TC), NAV CANADA, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Airbus, and France’s Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses. This is a normal part of any investigation, as these experts play a key role in helping the team uncover and understand all of the underlying factors which may have contributed to the accident.
Watchlist
Although more analysis is required, this accident displays some of the characteristics of an approach-and-landing accidents which is on TSB’s Watchlist.
Next steps
The investigation is ongoing and the next steps include the following:
survey the impact and wreckage site
continue examining and photographing the wreckage
removing the aircraft from the runway to restore normal operations
gather Air Traffic Control voice and data recordings
conduct witness interviews
gather meteorological information
collect operational information from the aircraft
preliminary review of the recorders at the TSB Lab to assist field investigators
determine which wreckage to collect for closer examination
further examination will be at the TSB Lab
Communication of safety deficiencies
Should the investigation team uncover safety deficiencies that present an immediate risk, they will be communicated without delay so they may be addressed quickly and the aviation system made safer.
The information posted is factual in nature and does not contain any analysis. Analysis of the accident and the Findings of the Board will be part of the final report. The investigation is ongoing.
The TSB is an independent agency that investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.
Air Canada provided this Update #3 on the accident:
Air Canada confirms that all but one of the passengers and crew admitted to area hospitals for observation and treatment have now been released.
“We at Air Canada are greatly relieved that no one was critically injured. Yet we fully appreciate this has been a very unsettling experience for our customers and their families, as well as our employees, and we are focused on caring for all those affected. We will also fully cooperate with the Transportation Safety Board as it begins an investigation to determine the cause,” said Klaus Goersch, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Air Canada.
Additional Air Canada management personnel have arrived in Halifax to provide assistance to passengers and their families
No further details are available at this time, however Air Canada will provide regular updates on Twitter and on its webite at aircanada.com as warranted.
Family members who seek information about passengers on Flight AC624 may telephone Air Canada at 1-800-961-7099.
Flight AC624, an Airbus A320 carrying 133 passengers and five crew, was involved in an incident upon landing at Halifax International Airport, Nova Scotia. The incident occurred at approximately 00:43 AT Sunday March 29 (23:43 ET March 28).
Top Photo: TSB. Airbus A320-211 C-FTJP (msn 214), while a probable insurance write off, is largely intact after the impact with terrain and allowed for the safe evacuation of the airliner.
Filed under: Air Canada Tagged: 233, A320, A320-200, A320-211, Air Canada, Airbus, Airbus A320, Airbus A320-200, C-FTJP, Crash Landing, Halifax, Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Impact with terrain, investigation, Nova Scotia, Stanfield International Airport, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, TSB, YHZ