Korean A330 landing accident at Cebu, Philippines
 

This accident was reported a couple of hours ago: https://www.aviation24.be/airports/c...ional-airport/

Korean Air A330 off runway in Phillipines
 

It was a landing after two go-arounds. Many companies prohibit landings after the second go-around. A flight to their alternate would have saved the day.

Two approaches, 13 minutes apart, followed by 40 minutes holding and then the third and last approach.

RPVM can get pretty flooded in storms, braking action can be pretty low. The runway is crowned, but not grooved and has no PFC overlay. If there is a cross wind and heavy rain there can be ponding. The damage to the RHS suggests that CAAP may need to revisit the definition of" frangible". That could have been a lot more serious than it has been. The boys were lucky to not hit the tank trap head on, FO probably needs shoes re-soled. 1998 model -300, the insurance payout will be less than the repair costs. Write off is probably a good call by the pundits. The last approach is pretty much on speed and close to G/S crossing the coast, no gross error up to that point. passing the last high speed (TWY H) they are still doing 98 Kts GS, and they lose another 8 kts in the next ~ 3000'. That's about -0.02g deceleration, which is pretty much nothing at all. The CVR will be interesting, and the DFDR/QAR will also tell a story. Strange things occasionally happen, like HDA-323, so, determination of crew performance and decisions will be quite dependent on the facts, and they will be available at least to the operator. CAAP normally is nice to deal with, but accident reports are not one of their fortés. Things that can happen... FCTL-FLAP LOCK, etc... HYD SYS ....Hold onto the vegetables and eggs until the facts develop, as some of this looks like it was reasonably flown, yet didn't work to the expectation of the passengers, particularly those with bags in the forward hold. Lucky live animals are usually stowed in the rear holds.. Flap Config, Thrust reversers look curious for a cross country into the rough. :ok:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....324d24e23.jpeg


The photos are taken some time after the "alighting", the spoilers may have bled down, or may have been stowed by the crew, even though there is no overwind exit door or windows.




It is quite an achievement to exit the far end with 80 knots, despite an LDA of 3310 meters.
I read on avherald that apparently they didn’t have anti-skid and also one reverser was not working.
my lido info of RPVM lacks a chart for an ils, but this plane went through a localizer antenna…(?)
Diversion might have been a better idea instead of holding for 40 minutes.

https://japantoday.com/category/worl...pines#comments


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b74db0f89.jpeg

Whether intentional or not I would be very reluctant to criticize the crew until more details emerge. Tropical downpours, in my opinion, are a very underestimated threat, especially with no centreline lights or grooving. Visibility and braking action can change in a heartbeat. It only needs a few additional factors or system failures to go pear shaped. I feel for the crew they will be in a dark place at the moment.

Looks like mostly approach lights wrapped around the fuselage, but there may well be bits of LLZ antenna there too, given the proximity:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4e67c78042.jpg

It would be interesting to know what the weather was like at alternate/s

Mactan was always a black hole - not unknown, at night, to have no ILS with no VASIS/PAPI ..... always fun in a widebody. Back to real basics. Always briefed "slippery when dry" :-)

<sarcasm> if you can't land after your second go-around, how do you get the plane on the ground? I has to land, even if it's somewhere else.</sarcasm>

According to a series of messages reported on AvHerald apparently from a passenger, it appears that the first approach was followed by a relatively normal go-around. The second approach resulted in a very hard touchdown which the author felt occurred just AFTER a go-around had been initiated. "I noticed he began to pitch back just before hitting the runway. Perhaps he noticed we had a fast approach? The impact was a single loud bang, louder than any rough landing I’ve ever experienced."

Subsequently there was an emergency landing briefings from flight deck and cabin crew. 3rd approach "touchdown, [which] was completely smooth, unshaky, and a buttery impact. Passengers began clapping at the seemingly anticlimactic result, since we were bracing for the worst."
Then "I did not feel any braking force. I could sit up straight without resisting a forward force. I did not hear the engines engaging, or revving up, for reverse thrust. I had my wife and I resume safety position just as the flight attendants started back with the shouted instructions again. Time felt simultaneously slow and fast. We placed the complimentary pillows between our heads and the seats just before we ran off the end of the runway. The grinding halt felt like it lasted roughly 5 seconds."

Entirely speculative of course: but could indicate that the impact after 2nd approach resulted in significant damage, holding was to diagnose issues, 3rd approach deliberately gentle touchdown to minimise further gear damage, but resulted in over-run?

The reported absence of both braking and reverse thrust could hint at an aircraft that doesn't know it's on the ground.

But as long as the pilots know....?

A ground/air sensor issue looks like a good spot to be considering. That is well recorded in both the QAR and DFDR data stream. Being KAL, there will be a lot of dialog as well back to Ops by SATCOM, and crew are likely still in one piece if not shorter than before. Ground/Air sensing has messed up landings on various aircraft previously, usually is memorably bad outcome. Smart planes don't behave well in that case, many items fail to function... like brakes (design dependent) ground spoilers, thrust reverse... just the stuff necessary to stop after landing.

FDR has a valid point. If you remember the Iberia 340-600 incident in Quito Ecuador, it suffered a very hard landing which led to loss of signalling from the main gears which then caused a lack of deployment. The aircraft was written off post removal. It is just possible that something like this happened here.