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performance related incidents & accidents

with the Boeing 737

Insufficient performance

To let pilots realize that performance plays a big part in the daily operation, listed below is a summary of incidents and accidents where the performance of the aircraft was insufficient. 
Most of these incidents resulted in runway excursions causing damage varying from minor structural to hull losses with fatalities. 

 

Runway excursions
Runway excursions can be divided in veer-offs (aircraft departs the side of the runway) and overruns (aircraft unable to stop before the end of the runway) and is the most frequent accident cause worldwide (3rd most in EASA countries) and rank in 6th place in terms of fatal accidents. 

Landing overruns or RTO (Rejected Take Off) overruns might be caused by incorrect performance analysis and/or weight entry errors, possible due to wrong calculations, or FMC (Flight Management Computer) or computerized performance tool entry errors. 

 

Tail strikes
Tailstrikes are situations where the tail of the airplane touches (scrapes) the ground, either on takeoff or during landing. This might be caused by either over-rotation (pitch attitude too high) but can also be caused by trying to rotate or to land at a too low speed. In turn, this too low (rotation VR - or landing reference VREF - ) speed can, similar to runway excursion situations, be caused by incorrect performance analysis and/or weight entry errors, possible due to wrong calculations, or FMC (Flight Management Computer) or computerized performance tool entry errors.

Boeing 737
This summary only gives an overview of recent incidents and accidents where the Boeing 737 was involved and only those where the (near) runway excursion was not (solely) caused by technical failure. Besides these, realize that most of the performance related incidents (think about eg. FMC weight/speed data entry errors and wrong flap selections) do fortunately not turn into incidents or accidents and therefore will not reach the public. 

This overview is updated regularly.

Recent performance related incidents and accidents 

Date
Occurence
Location
Airline
Aircraft
Facts
Final Report
read more
27/11/2018
LANDING OVERRUN
Manaus (Brazil) rwy 29
B737-200
Heavy rain, excess approach speed
No
25/11/2018
LANDING OVERRUN
Yogyakarta (Indonesia) rwy 09
B737-800
Wet runway
No
16/09/2017
LANDING OVERRUN
Aquaba (Jordan) rwy 19
B737-300
Late touchdown in tailwind with incorrect configuration after an unstabilized approach.
No
01/09/2018
LANDING OVERRUN
Sochi (Russia) rwy 06
B737-800
Wet, contaminated runway, changing winds, long flare, late reverse and insufficient braking due to runway friction less than 0.3, which does not allow a landing, but was actually less than reported to the crew.
No
05/08/2016
LANDING OVERRUN
Milan Bergamo (Italy) rwy 28
B737-400
Delayed touchdown / low light conditions / wet runway / possible fatigue
No
01/08/2018
LANDING OVERRUN
Pardubice (Chech Republic) rwy 27
B737-800
Wet runway, light tailwind
No
28/01/2017
LANDING OVERRUN
Leticia (Columbia) rwy 21
B737-400
Burst tyre due to inadequate maintenance procedures, combined with poor runway condition in light rain
No
18/09/2014
INSUFFICIENT TAKEOFF THRUST (2 incidents combined)
Groningen (Netherlands) rwy 05 / Lissabon (Portugal) rwy 21
B737-800
Erroneous takeoff performance calculations.
No
03/03/2018
LANDING OVERRUN
Guayaquil (Ecuador) rwy 21
B737-400
Light rain, wet runway
No
23/02/2018
LANDING OVERRUN
Green Bay (USA) rwy 06 (2347m / 7700ft)
B737-900
Slippery runway
No
17/01/2018
TAILSTRIKE ON TAKEOFF
Auckland (New Zealand) rwy 05R (3230m / 10590ft)
B737-800
Decrease in headwind during rotation.
No
28/09/2017
TAILSTRIKE ON DEPARTURE
Dallas Ft.Worth Texas (USA) runway 35L
B737-800
No
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