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25
Oct
'Catastrophic' bearing failure caused plane to skid off runway at Leeds Bradford, report says
A bearing failure caused an aircraft to skid off the runway at Leeds Bradford Airport last year, a report has found.
A TUI Airways flight from Corfu veered off the runway and onto the grass taxiway on October 20.
A total of 195 passengers and six crew members were onboard at the time.
The airport was closed, and emergency services were called to the scene.
A recent Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigation said the aircraft touched down at Leeds Bradford during Storm Babet and deviated left towards the taxiway.
The report said when the pilot flying the aircraft increased the right rudder input to steer back onto the runway, both pilots felt a “significant judder” from the nose gear.
The pilot then reduced the right rudder input, but the plane continued to veer off the runway, despite “repeated brief right pedal inputs”.
The AAIB added the aircraft sustained minor damage, but no one was injured. It said:
The investigation found that one of the aircraft’s nosewheel bearings had suffered a catastrophic failure, likely during the rollout at Leeds Bradford Airport.
The resultant juddering was unexpected, and the crew was uncertain as to its impact.
However, the investigation found that there was in fact no mechanical impediment to the use of additional rudder and braking to prevent the runway excursion.
Pic: pipsqueek01/cat_cutmore/BantamDxn on Twitter.
The outbound flight to Corfu was uneventful and the crew did not experience any issues with directional control of the aircraft during landing or take off from Corfu, the report also says.
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