Biman A310 Nosewheel Collapse At Takeoff Speed On 12 March

Air Safety Week,  March 19, 2007  

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Video link's at tinyurl.com/ynq82s . Video displays the Biman Airways A310 hurtling down the Dubai runway at a point where it disappears behind the hangars. That is well into the last third of the runway. The runway end is opposite the hangars seen on the left. Fortunately the aircraft stopped on the runway, but in an unimaginably short distance. The crew appears to have been a bit slow in getting the power off. Why did the nose wheel collapse? The nose landing gear folded backwards yet it normally retracts forwards into its nose- gear bay. The answer to why is below:

The aircraft landing in front of the Biman hit debris on the runway and parts of it were embedded in their aircraft. The aircraft (a Cathay Pacific 747- 300 freighter) arrived on stand missing one tire, but we're hearing that everything else was intact. The A310 was then cleared for take-off after the landing aircraft (the freighter) cleared -- and it 'collected' some parts of the debris too. Shades of the Air France Concorde in Paris? The "engine fires" reported as the A310 was 'taking off' appear to have actually been the engine nacelles running along the tarmac.

Apparently the nosegear's drag link must have failed to allow the nosegear to fail and fold aft. We're wondering whether Dubai Airport management will be admitting that they're not paying enough attention to sweeping their one runway whilst the new one is being built alongside. Sounds like the construction engineers are spreading debris far and wide. The airport was closed for eight hours -- a financial disaster at a major global hub. A photo of the A310 at rest is at tinyurl.com/28ud3w

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