MK Airlines Flight 1602 - Misplaced Pages

2004 aviation disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia

MK Airlines Flight 1602
Accident
The aircraft involved, four days prior to the accident.
Date	14 October 2004 (2004-10-14)
Summary	Crashed due to incorrect takeoff speed
Site	Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Enfield, Nova Scotia, Canada 44°51′44.7″N 63°31′49.83″W / 44.862417°N 63.5305083°W / 44.862417; -63.5305083
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 747-244B/SF
Operator	MK Airlines
IATA flight No.	7G1602
ICAO flight No.	MKA1602
Call sign	KRUGER AIR 1602
Registration	9G-MKJ
Flight origin	Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States
Stopover	Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Enfield, Nova Scotia, Canada
Destination	Zaragoza Airport, Zaragoza, Spain
Occupants	7
Crew	7
Fatalities	7
Survivors	0

MK Airlines Flight 1602 was an MK Airlines Boeing 747-200F cargo flight on a flight from Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Nova Scotia, Canada, to Zaragoza Airport, Spain. It crashed on take-off in 2004, killing the crew of 7. It was the fourth accident for MK Airlines, as well as the deadliest.

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved, was a Boeing 747-244B/SF, registered as 9G-MKJ with serial number 22170, that was manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in 1980. It logged 80,619 airframe hours and 16,368 takeoff and landing cycles and was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7Q engines.

Crew

In command was Captain Michael Thornycroft, who had been with MK Airlines since its establishment in 1990. He had 23,200 flight hours including 4,000 hours on the Boeing 747. Thornycroft also had dual South African and United Kingdom citizenship. The first officer was Gary Keogh, who had 8,537 flight hours. The flight engineer was Peter Launder, who had 2,000 flight hours. There was also a relief captain and flight engineer. The relief captain was David Lamb, and the relief flight engineer was Steven Hooper, who had 1,600 and 1,990 flight hours respectively. The ground engineer was Mario Zahn, who held dual South African and German citizenship, and the loadmaster was Chris Strydom. Five of the seven crew members were from Zimbabwe; the remaining two (Thornycroft and Zahn) were from South Africa.

Accident

At 00:03 local time, on 14 October 2004, MK Airlines Flight 1602 took off from Windsor Locks-Bradley International Airport. The aircraft was loaded with a cargo of lawn tractors and made an intermediate stop at Halifax at 02:12 to be loaded up with approximately 53,000 kilograms (53 t; 117,000 lb) of lobster and fish.

Flight 1602 taxied to Runway 24 (now assigned '23' designation), and the takeoff roll was commenced at 06:53:22. When the aircraft reached 130 knots (240 km/h; 150 mph), the control column was moved aft to 8.4° to initiate rotation as the aircraft passed the 5,500-foot (1,700 m) mark of Runway 24; with 3,300 feet (1,000 m) left on the runway, the aircraft began to rotate. The pitch attitude stabilized briefly at approximately 9° nose-up, with an airspeed of 144 knots (267 km/h; 166 mph). Because the 747 still had not lifted off the runway, the control column was moved further aft to 10°, and the aircraft responded with a further pitch up to approximately 11°; at this time, a tailstrike occurred. The aircraft was approximately at the 8,000-foot (2,400 m) mark and slightly left of the center-line. The control column was then relaxed slightly, to 9° aft. The pitch attitude stabilized in the 11° range for the next four seconds, and the tailstrike abated as a result. With approximately 600 feet (180 m) of runway remaining, the thrust levers were advanced to 92% and the engine pressure ratios (EPRs) increased to 1.60. With 420 feet (130 m) remaining, a second tailstrike took place. As the aircraft passed the end of the runway, the control column was 13.5° aft, pitch attitude was 11.9° nose-up, and airspeed was 152 knots (282 km/h; 175 mph). The highest recorded nose-up pitch of 14.5° was recorded at one minute and two seconds after takeoff initiation after the aircraft passed the end of the runway at a speed of 155 knots (287 km/h; 178 mph). The aircraft became airborne approximately 670 feet (200 m) beyond the paved surface and flew a distance of 325 feet (99 m). The lower aft fuselage then struck an earthen berm supporting an instrument landing system (ILS) localizer antenna 300 metres (980 ft) beyond the end of the runway, separating from the plane. The plane then headed forwards in a straight line for another 1,200 feet (370 m), breaking into pieces and bursting into flames when it struck the ground.

Emergency response

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2019)

Over 60–80 firefighters and 20 pieces of apparatus from Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency responded to the call. It took nearly three hours to extinguish the post-crash fire.

Investigation

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2019)

An investigation into the crash revealed that the flight crew had used the incorrect speeds and thrust setting during the take-off attempt, with incorrect take-off data being calculated when preparing the flight (incorrect V speed calculation, as the result of the crew re-using a lighter take-off weight of 240,000-kilogram (530,000 lb) from the aircraft's previous take-off at Bradley, instead of the correct weight of 353,000-kilogram (778,000 lb)). The official report blamed the company for serious non-conformance to flight and duty time with no regulations or company rules governing maximum duty periods for loadmasters and ground engineers resulting in increased potential for fatigue-induced errors. Additionally, the report pointed to the crew's unfamiliarity with the use of the Boeing Laptop Tool, which calculated the proper power requirement based on the crew inputting the cargo weight, runway length and weather conditions.

MK Airlines disputed the findings citing that the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was too heavily damaged in the post-crash fire to yield any information.

References

Richer, Shawna (15 October 2004). "Jet crash in Halifax is fourth for airline". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
"Accident Boeing 747-244B (SF) 9G-MKJ, Thursday 14 October 2004". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
^ "Reduced Power at Take-off and Collision with Terrain, MK Airlines Limited, Boeing 747-244SF 9G-MKJ, Halifax International Airport, Nova Scotia. Report Number A04H0004" (PDF). Transportation Safety Board of Canada. 6 April 2006. A04H0004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2010. (French version)
"Widow returns to site of cargo plane crash". The Globe and Mail. Halifax. 14 October 2005. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
"7 Die In Canada Cargo Plane Crash". CBS News. Associated Press. 14 October 2004. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
"Some Progress in the Halifax 747 Freighter Crash - but the recovered CVR is Useless". www.iasa.com.au. The Halifax Herald Limited. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017 – via International Aviation Safety Association.
"Tragedy in Halifax-747 Cargo Jet Crashes-7 Dead - Topic". forums.swissair111.org. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
Kaminski-Morrow, David (4 July 2006). "Canada: 'Old data' led to October 2004 crash on take-off of MK Airlines 747 freighter". Flight Global. London. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
"20 years after fatal Halifax cargo jet crash, safety improvements lag". CBC Nova Scotia. 14 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
"Probe links crash to fatigue". The Globe and Mail. 30 June 2006. Retrieved 2 October 2018.

External links

External images
Photos of the crashed airliner from AirDisaster.com (Archive)
Pre-crash photos of the airliner at airliners.net

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2003 ◄ ► 2005

Aviation accidents and incidents in 2004 (2004)

Jan 3 Flash Airlines Flight 604Jan 13 Uzbekistan Airways Flight 1154Feb 10 Kish Air Flight 7170May 14 Rico Linhas Aéreas Flight 4815Jun 8 Gabon Express Flight 221Jun 29 Northwest Airlines Flight 327Aug 13 Air Tahoma Flight 185Aug 24 Russian aircraft bombingsOct 14 Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701Oct 14 MK Airlines Flight 1602Oct 19 Corporate Airlines Flight 5966Oct 24 Hendrick Motorsports aircraft crashNov 21 China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210Nov 27 Blackwater 61 crashNov 30 Lion Air Flight 538

2003 ◄ ► 2005

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