Description

On 8 January 1989, a Boeing 737-400 being operated by British Midland Airways on a scheduled passenger flight from London Heathrow to Belfast Aldergrove experienced a malfunction in an engine and the engine believed to be at fault was shut down. It was decided to make an en route diversion to East Midlands, but when thrust was increased on the engine believed to be serviceable on final approach, it failed and a fire warning was annunciated. Loss of control was followed soon afterwards by terrain impact in the vicinity of East Midlands which led to the destruction of the aircraft. There was no post crash fire but 39 of the passengers died as a result of the impact and a further 82 of the 126 occupants sustained serious injuries which in 8 cases led to their subsequent death.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch (UK) (AAIB). Data from the 25 hour Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the 30 minute Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) were successfully recovered and the absence of any post crash fire in the fuselage permitted an unusually comprehensive and valuable examination of the wreckage.

A Special Bulletin S2/89 was issued on 20 March1989 to summarise factual information then available and to list the 7 Safety Recommendations which had been made to the UK CAA up to and including 23 February 1989.