B738, Delhi India, 2014

B738, Delhi India, 2014

Summary

On 5 January 2014, a Boeing 737-800 operating a domestic flight into Dehli diverted to Jaipur due to destination visibility being below approach minima but had to break off the approach there when the aircraft ahead was substantially damaged during landing, blocking the only runway. There was just enough fuel to return to Dehli as a MAYDAY flight and successfully land below applicable minima and with minimal fuel remaining. The Investigation found that a different alternate with better weather conditions would have been more appropriate and that the aircraft operator had failed to provide sufficient ground-based support to the flight.

Description

On 5 January 2014, a Boeing 737-800 (VT-SGU) being operated by SpiceJet on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Goa to Dehli SG 256 was unable to land at its destination due to visibility below applicable approach minima and diverted to Jaipur. Whilst on approach there, the A320 aircraft ahead was "substantially damaged" during landing and blocked the only available runway. The 737 crew declared a MAYDAY and returned to Dehli where a priority below-minima landing was made in night IMC.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by an Indian AAIB Committee of Inquiry. The SSFDR and 2-hour SSCVR were removed and their data downloaded. The SSCVR data covered the period from the hold prior to initial approach vectoring at Delhi onwards.

The Captain was Cat II qualified and had 6,410 hours total flying hours which included 2,003 hours in command on type. The First Officer was Cat III qualified and had 1,996 total flying hours, of which 1,743 hours were on type.

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