Description

On 25 November 2010, a Boeing 737-800 being operated by Thompson Airways on a passenger fight from Arrecife, Lanzarote to Newcastle UK marginally overran Runway 07 at destination onto the paved stopway during a night landing in normal ground visibility. None of the 197 occupants were injured and the aircraft was undamaged. Passengers were disembarked to buses for transport to the terminal. An acceptable disposition of frozen deposits had been advised as present on the runway prior to the approach after a sweeping operation had been conducted following a discontinued approach ten minutes earlier because of advice from ATC that the runway was contaminated with wet snow.

Investigation

A Field Investigation was carried out by the UK AAIB. Useful Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) data were available to assist the Investigation with the CVR recording having been stopped promptly after the accident.

It was found that with the aircraft in its final stopping position, the nose landing gear had remained on the 15 metre long paved stopway surface which extended for a distance of 3 metres beyond the marked runway end. The runway had been described just prior to landing as ‘WET’ throughout its full length with a 2mm depth of wet snow present.