Description

On 25 May 2008 a Kalitta Air B747-200F, which was departing Brussels on a cargo flight to Bahrain, overran Runway 20 at Brussels Airport, Belgium during a rejected take-off. The aircraft came to a stop 300m beyond the end of runway 20 and broke into three parts. The crew of four and one passenger safely evacuated from the aircraft and suffered only minor injuries.

The Investigation

The Belgian AAIU carried out the Accident Investigation and noted that the initial phase of the take-off run had occurred normally with the speed increasing under a constant acceleration until one of the engines experienced a bird strike. This caused a momentary loss of power, accompanied by a loud bang, which was heard by the crew and external witnesses, and by flames which were seen from the Control Tower. The bang and the loss of power occurred 4 seconds after the V1 speed call had been made. Two seconds after the bang, all four engines were retarded to idle and braking action was initiated. The aircraft crossed a small embankment and dropped approximately 4 metres onto the perimeter road, which caused it to break into three parts. It continued moving and subsequently came to a stop just before a 20 metre deep railway cutting was encountered.

The Final Report was published on 10 July 2009 and found that “the accident was caused by the decision to reject the take-off 12 knots after passing V1 speed” and that “the following factors contributed to the accident: