BMI (airline) - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• The Stockport Air Disaster: a Canadair C-4 aircraft owned by British Midland Airways, registration G-ALHG, operating a holiday charter flight crashed near the centre of Stockport, Greater Manchester, on 4 June 1967. 72 of the 84 aboard were killed in the accident; 12 were seriously injured.
• On 20 February 1969 a Vickers Viscount, G-AODG, was damaged beyond economic repair when it landed short of the runway at East Midlands Airport. There were no casualties.
• On 20 March 1969 a Vickers Viscount, G-AVJA, crashed on take-off at Ringway Airport, Manchester. Three of the four crew members on board were killed.
• On 22 January 1970 a Vickers Viscount, G-AWXI, was damaged beyond economic repair at London Heathrow Airport when an engine caught fire on take-off. A successful emergency landing was made at Heathrow.
• The Kegworth air disaster: on 8 January 1989 British Midland Flight 092, a Boeing 737-400 registered G-OBME, crashed onto the embankment of the M1 motorway just short of the runway of East Midlands Airport, Leicestershire. 47 people died out of 118 passengers.
• On 24 August 2010 an Airbus A321-231 registration number G-MEDJ en route from Khartoum to Beirut as flight BD996 suffered a serious electrical malfunction which caused the intermittent failure of the captain and co-pilot's electronic displays together with the uncommanded application of left rudder trim. The latter caused the aircraft to stray 20 nautical miles off course. The aircraft was cruising at 36,000 ft at the time, with both autopilot and autothrust engaged. The captain ultimately disengaged both and flew the aircraft manually, landing in Beirut without further mishap. Airbus indicated that an electrical power interruption had occurred which had caused a reset of the Flight Augmentation Computer (FAC). Such an event may cause a small incremental offset of the rudder trim, according to the aircraft manufacturer. The Air Accidents Investigations Board (AAIB) subsequently issued Safety Recommendation 2010-092, recommending that Airbus alert all operators of A320 series aircraft of the possibility that an electrical malfunction may not be clearly annunciated on the Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitoring system (ECAM) and that such an event may lead to an uncommanded input of rudder trim.