Description of The Incident
Lufthansa Flight 2904 was cleared to land at Okęcie International Airport Rwy 11 and was informed of the existence of wind shear on the approach. To compensate for the crosswind, the pilots attempted to touch down with the aircraft banked slightly to the right. Additionally they landed with a speed about 20 knots (37 km/h) faster than usual. According to the manual, this was the correct procedure for the reported weather conditions. But the weather report was not up to date. At the moment of touch down, the assumed crosswind turned out to be a tailwind. Due to the tailwind of approximately 20 knots (37 km/h) and the increased speed the airplane hit the ground at approximately 170 knots (310 km/h) and far beyond the normal touch down point. The aircraft's right gear touched down 770 m from the runway 11 threshold. The left gear touched down 9 seconds later, 1525 m from the threshold. Only when the left gear touched the runway did the ground spoilers and engine thrust reversers deploy, these automatic systems depending on oleo strut (shock absorber) compression. The wheel brakes, triggered by wheel rotation being equal to or greater than 72 knots (133 km/h) began to operate after about 4 seconds. Seeing the approaching end of the runway and the obstacle behind it, the pilot steered the aircraft off the runway to the right. The aircraft departed the runway at a speed of 72 knots (133 km/h) and rolled 90 m before it hit the embankment and an LLZ aerial with the left wing. A fire started in the left wing area and penetrated into the passenger cabin. Two of 70 occupants died in this accident, including the co-pilot who died on impact and one passenger who was unable to escape because he lost consciousness as a result of the smoke in the cabin.
Marcin Bronikowski, a passenger, told Warsaw Radio ZET station that the incident occurred "in a fraction of a second after landing" and that "there was even hand-clapping after the landing."
Read more about this topic: Lufthansa Flight 2904
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