TNT Airways - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

On 15 June 2006, TNT Airways Flight 352, a Boeing 737-300 cargo aircraft operating a flight from Liège Airport to London Stansted Airport had to divert to East Midlands Airport due to bad weather. On final approach the autopilot was disengaged for a short period. The aircraft touched down off the runway to the left, resulting in the right main landing gear being detached and the right wing tip and engine scraping the ground. The pilots managed to lift off again and subsequently made an emergency diversion to Birmingham International Airport, where a landing was performed on the remaining two landing gears, during which the aircraft scraped on its nose and right engine. There were no injuries. The cause of the crash was determined to be a poorly timed message from local air traffic control which the pilot misinterpreted, causing him to descend too quickly. The team of pilots were said by the airline to have managed the situation with skill once the error had been detected, however were dismissed from service with the company as a result of the incident.