A “catastrophic” nose wheel bearing failure led to a Tui Airways aircraft skidding off the runway in bad weather after touchdown at Leeds Bradford airport, air accident investigators have found.
Described as a serious incident by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), the Boeing 737 with 195 passengers and six crew left the runway on landing from Corfu during Storm Babet.
The aircraft sustained minor damage and there were no injuries as a result of the incident on October 20 last year.
“After touching down at Leeds Bradford airport (LBA) in stormy weather, the aircraft began to yaw left of the runway centreline,” the report said.
“When the pilot flying increased the right rudder input to correct the deviation, both pilots reported feeling a significant judder from the nose gear.
“This prompted the pilot flying to reduce the right rudder input and, although there were repeated brief right pedal inputs, the aircraft continued to deviate from the centreline and left the runway.
“The investigation found that one of the aircraft’s nosewheel bearings had suffered a catastrophic failure, likely during the rollout at LBA.
“The resultant juddering was unexpected, and the crew were uncertain as to its impact. However, the investigation found that there was in fact no mechanical impediment to the use of additional rudder and braking to prevent the runway excursion.”
The report concluded: “The deviation from the centreline, resulting from the strong crosswind from the left, required more right rudder input than was applied, in order to correct it.
Additional use of differential braking to assist was also available. There was an unusual juddering from the nosewheel reported by the crew likely resulting from the failure of a nosewheel bearing.
“There was no mechanical defect identified by the investigation which would have prevented the crew from applying the additional right rudder that was available to keep the aircraft on the runway.”
Picture credit: AAIB