Ridiculously Hard Landing Destroys DC-10 at BWI (World Airlines 8535)

On May 6, 2009, at about 1302 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), an aircraft referred to by the NTSB as a "Boeing DC-10-30," registration N139WA, operated by World Airways as flight 8535, experienced an outrageously hard landing on runway 10 at Baltimore/Washington-Thurgood Marshall International Airport, Baltimore, MD (BWI). The flight crew executed a go-around and landed on runway 33L. The flight was a non-scheduled international passenger flight, operated under 14 CFR Part 121, and had departed Leipzig, Germany at 0700 central European time. The flight was operated under a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense Air Mobility Command carrying troops returning from Iraq. The first officer experienced a serious neck injury. The captain, flight engineer and 9 flight attendants reported minor injuries. There were no additional injuries reported among the 168 passengers. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. 

Before landing the airplane began a pitch up flare maneuver at about 45 feet above the runway threshold. The main landing gear (MLG) touched down first, with the airplane in about a 5.5 degree nose up attitude. Peak vertical acceleration at this touchdown was recorded as 1.6G, and the crew reported it to be a “firm” touchdown. The airplane bounced slightly, extending the main struts and becoming airborne once again. The captain perceived the airplane bounce and the nose pitched up, and he attempted to re-establish a normal landing attitude. Recorded data shows the control column position then shifted from the "pull" used during the flare to a "push" for two seconds. The pitch attitude decreased rapidly. As the nose-down pitch rate built up, the column position switched back to a "pull” and the nose landing gear (NLG) hit the runway at a recorded pitch attitude below zero and an FDR recorded vertical acceleration spike of 2.8G. The captain reported that he felt he had no elevator authority to arrest the derotation.

The cockpit voice recorder recorded a sound consistent with spoiler handle activation, but shortly afterward the flight engineer called “no spoilers.” Spoiler and handle position was not a recorded parameter on this airplane, however Boeing performance analysts note that it is possible that the spoilers were knocked down due to throttle advance. 

The pitch attitude then rebounded, reaching a pitch of 10 degrees nose up less than two seconds later. Both pilots reported the pitch rose very quickly. The control column then switched back to a "push" and engines 1 and 2 began spooling up. The pitch then began to drop rapidly and the NLG impacted the runway a second time, with a peak recorded vertical acceleration over 3.2G. Some dropouts of FDR data were observed at this point. Engines 1 and 2 were accelerating through approximately 85% N1 at the time of the second NLG impact and engine 3 was spooling up through about 50%. The pitch attitude rebounded again and a go-around was initiated, with all 3 engines at climb power. 

Smoke appeared in the cockpit during the climbout, which the crew diagnosed as an overheating AC pack. Some attitude instrumentation was lost, the inertial reference units were damaged and dislodged, and the #1 hydraulic system failed. The Captain declared an emergency with ATC. The controller advised the crew that they appeared to have damaged the nose gear and left debris on the runway. 

The controller-in-charge activated the crash phone and called an “Alert II” notifying the airport rescue and fire fighting equipment and also notified the airport authority. The flight was vectored to a visual approach to runway 33L, remaining in visual conditions and using standby instruments due to the instrumentation failures. The flight deck crew then proceeded to prepare for a landing with blown nose tires and communicated twice with the cabin crew to prepare for an emergency landing. The landing and rollout on runway 33L were successful with no further incident, ARFF vehicles were standing by at the runway and responded immediately as the airplane stopped on runway 33L. The aircraft was wrecked.

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