Narrative:A Boeing 727-277 cargo plane sustained substantial damage in a runway excursion accident at Lagos-Murtala Muhammed Airport (LOS), Nigeria. The three crew members were not injured.
Flight DV110 departed Abidjan, Ivory Coast on a cargo flight to Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria. The aircraft departed Accra at 11:45 with a total declared cargo weight of 50014 lbs (22733 kgs).
The aircraft contacted Lagos Area Control at 12:42, while maintaining FL210 and was given an in-bound clearance to Lagos VOR (LAG) for an ILS approach on runway 18L. At 12:52, Lagos Approach cleared it to FL050 and at 12NM, it was further cleared down to 3500ft on QNH 1013 hpa, and finally to 2200ft and to report established on the ILS.
At 4NM to the runway, the aircraft reported fully established on the ILS and was handed over to the Control Tower for landing instructions. At 13:03 and 2NM to the runway, the aircraft was cleared to land on runway 18L but to exercise caution, as the runway surface was wet because of heavy rain associated with a thunderstorm.
The cloud base was about 100 ft above minimum and visibility was 600m. The co-pilot was pilot flying and continued the approach and landing. The airplane touched down approx 4680 feet past the threshold at a speed of 167 knots, which was 30 knots higher than the maximum landing speed.
The captain observed that it was impossible to stop on the runway and he called for a go-around. The procedure was not properly executed and thus the aircraft overshot the runway 400m into the grass area and collided with nav aids.
The decision of the crew to continue an unstabilised approach despite the prevailing adverse weather condition.
- The captain did not take over the control of the flight from the first officer in the known bad weather situation
- The crew resource management was inadequate.
Follow-up / safety actions
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not
display the exact flight path.
Distance from Accra-Kotoka Airport to Lagos-Murtala Muhammed International Airport as the crow flies is 398 km (249 miles).