AVIATION/ SWEDEN UPDATES ON IRAN AIR FL762

The Swedish Havarikommission (SAIB) has released its Preliminary Report into a serious incident involving an IRAN AIR A300 at Stockholm, Sweden, on January 16, 2010. On that date, Flight 762 was on International Service from Stockholm to Tehran, Iran, with 173 passengers and crew onboard. The A300 went left off the runway while on its takeoff roll at low speed at Stockholm Arlanda. The aircraft came to a stop with all gear off the paved surface. No one onboard was injured and the aircraft suffered damage to its landing gear and left hand engine. Shortly after the incident, a private video recording of the incident surfaced. The video, a screen shot shown above, shows that the A300 had started its takeoff roll, when the left hand engine apparently suffered a flaming engine surge, causing the aircraft to exit left off the runway. On January 17, the SAIB opened an investigation and said parts of the engine were recovered from the runway. Accorrding to the SAIB Preliminary Report, about 12 seconds after starting their takeoff roll, the flight crew heard a muffled bang from the left and the A300 then veered sharply left. 8 seconds after the bang, and about 400 meters down the runway, the aircraft exited the runway. The SAIB disclosed that a number of small metal parts stemming from the left hand main engines outlet were found on the runway. Apart from the damage to the A300, several runway edge lights were damaged. The cause of the engine damage remains under investigation, however the SAIB said the engine suffered substantial damages. In interviews with the flight crew, the SAIB said the crew did not immediately realize what had happened. They said they thought they had blown a tire or impacted a foreign object on the runway. The crew said there were no indications in the cockpit that anything was wrong with the left hand engine. The Preliminary Report, in Swedish, can be found on the SAIB website. The investigation continues.