History: LOT Flight 16

On the 1st of November 2011, a LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300ER registered SP-LPC was operating as LOT Flight 16 from Newark Liberty Airport EWR KEWR to Warsaw Chopin Airport WAW EPWA experienced a failure in the hydraulic system that rendered some of the flaps and landing gear unusable. After switching to the backup system, only the flaps control was regained. Further attempts by the crew to lower the landing gear failed. After circling Warsaw Airport for more then an hour the Boeing 767-300ER made a belly landing, a very unusual and rare event for modern jetliners. The crew under the command of captain Tadeusz Wrona made a historic landing with no fatalities.

Aircraft

The involved aircraft was a Boeing 767-300ER, registered SP-LPC, named Poznań with serial number 28656.

Background

The Boeing 767-300ER was first delivered to LOT Polish Airlines on the 15th of May 1997, and according to records it has undergone a "full maintenance" in March 2011.

Accident

On the 1st of November 2011 at 13:35 CET, the crew of LOT Polish Airlines Flight 16 (a Boeing 767-300ER) has aborted approach to Warsaw Chopin Airport WAW EPWA due to the failure of the landing gear to deploy.

The flight which was inbound from Newark Liberty Airport EWR KEWR has experienced technical difficulties 30 minutes after the beginning of the transatlantic flight. Captain Tadeusz Wrona reported to LOT operations control that the central hydraulic system had malfunctioned. They were instructed to continue to Warsaw in order to burn up the significant quantity of fuel loaded for a transatlantic flight.

Upon arrival to Warsaw the Warsaw ATC instructed the crew to circle the airport for more then an hour in order to use up the remaining fuel. Meantime the airport prepared for an emergency landing. Other flights were diverted to nearby airports and streets near the airport were closed. The Polish Air Force was requested to assist and they dispatched two F-16 fighter jets which made a visual verification of the landing gear. It was confirmed that the landing gear is up. The runway was prepared with a foam bed, to prevent the airport from catching fire.

After all preparations were made at 14:40 CET the crew had managed to land the airplane on its belly on Runway 33 with no loss of life. After the aircraft stopped, in an interval of 90 seconds the passengers were evacuated and emergency services started to spray the aircraft with water to prevent it from catching fire.

The Boeing 767-300ER suffered significant damage in the process but the landing gear was released by LOT technicians and the aircraft was towed to a hangar for further investigations.

The airport however remained closed to all traffic until 4.00 CET on the 3rd of November for the necessary inspection of the airport runways and aprons.

Rescue operations

Passengers and crew

The captain was an experienced pilot, with over thirty years of service (20 of those being on the 767), he was seconded by first officer Jerzy Szwarc.

On board the LOT Polish Airlines Boeing 767-300ER there were 231 people, 11 crew and 220 passengers.

Investigation

The whole incident is under investigation, all information at this time point to a failure in the main hydraulic system and the alternative manual release system for the landing gear.

Conclusions

Aftermath

Further reading

Aircraft disasters