After an attempted take-off and runway excursion in the south-western city of Chongqing on May 12, 2022, a Tibet Airlines Airbus A319 passenger aircraft sustained substantial fuselage damage and caught fire.
The Airbus A319-100, registration B-6425, was flying from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CKG) in China to Nyingchi Mainling Airport on a domestic daily flight TV-9833 (LZY).
According to China News, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) stated that the flight crew spotted a “abnormality” as the plane was accelerating for takeoff. In accordance with emergency procedures, the pilots aborted takeoff.
The plane went off the runway and scraped its engines, carrying 113 passengers and nine crew members. The left side of the plane caught fire shortly after the attempt to abort takeoff.
When the plane finally came to a halt between two parallel taxiways outside the runway, the crew began passenger evacuation and deployed slides.
The plane’s passengers and crew all made it out safely. The aviation regulator noted that 36 people suffered minor injuries and were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
The fuselage, engines, and other sections of the nine-year-old plane were severely damaged and are considered beyond repair.
Confusion in the cockpit
According to AeroTime columnist and pilot Captain Michel Treskin, an aircraft takeoff can be rejected for a variety of reasons, including engine failure, activation of the takeoff warning horn, blown tires, or a system warning in the cockpit.
According to the information provided by China’s aviation regulator and local media reports, the flight deck is a scene of disarray.
“It was definitely a high-speed reject,” Treskin said. “The pilots might have selected the gear up too early, and the aircraft settled back on the runway. Or they rejected the takeoff after V1 (a maximum speed at which a rejected takeoff can be initiated in the event of an emergency, ed.-) and lost it.
“It is hard to assess what exactly caused the incident because we cannot see the under belly and the actual path of the aircraft on the ground.”
