TUI 737 Aircraft Nosewheel Bearings Suffered a "catastrophic failure" Before the Runway excursion, that could have been Prevented.

A TUI flight suffered a “catastrophic failure” before skidding off the runway at Leeds Bradford Airport, an AAIB investigation has found.
The resultant juddering was unexpected, and the crew were uncertain as to its impact during the rollout at LBA.
However, the investigation found that there was in fact no mechanical impediment to the use of additional rudder and braking to prevent the runway excursion.

Before the Runway excursion, a TUI passenger plane suffered failure of nosewheel bearings, followed by skidding off the runway at Leeds Bradford Airport during Storm Babet, as per an official report.

The Tui Boeing plane, operating flight BY3551 from Corfu, was landing at the airport in heavy rain when it came off the runway and came to a stop on grass on 20 October 2023.

All 195 passengers and crew were unharmed, but the airport closed while investigations were carried out. Now a report published today (Thursday, October 24) by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) found one of the aircraft's nosewheel bearings suffered a "catastrophic failure" which resulted in the plane "juddering" as it was on the landing roll.

After touching down at Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) in stormy weather, the Boeing B737NG aircraft began to yaw left of the runway centreline. When the pilot flying increased the right rudder input to correct the deviation, both pilots reported feeling a significant judder from the nose gear.

This prompted the pilot flying to reduce the right rudder input and, although there were repeated brief right pedal inputs, the aircraft continued to deviate from the centreline and left the runway. The aircraft sustained minor damage and there were no injuries.

What happened on that Day ?

The crew confirmed this wind was in limits and commenced an ILS approach for Runway 14. They were expecting turbulent conditions and reported that they were ‘go-around minded’. Both crew members recalled that the conditions were smoother than expected and that the approach was stable with minimal speed fluctuations.
The PF configured the aircraft for landing earlier than normal and autobrake max was selected. The tower ATCO cleared the aircraft to land as it was descending through approximately 2,000 ft and passed a final wind check of 070° at 23 kt gusting 37 kt, indicating a maximum crosswind component of 35 kt from the left.
The PF de-crabbed the aircraft using right rudder and landed in the touchdown zone. The landing was described by the crew and tower ATCO as smooth. The autobrake engaged one second later, reverse thrust was commanded and deployed as normal, and the target deceleration rate was achieved.
There was left control wheel input after touchdown for 5.5 seconds. The PF reduced the right rudder pedal to neutral five seconds after landing and the aircraft began to yaw to the left.
In response, the PF made a right rudder input which reduced the rate of yaw to the left. The PF then disconnected the autobrake whilst decelerating through 107 kt, following which there was a period of eight seconds where there was no wheel braking.
The reverse thrust was cancelled at approximately 86 kt and there was an increase in right rudder pedal input to 2.5°. The rudder was periodically reduced to 0° and the aircraft continued to yaw to the left.
The full range of rudder application was not used to correct the drift, as the crew reported feeling a significant ‘judder’ when the right pedal pressure was applied which led the PF to reduce the rudder input repeatedly.
Asymmetric braking was used momentarily, and the crew reported attempting to regain control using the tiller as the aircraft approached the runway edge. Maximum manual symmetric braking was applied three seconds prior to the aircraft reaching the runway edge.
The PF recalled using nosewheel steering in an attempt to correct the deviation, but control of the aircraft was not regained, and the aircraft left the runway at a groundspeed of approximately 55 kt.
The aircraft came to a stop six seconds later in muddy ground approximately 150 m beyond the D taxiway exit. The crew followed normal shutdown procedures to secure the aircraft. There were no injuries reported by passengers or crew.

The AAIB report read as,

"Pilots are trained to deal with non-normal and emergency events and the aircraft deviation from the runway centreline may have been considered a challenging situation by the crew."

"There was limited time for the crew to assess the cause of the judder and the practical impact it had on the directional control of the aircraft and surprise or startle may have been a factor."

"However, as the aircraft approached the side of the runway, it is not clear why the [pilot] did not attempt to use all right rudder available, in spite of the judder, to prevent the runway excursion."

The report said the initial phase of the landing was normal, with the aircraft touching down and decelerating properly. But the plane deviated left due to a strong crosswind.

Commenting on the situation, AAIB report confirmed that there was "no mechanical defect" which would have prevented the crew from correcting the problem. AAIB blamed nosewheel juddering as an influence to the incident, it said,

"However, the crew’s actions may have been influenced by the nosewheel juddering," it added.

A spokesperson for Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) said:

“Our Safety & Compliance team worked closely with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) following the incident in October last year. While supporting the AAIB, we also took the opportunity to conduct our own internal investigation to review our emergency response processes and procedures."

“We were satisfied that the conclusions presented in the AAIB bulletin issued on October 24 and the outcomes reached in relation to the airport mirrored the outcomes of our own investigation."

Display Picture Courtesy : mark dobson