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A320, vicinity Addis Ababa Ethiopia, 2003
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| Summary |
|---|
| On 31 March 2003, an A320, operated by British Mediterranean AW, narrowly missed colliding with terrain during a non-precision approach to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. |
| Event Details | |
|---|---|
| When | March 2003 |
| Actual or Potential Event Type |
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) |
| Day/Night | Night |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Flight Details | |
|---|---|
| Aircraft | AIRBUS A-320 |
| Operator | BMED |
| Domicile | United Kingdom |
| Type of Flight | Public Transport (Passenger) |
| Origin | Alexandria/El Nouzha Airport |
| Intended Destination | Bole International |
| Actual Destination | Djibouti |
| Take off Commenced | Yes |
| Flight Airborne | Yes |
| Flight Completed | Yes |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| ENR / APR | |
| Location - Airport | |
|---|---|
| Airport vicinity | Bole International |
| CFIT | |
|---|---|
| Tag(s) | Into terrain, Lateral Navigation Error, IFR flight plan |
| Safety Net Mitigations | |
|---|---|
| GPWS | Effective |
| Outcome | |
|---|---|
| Damage or injury | No |
| Causal Factor Group(s) | |
|---|---|
| Group(s) | Air Traffic Management |
| Safety Recommendation(s) | |
|---|---|
| Group(s) | Aircraft Airworthiness, Air Traffic Management |
| Investigation Type | |
|---|---|
| Type | Independent |
Description
On 31 March 2003, an AIRBUS A-320, operated by British Mediterranean AW, narrowly missed colliding with terrain during a non-precision approach to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Synopsis
The following is an extract taken from the UK AAIB report into the incident:
"[The] A320..on a flight from Alexandria…to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, carried out two approaches using Addis Ababa [VOR] and associated…DME. On the second approach the aircraft crossed over a ridge of high ground in…IMC and came within 56 feet of terrain at a location 5 nm to the northeast of the airport. As the aircraft croosed the ridge the crew, alerted a few seconds earlier by a radio altimeter (RA) height callout, carried out a go-around: at the same time the…EGPWS generated a "TOO LOW TERRAIN" aural alert.
The investigation determined that the antenna of the ADS VOR had suffered water ingress and was not functioning correctly. The correct maintenance procedures for the ADS VOR/DME and its associated monitoring equipment were not followed.
The aircraft received erroneous information from the ADS VOR which was fed to the flight deck VOR display, the FMS, the navigation displays and the EGPWS computer with its associated Terrain Awareness Display (TAD). A single common position source error thus adversely affected all these apparently independent navigation/situational awareness systems. The existing certification standards for the aircraft navigation systems were met but were not sufficient to protect against this problem."
Related Articles
Further Reading
- For more information, see the full AAIB report
- Accident and Serious Incident Reports: CFIT contains details of other accidents and incidents which resulted in, or might have resulted in, a CFIT