RwandAir Flight 205 was a Canadair CRJ100 that crashed into the Terminal Building after an emergency landing at

Kigali Kigali () is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwanda's economic, cult ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

killing one passenger. The flight was operated by

JetLink Express JetLink Express was a Kenyan regional airline with its head office in the Freight Complex in Embakasi, Nairobi. It operated out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. All flight activities have been stopped since 16 November 2012, due to finan ...

on behalf of

RwandAir RwandAir Limited is the flag carrier airline of Rwanda. It operates domestic and international services to East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, from its main base at Kigali International Ai ...

. In the aftermath of the accident, RwandAir suspended all operations with JetLink Express.

Accident

The flight took off from

Kigali International Airport Kigali International Airport , formerly known as Kanombe International Airport, is the primary airport serving Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Currently, there is an ongoing project to build another mega-airport in Bugesera District, Eastern Pro ...

, shortly after which the pilots informed air traffic control that the Left

Thrust lever Thrust levers or throttle levers are found in the cockpit of aircraft, and are used by the pilot, copilot, or autopilot to control the thrust output of the aircraft's engines, by controlling the fuel flow to those engines. In multi-engine air ...

had become jammed at the Takeoff Power setting. The pilots did not utilize the Thrust Lever Jammed Abnormal Checklist Procedure and instead immediately returned to the airport with the Right Thrust Lever (which was adjustable) at idle, landing shortly after 11:30am. The aircraft stopped short of the VIP Terminal Building, but lurched forward as the chocks were being put in place; the aircraft then crashed into the VIP terminal. A fire followed the accident but was put out. The co-pilot was eventually freed from the wreckage three hours after the crash. Of the 10 passengers and 5 crew, all survived the initial crash with injuries to 10 people on the aircraft and in the VIP terminal. One female passenger died shortly after arriving at a hospital. A RwandAir spokesperson said, "He landed safely on the runway and was guided by the marshals into the parking area. For some unexplained reason, the plane, from the parking spot, took off again at full power and ... took a right turn, unexplained, into the technical building." The

METAR METAR is a format for reporting weather information. A METAR weather report is predominantly used by aircraft pilots, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting. Raw METAR is the most common fo ...

in force at the time of the accident was HRYR 121030Z VRB03KT 9999 BKN030 24/18 Q1018 NOSIG=.Translation of METAR: METAR for Kigali Airport, issued on the 12th of the month at 10:30 UTC. Wind variable at 3 knots, unlimited visibility, broken clouds at 3000 feet, temperature 24°C, dewpoint 18°C, QNH 1018 hPa, no significant changes expected, end of METAR report.

Aftermath

Post-flight investigation revealed the cable connecting the Left Thrust Lever to the engine assembly had severed shortly after application of Takeoff power. A procedure in the aircraft's Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) titled "Thrust Lever Jammed" would have directed the pilots to shut down the left engine by utilizing the Left Engine Fire

push switch A push switch (button) is a momentary or non- latching switch which causes a temporary change in the state of an electrical circuit only while the switch is physically actuated. An automatic mechanism (i.e. a spring) returns the switch to i ...

, which would have closed (among other things) the Fuel SOV ( shutoff valve), thus allowing the speed of the aircraft to be better controlled while landing the aircraft. This QRH procedure would have been accomplished "at a safe

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

" per the procedure, while giving consideration to terrain or other obstacles. The pilots did not perform the above procedure, and instead, chose to immediately return to the airport, landing at a higher than normal airspeed due to the left engine still producing takeoff thrust, making it difficult to stop the aircraft and using much greater runway distance than normal. The aircraft was taxied back to the terminal with the left engine still producing takeoff power and the right engine at idle. When the aircraft was brought to a stop at the terminal building, the right engine was shut down by the pilots, the left engine was still operating at takeoff thrust, and the hydraulics were all turned "off", which was common procedure at the time. The aircraft disc brakes on the Canadair CRJ100 are operated by two of the three

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

systems on the aircraft, with System 2 supplied by pumps on the right engine (both mechanical and electric) and System 3 being supplied by two electric pumps. By shutting off the right engine and all of the electric hydraulic systems, the brakes as well as the

parking brake In road vehicles, the parking brake, also known as a handbrake or emergency brake (e-brake), is a mechanism used to keep the vehicle securely motionless when parked. Parking brakes often consist of a cable connected to two wheel brakes, which i ...

were no longer being powered. As the hydraulic pressure bled down and with the left engine still producing takeoff thrust, the aircraft jumped over the chocks, lurched to the right (caused by the left engine thrust), and hit the terminal building. The left engine was eventually shut down by the

airport crash tender An airport crash tender (known in some countries as an airport fire appliance) is a specialised fire engine designed for use in aircraft rescue and firefighting at aerodromes, airports, and military air bases. Description Airport crash tenders ...

spraying foam into the engine.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Canadair CRJ100, registration 5Y-JLD, which first flew in 1997.

References

{{coord missing, Rwanda Accidents and incidents by airline of Africa Aviation accidents and incidents in 2009 Aviation accidents and incidents in Rwanda Accidents and incidents involving the Bombardier CRJ200 2009 in Rwanda November 2009 events in Africa 2009 disasters in Rwanda