Volga-Dnjepr Airlines An-124 Made Emergency Landing in Novosibirsk Airport.
Accident: Volga-Dnjepr A124 at Novosibirsk on Nov 13th 2020, overran runway after uncontained engine failure and communication failure
A Volga-Dnjepr Antonov AN-124, registration RA-82042 performing freight flight VI-4066 from Novosibirsk (Russia) to Vienna (Austria) with 14 people and 84 tons of cargo (auto parts) on board, departed Novosibirsk's runway 25 at about 12:08L (05:08Z) and was in the initial climb through about 1800 feet MSL when the transponder signal as well as radio communication was lost. The crew returned the aircraft for a landing on Novosibirsk's runway 25 but overran the end of the runway on landing by about 200 meters/650 feet. There were no injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to wings and the landing gear, engine #2 (D-18T, inboard left hand) is missing its engine inlet following an uncontained failure according to photographic evidence (see below), the inboard left wing slats as well as the left hand fuselage were penetrated by debris at multiple locations near the wing root.
According to local sources the aircraft went off the runway by about 200 meters (650 feet).
Local emergency services reported the aircraft departed and immediately returned in emergency running off the runway during landing.
The airport reported there were no injuries as result of the runway excursion.
Ground witnesses reported engines 3 and 4 (both right hand, D-18T) were trailing smoke on departure, communication with the aircraft was lost, the aircraft managed to return to the airport and went off the runway coming to a stop with collapsed gear.
Other ground witnesses reported a part fell off the aircraft and damaged the roof of a house.
West Siberia's Transport Prosecution Office have opened an investigation into the accident.
The airline reported the aircraft carried 84 tons of cargo from Seoul (South Korea) to Vienna (Austria) with a technical stop in Novosibirsk, where the aircraft after departure to Vienna performed an emergency return. The crew was taken to a local hospital as a precaution, no injuries occurred. A support team was dispatched to Novosibirsk with all needed equipment to assess the damage and move the aircraft off the runway.
In a videotaped interview the captain of the flight reported that the #2 engine (inboard left) blew up at about 1000 feet AGL (300 meters above ground) just after gear retraction with flaps still extended for takeoff, debris damaged the aircraft's cabling and took out all electrical supply resulting in the loss of all eletrical systems including instruments, brakes, thrust reversers etc. The aircraft remained controllable despite all electricity gone and all communication, even intercom having failed, lost. The crew attempted to establish visual contact with tower, however, without success, and proceeded to land on runway 25 with very little margin due to low altitude and engine thrust. After a smooth touchdown the overrun was unavoidable due to the loss of brakes, spoilers, thrust reversers.
According to Mode-S and ADS-B data the aircraft departed runway 25, climbed out, began turning right, reached 1825 feet MSL before the signal disappeared about 3.5nm past the runway end.
