Cleveland-Hopkins Intl Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cleveland, Ohio 44135
Monday, January 6, 2003 12:48 EST

The pilots initiated an approach to runway 6L, which was snow covered, and had a useable landing distance of 6,000 feet. The last winds from the tower were 340 degrees at 22 kts, with gusts to 35 knots. The maximum demonstrated crosswind for the airplane was 30 knots. The ATIS contained runway condition data that was 1 hour old. Inside the final approach fix, the captain elected to land with the wing flaps set at 22 degrees, rather than 45 degrees due to the wind. The Vref was adjusted to 138 kts, however, the final 38 seconds of flight was above 138 kts, and the final 7 seconds of flight was above 150 kts. In the final eight seconds of flight, the radar altimeter was less than 15 feet. However, the pilot continued with the landing and did not go-around. Touchdown occurred at an airspeed of 150 kts, about 1,523 feet from the departure end of the runway, and 2,308 feet from the ILS localizer antenna, which the airplane struck after it overran the runway. According to the company flight manual, with flaps set at 22 degrees, and a wet runway, the actual landing distance would have been 4,260 feet. When interviewed, the flight crew reported they had not checked landing distance. The FAA had published a NOTAM 26 days prior to the accident, which raised the landing minimums for the runway from 4,000 ft RVR to 5,000 ft RVR. The NOTAM was not in the airline's data base, and the company had no backup method for determining if they had all NOTAMS. The last RVR transmitted to the flight crew was 4,000 ft. The local controller did not update the flight crew with the latest RVR, or braking action reports as required. There was no requirement for the local controller to notify the pilots that the airport was below landing minimums even though the controllers were required to be aware of the approach minimums.

The captain's failure to attain a proper touchdown on runway, and his subsequent failure to perform a go-around, both of which resulted in a runway overrun. Factors were the company's inadequate dispatch procedures with their failure to provide all NOTAMS for the airport to the flight crew, and the snow covered runway.