Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33315
Thursday, March 11, 2004 6:53 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane had a failure of all eight main landing gear tires during the landing roll on runway 27. According to the flight crew stated prior to departure they were given paperwork to perform an alternate brake system test in-flight. At the top of descent they began the test. The First Officer read the procedure and the Captain performed the tasks. The Captain stated that during the test she observed brake pressures of 2,100 psi on the left and 2,500 psi on the right. She was use to observing 2,500 psi on both during this test. She performed additional testing on her own to troubleshoot the 2,100 psi reading on the left system. She then returned the system to normal and made a write-up in the aircraft's maintenance log. The First Officer was the pilot flying and after the test they descended and approached to land at Fort Lauderdale. During the approach they performed the approach and landing checks and checked the brake system. They were using manual braking for the landing. The touchdown was proper, and the airplane immediately began to decelerate. The captain asked the First Officer if he was braking and he said no. The controller then informed them that he was rolling the equipment and when they asked why, he stated because of smoke and fire. The Captain performed the emergency evacuation checklist and the First Officer opened the aircraft door and deployed the slide. They then exited the airplane. A pilot in another airplane reported to the controller that the aircraft's tire prints at the point the airplane touched down " looked like their brakes were locked or something." Examination of the landing runway (27 Right) after the incident revealed four sets of heavy skid marks (two per bogie) that started from the initial touchdown point and were continuous to the aircraft's final resting point. There was evidence of wheel rim contact, from both the left and right main gear wheels, beginning about 500-600 feet after touchdown and continuing to the location where the aircraft came to rest. The first set of two skid marks started at about 1,200 feet from the threshold of the runway and was consistent with right main landing gear touchdown first. The total distance for the right skid was 2,383 feet. The second set of two skid marks started about 81 feet further down the runway and was consistent with a left main landing gear touchdown. Examination of the aircraft revealed the following: all eight main landing gear tires had blown, deflated, and come apart. The damage was confined to the side of the tires that was in contact with the runway and all eight tires were worn down to the wheel assembly; there were no flat spots or other indications of damage on the opposite side of each tire. All eight wheel assemblies were symmetrically worn down about 10 percent. All eight brakes, wheel speed transducers shafts, and brake fans were damaged; there was no damage to either the left or right bogie beams. Prior to changing the tires and removing the airplane from the runway, Federal Express maintenance personnel performed a Built In Test Equipment (BITE) test on the Braking and Steering Control Unit (BSCU). The BITE test revealed 12 fault codes. Airbus accomplished a test flight in order to reproduce the BITE fault codes that were downloaded from the incident aircraft's BSCU. The test flight was done in France on an A300-600 aircraft where the following scenario was simulated: "Aircraft in flight, landing gear extended, parking brake set ON. This test did trigger the same 12 fault codes on the BSCU. Post incident testing of the brake system components on the incident airplane showed no evidence of failure or malfunction of any of the system components.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The flight crews' inadvertent setting of the parking brake during flight resulting in the airplane being landed with the parking brake set and failure of all 8 main landing gear tires during the landing rollout.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 3/11/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 653
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Fort Lauderdale
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33315
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 260421N
Event Location Longitude 0800909W
Event Location Airport Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood
Event Location Nearest Airport ID FLL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 90
Airport Elevation 9
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 653 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID KFLL
Elevation of weather observation facility 9
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) -500
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18825
NTSB Notification Source FAA SE Reg Com Ctr.
NTSB Notification Date Mar 11 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 755
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 20 2005 6:27AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fort Lauderdale FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N682FE
NTSB Number MIA04IA056
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Airbus Industrie
Aircraft Model A300F4-605R
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0800
Certified Max Gross Weight 377870
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 5
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Mar 7 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 26
Airframe Hours 7648
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name State Street Bank and Trust
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2 International Place
Aircraft Owner City Boston
Aircraft Owner State MA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 02110
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name FEDERAL EXPRESS CORP
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 3610 Hacks Cross Road
Operator City Memphis
Operator State TN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 38125
Operator Code FDEA
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KEWR
Departure City NEWARK
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 430
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code KFLL
Destination City Fort Lauderdale
Destination State FL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Sep 16 2005 3:13PM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27R
Runway Length 9000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --