Phuket, Thailand Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Phuket Thailand
Thursday, December 20, 2012 13:41 UTC

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On December 20, 2012, at about 1341 UTC, an Air Berlin Airbus Industrie A330-200 airplane, registered in Germany as D-ABXA, experienced a failure of the left engine, a Pratt & Whitney PW4168, shortly after takeoff from Phuket, Thailand. After the engine failed, the airplane also experienced a hydraulic failure. The airplane returned to Phuket for an overweight landing. There were no injuries to 10 flight crewmembers and 247 passengers on board. The airplane had just departed Phuket for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The investigation is being conducted by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU). As the state of manufacture of the PW4168 engine, the NTSB has designated a U.S. Accredited Representative to assist the BFU with their investigation under the provisions of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. All inquiries should be directed to the BFU at: Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation Hermann-Blenk-Str. 16 38108 Braunschweig Germany Website: http://www.bfu-web.de

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 12/20/2012
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1341
Event Time Zone Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Event City Phuket
Event State --
Event Country THAILAND
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Phuket, Thailand
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HKT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions --
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 257
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source BFU
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 8 2013 12:57PM
User who most recently changed record hooj
Basic weather conditions --
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number --
NTSB Number ENG13RA009
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Non-U.S., Commercial
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name AIRBUS
Aircraft Model A330
Aircraft Series Identifier 200
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? --
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Air Berlin
Aircraft Owner Street Address Saatwinkler Damm 42-43
Aircraft Owner City Berlin
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country GE
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address Saatwinkler Damm 42-43
Operator City Berlin
Operator State --
Operator Country GE
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 International
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code HKT
Departure City Phuket
Departure State --
Departure Country TH
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone UTC
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code AUH
Destination City Abu Dhabi
Destination State --
Destination Country TC
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 8 2013 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record hooj
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --