An aircraft has skidded off the runway in Colombia after an operational failure upon landing. The incident happened yesterday afternoon, local time. The aircraft belongs to a small airline in the South American country; however, this was not its first incident.
Aliansa’s DC-3 skids of runway
Earlier this week, an aircraft belonging to Aliansa Aerolineas Andinas skidded off the runway at Jorge Enrique González Torres Airport in San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia. The plane was a Douglas DC-3 registered as HK-2006 and got into difficulty after a landing gear failure on Wednesday, August 26th.
The plane was completing a regional service between Pacoa, in the south of Colombia, and San Jose del Guaviare near central Colombia. It arrived at 16:20 local time (21:20 UTC), only it could not land correctly.
According to photos that emerged later on social media, the aircraft is seen fully positioned on the grass verge at the side of the runway.
#Actualidad Por falla en tren de aterrizaje avión se salió de pista en San José del Guaviare
Un avión DC-3 de la empresa Aliansa con matricula HK-2006 se salió de la pista en el aeropuerto Jorge Enrique González Torres en la tarde de este miércoles. #MaranduaNoticias pic.twitter.com/9hhINLw2tq
— Marandua Stereo (@maranduanoticia) August 26, 2020
A prompt rescue and investigation
Thankfully, the aircraft was not full at the time of the accident. Instead, it was carrying just three crew members and no passengers. Upon its unusual landing, no casualties were reported, and HK-2006 was soon rescued.
An investigation is now underway to uncover the full details of the landing. However, initial findings suggest that the root cause was a burst tire on the landing gear.
According to the press release issued by Civil Aeronautics, shared on the news site Marandua and translated from Spanish,
“The aircraft suffered seemingly minor damage and remains stationed in the security zone of the airfield, which is now closed as a result of the incident. A commission from the Civil Aeronautics is at San Jose del Guaviare to begin the investigation into how the incident occurred.”
Interestingly, this is not the first time that the aircraft has got into trouble. On January 24th, 2008, HK-2006 has a similar issue on landing in Teresita Airport in Colombia. On approach to the runway, the left portion of the landing gear struck a mound of sand, which caused it to collapse.
As a result, one of its engines caught fire. Despite that, all 13 travelers onboard the aircraft escaped unharmed. The incident was ultimately blamed on pilot error, and a final report suggested that the accident could have been avoided had crew approached the runway from a higher altitude.
Who is Aliansa Aerolineas Andinas?
Since damages are minor, the aircraft will likely be back in the air in no time after the investigation is complete. Aliansa will be happy to have it back in the fleet.
The Colombian airline only has a limited selection of aircraft. It flies three Douglas DC-3 and one Douglas DC-3TP. With these aircraft, it services passengers in Eastern and Amazon regions of the country from La Vanguardia Airport. As well as passenger flights, it also provides charter services, cargo, and the transport of fuel.
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