Lighting and snow removal were lacking at Keflavik Airport when an Icelandair plane ran off the runway after landing at the airport in March 2018. This is stated in a report by the Transport Accident Investigation Board (RNSA) published yesterday.
The TF-FIV flight landed at Keflavik Airport from Seattle in the USA on the morning of March 10, 2018. The Eastern Herald’s report on the case at the time stated that there had been a lot of snow and poor visibility at the airport and this is also similar in the report of the investigation committee.
It also states that the aircraft had to fly a 20-minute waiting flight at the airport as the braking conditions on the runway was not considered good enough due to snow. The report also states that when the aircraft’s nose wheel was removed from the runway and into the runway, the pilot felt “how the aircraft started to slide straight ahead and headed to the left of the runway.” The aircraft turned and turned with the nose wheel off the runway. There were no casualties and the plane was not damaged.
Three planes from the same carrier landed in front of the TF-FIV.
It is the opinion of the RNSA that it was difficult for the pilots to see the roadway because the lighting was deficient, the light signs were to some extent covered with snow and the snow had not been cleared from the roadway.
The committee also considers it probable that the runway was evacuated rather late due to this, and therefore the turn into the runway has become sharper than otherwise. It is the opinion of the RNSA that since the pilot put the right turn on fully, the aircraft turned more than intended, with the result that the aircraft veered to the right, and with a nose off the runway.
The committee also believes that once the crews of aircraft that landed before TF-FIV had informed about the condition of the runway, it would have been appropriate not to direct more aircraft there, but to evacuate the runway where conditions were better.
