On the night of Oct. 16, 2012, a Bombardier CRJ700 ran off the end of a contaminated runway after touching down long with a tailwind at an airport on the coast of Brittany. None of the 57 people aboard the regional jet was hurt, but aircraft damage was assessed as severe by the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) of France.
“The investigation showed that the accident was due to the crew’s failure to decide to carry out a missed approach [and their lack of awareness] of the degree to which runway conditions were contaminated or of the remaining length of runway available,” said the BEA’s final report.
Moreover, the report concluded that the pilots’ situational awareness and decision making had been numbed by fatigue and routine, as well as the absence of clear communication about the condition of the runway. Investigators also found that an opportunity had been missed for the flight crew to review recent lessons learned and best practices for landing in adverse we…
