Ethiopian Airlines Dash 8 Damaged During Prop Strike Runway Excursion

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An Ethiopian Airlines De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 aircraft suffered extensive damage after a runway excursion following its landing at Mekele Alula Aba Nega Airport (MQX), Ethiopia. The aircraft was operating flight ET 106 between Addis Ababa Bole Airport (ADD) and MQX on January 18, 2024.

Landing gear collapse

The airline issued a statement confirming the runway excursion of the Q400, registered as ET-AVS. According to Ethiopian Airlines, the aircraft landed at MQX at 14:10 local time (UTC +3), noting that all passengers and crew members safely evacuated the aircraft without significant injuries.

“We are conducting investigation to determine the cause of the incident. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience encountered.”

Pictures shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the aircraft veered off the runway with a collapsed left-hand side landing gear, with the side’s engines also impacting the ground. The front door of the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 was also open, while the aft door was closed, with emergency services attending the scene of the incident.

Capital Ethiopia reported that the aircraft suffered a punctured tire upon landing, which contributed to the cause of the incident. However, the airline did not confirm that a punctured tire was the culprit of the runway excursion of the Dash 8 Q400.

According to Flightradar24 records, MQX only has flights to ADD, with the latter being the capital of Ethiopia. The two airports are separated by 272 nautical miles (503 kilometers), with the Great Circle Mapper estimating that the flight lasts 45 minutes at the Dash 8 Q400’s cruise speed of 360 knots (667 km/h). Ethiopian Airlines operates ten daily flights between the two airports, all operated by the same turboprop aircraft.

Data by the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that the airline had scheduled 2,406 one-way flights with the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 from ADD in January 2024. MQX is the second-most served destination from the airport with the type, with Bahir Dar Airport (BJR) being the first, which is an airport located 180 NM (333 km) northwest of ADD. The third-most served route is from ADD to Dire Dawa International Airport (DIR), Ethiopia.

Ch-aviation data showed that the airline has a fleet of 30 De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 aircraft, in addition to its other aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines operates 136 aircraft, including Airbus A350-900, Boeing 737, 767, 777, and 787s.

Another runway excursion in Africa

On the same day as the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft suffered a runway excursion at MQX, an Airlink Embraer E135, registered as ZS-SJX, also veered off the runway at Pemba Airport (POL), Mozambique. The airline confirmed the news.

Airlink added that 32 passengers and three crew members were onboard the aircraft at the time of the incident, with all occupants disembarking the aircraft safely. No injuries were reported. The South African carrier has contacted the relevant Mozambique and South African authorities, with the airport operator closing down the runway.

This post was brought to you by Simple Flying. Written By Rytis Beresnevičius.