2012 Hurnwick aircraft fire

The 2012 Hurnwick aircraft fire occurred on 18 May 2012 at Leedstown Hurnwick Airport. The aircraft, a Boeing E-3 Sentry military aircraft of the Newleaf Island Air Force, was operating a special flight from London Heathrow Airport to Leedstown Hurnwick Airport, with 23 crew on board. After an uneventful flight, the nose landing gear collapsed during landing, and a subsequent fire killed all on board.

Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing E-3C Sentry (based on the Boeing 707-320B), registered SN525. It was delivered new to the United States Air Force (522d Air Control Wing, stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma) in 1990. It first flew on 19 July 1990, before entering service in January 1991. In December 2011, it was sold by the USAF to the Newleaf Island Air Force, along with four other E-3Cs. Prior to the accident the aircraft had flown a total of 10,174 hours. This included nearly 1,000 hours with Newleaf Island Air Force.

Flight
The aircraft departed from the military hangars at London Heathrow at 1904 local time, and immediately taxied to the runways. The aircraft was soon cleared for take-off, lifting off at 1918.

Climbing out of Heathrow, the crew followed routine procedure and the climb out of Heathrow was uneventful. A normal flight was conducted all the way to Hurnwick, where the aircraft was due to land at around eight o' clock in the evening.

Crash
The aircraft conducted a normal, uneventful approach right until the moment of touchdown. At around 1959, the aircraft touched down much harder than usual in windy conditions at Hurnwick. Seconds later, the front landing gear touched down equally as hard and collapsed violently at high speed.

The aircraft continued for 600 metres down the runway, sliding along on the nose fuselage section and rear landing gear. The high temperatures caused by the friction between the nose and tarmac caused a fire to break out in the nose section of the aircraft, which rapidly spread through the airframe and flashed over inside the aircraft just as the Sentry came to a halt.

The fire gutted the entire cockpit and cabin of the aircraft, additionally causing minor damage to the exterior of the aircraft before being brought under control by airport fire crews within five minutes. However, nobody aboard had managed to escape the aircraft before the fire took hold; all twenty-three people on board were killed.

The crash was the second deadliest crash involving a Boeing E-3, trailing behind only the 1995 crash of a USAF E-3 in Alaska which killed 24 people. It was also the fourth hull loss accident involving the type.

Aftermath
Hurnwick was closed for a while before re-opening. However it was announced that the runway involved in the accident would remain closed until at least 22 May.

Investigation
An investigation was launched by the Transport Accident Investigation Bureau of Newleaf Island on the same day as the crash.

The cause of the nose gear landing collapse was found to be pilot error, as the exceptionally hard landing placed more stress on the nose gear than it could take. A fire then broke out due to the high temperatures caused by friction between the nose and runway, which rapidly spread due to a large number of flammable items within the aircraft.