Air Algerie Boeing 737-2T4 plane crash
Tamanrasset, Algeria
6th March, 2003

Updated on 30th January 2010

Air Algérie flight 6289 originated in Tamanrasset (South Algeria) and was bound for Algiers, with an intermediate stop at Ghardaia. There were 97 passengers and 6 crewmembers onboard this aircraft, named "Monts du Daia".

Takeoff was commenced from runway 02 with the co-pilot acting as pilot-in-command. The aircraft rotated and the co-pilot ordered the gear to be raised. At that moment, at a height of 78 feet and a speed of 158 knts, the nr.1 engine suffered a turbine failure. The captain took over control of the airplane. Three seconds later the co-pilot asked if she should raise the gear, but the captain did not respond. The 737 lost speed and at seconds later the speed had dropped to 134 kts. Height at that moment was 398 ft. The aircraft stalled and crashed and broke up on rocky terrain about 1645 metres past the runway. Among the 103 people onboard, only 1 passenger survived.

The accident was caused by the loss of an engine during a critical phase of flight, the non-retraction of the landing gear after the engine failure, and the Captain, the PNF, taking over control of the airplane before having clearly identified the problem. The following factors probably contributed to the accident:

• The perfunctory flight preparation, which meant that the crew were not equipped to face the situation that occurred at a critical moment of the flight;
• The coincidence between the moment the failure occurred and the request to retract the landing gear;
• The speed of the event that left the crew little time to recover the situation;
• Maintaining an inappropriate rate of climb, taking into account the failure of one engine;
• The absence of any teamwork after the engine failure, which led to a failure to detect and correct parameters related to the conduct of the flight (speed, rate of climb, configuration, etc.);
• The takeoff weight being close to the maximum with a high aerodrome altitude and high temperature;
• The rocky environment around the aerodrome, unsuitable for an emergency landing.