Boeing cargo plane clipped into a tree during takeoff and was filmed passing just a few feet above power wires – with pilots beaten for trying to fly despite knowing the plane was too heavy
- The incident took place in Colombia and involved an Aerosucre Boeing 737-200
- It took off from Puerto Carreno Airport but returned after an engine failure
- A later inspection revealed that the engine had ingested vegetation
- READ MORE: How YOU can land a plane in an emergency
A cargo plane that hit the top of a tree at the end of a runway on takeoff was 274 kg overweight, according to an investigation into the incident.
On February 3, 2022, an Aerosucre Boeing 737-200 with a crew of five took off from Colombia’s Puerto Carreno Airport at a dangerously low altitude. 14 m) tall tree 295 m (967 ft) past the end of the runway.
Eye-catching video footage from a doorbell camera installed at a home beyond the runway shows the plane flying low overhead, missing electrical wires mere feet away and causing significant movement in the vegetation below.
The crew returned to the airport about 20 minutes after takeoff after the left engine lost power.
A later inspection revealed that the engine had ingested vegetation and had vegetation embedded in parts of the left wing.
On February 3, 2022, an Aerosucre Boeing 737-200 took off from Puerto Carreno Airport at a dangerously low altitude. Eye-catching video footage (above) from a doorbell camera installed at a home beyond the runway shows the plane flying low overhead
Before returning to the airport in Bogota, the plane climbed to 2,500 feet and the crew restarted the left engine. However, it overheated and smoke was billowing after the plane landed, although no fire was seen.
As reported in the Aviation heraldColombia’s Aeronautica Civil released its findings on the “serious incident” this week, concluding that the plane got airborne too far on the runway due to “extreme aircraft weight conditions,” with a thinner air density caused by a warmer temperature than expected – 33.9 C – designated as another contributing factor.
It was also noted that the first officer claimed that the captain failed to get the plane airborne when he called out for take-off speed—possibly because of the added weight.
The report said that ‘late rotation (when the pilot pulls the nose of the aircraft up for takeoff) caused by extreme conditions of aircraft weight and density altitude … did not allow the aircraft to achieve sufficient rate of climb, climb angle and altitude to remove the obstacles in the starting trajectory’.
The crew were apparently aware that the plane was overweight – 108,577 lbs versus a maximum takeoff weight of 107,950 lbs – and were criticized in the report for being “overconfident” in their assumption that they might lose weight during the pre-departure taxi .
The Aerosucre Boeing 737-200 pictured at Puerto Carreno Airport after hitting a tree on takeoff
The incident comes seven years after an Aerosucre plane overran the Puerto Carreno runway and crashed, killing five people and one person surviving.
Witnesses captured dramatic footage of the flight overshooting the runway and struggling to gain altitude.
The footage then shows the Boeing 727 plane descending into a field and bursting into flames.
