On 26 January 2014, a Boeing 737-300F aircraft, registration ZK-TLC, was conducting freight operations from Brisbane, Qld. to Honiara, Solomon Islands. During the landing on runway 24 at Honiara International Airport, the right main landing gear collapsed, causing substantial damage to the landing gear assembly and the adjacent inboard wing surfaces. The three crew members were uninjured.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Solomon Islands (CAASI) is responsible for investigating this accident. As part of that investigation, CAASI requested technical assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in the download and presentation of data and audio from the aircraft's flight data and cockpit voice recorders.
In accordance with clause 5.23 of Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (ICAO Annex 13), the ATSB appointed an Accredited Representative to the investigation, and initiated an external investigation under the provisions of the Australian Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003, providing appropriate protection for the recorded information.
Both flight recorders were received at the ATSB's Canberra laboratories on 5 February 2014, accompanied by a representative of the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) - representing the State of Registry of the aircraft under Annex 13 protocols. ATSB specialists successfully downloaded the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR), using the manufacturers' standard procedures.
Copies of the recorded audio and flight data were subsequently provided to CAASI representatives, together with a selection of graphical plots representing selected parameters from the accident landing at Honiara, and two previous landings at Honiara that were also available from the FDR. The recorder units were returned to the aircraft operator on 7 February 2014.
The CAASI is responsible for releasing a final investigation report on this occurrence. The CAASI may be contacted via the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO).
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Released in accordance with section 25 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003.