Final Approach and Emergency Landing
Because of left wing damage and fuel loss, Rofail had to monitor the engine closely. If fuel flow was lost from the left side, the flight engineer would have to feed fuel from a right tank without losing thrust. Crew survival was dependent on accurate power control of each jet engine.
Gennotte and Michielsen set up for a final approach to runway 33R. Because the aircraft drifted to the right, away from the intended course, Gennotte decided to use the shorter 33L runway. Visibility was excellent and the pilots managed a controlled descent. They knew that, counter-intuitively, they could not retard throttles before touchdown without risking the nose or a wing smashing disastrously into the ground.
At about 400 feet (120 meters) turbulence upset the aircraft balance and the right wing dipped. With thrust adjustments, the roll was controlled but the aircraft touched down off the runway centerline. Rofail immediately deployed full reverse thrust but the Airbus veered off the paved runway. Running through rough soft ground, throwing up a huge plume of sand and dragging a razor wire barrier, the aircraft stopped after about 1,000 meters.
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