Shocking Runway Overrun On Takeoff At Belgrade Airport

As I wrote about earlier this week, an absolutely wild accident took place at Belgrade Airport on Sunday night. As several days have now passed, more details are emerging about what happened, and it only makes this incident even stranger. Let’s cover everything we know as of now.

Embraer E195 has bizarre takeoff from Belgrade Airport

As reported by The Aviation Herald, this incident happened on Sunday, February 18, 2024, and involves Air Serbia flight JU324, scheduled to operate from Belgrade (BEG) to Dusseldorf (DUS). The flight was operated using a 16-year-old Embraer E195 with the registration code OY-GDC.

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This aircraft actually belonged to Marathon Airlines, a Greek charter airline. The airline has been operating five Embraer jets on behalf of Air Serbia since June 2023, to allow the airline to add capacity. This aircraft even has the Air Serbia livery.

At 5:38PM local time, the aircraft attempted to take off from runway 30L. Runway 30L is 11,483 feet (3,500 meters) long, so that’s plenty for a jet of this size. However, the aircraft started its takeoff roll at taxiway D5, so it was doing a midfield takeoff. Taxiway D5 only gave the aircraft 4,175 feet (1,273 meters) to take off.

That wasn’t enough runway length, so the aircraft ended up overrunning the runway, and not just by a little bit:

• The aircraft collided with some ground equipment at the end of the runway
• The aircraft then became airborne 1,650 feet (500 meters) past the end of the runway (!!!!!!)
• The aircraft then struggled to climb, and only made it to 50 feet above ground level 6,700 feet (2,050 meters) past the end of the runway (!!!!!!!!!!!!)

The aircraft stopped its climb at 4,000 feet, burned off fuel, and then returned to Belgrade, where it landed around 55 minutes after departure. The aircraft actually first made a low pass over the airport so that the landing gear could be checked, prior to then making a second approach, where a successful landing was performed.

Fortunately there were no injuries among passengers. Passengers were deplaned once the plane was on the ground, and were reportedly just told that there was a minor issue with the aircraft.

Below you can see a video taken by a passenger from inside the cabin.

This is an unbelievable event on so many levels

The damage to this aircraft is nothing short of distressing, and passengers and crew should be counting their lucky stars that this didn’t have a very different ending:

• It’s not just that there’s a tear in the fuselage, but you can see how this is right at the root of the wing
• The aircraft only became airborne 1,650 feet after the end of the runway, so imagine all the additional obstacles it could have hit
• Clearly the aircraft also initially struggled to climb, since it took nearly an extra mile for the aircraft to go from airborne to 50 feet above ground level

Of course the logical question is why the pilots decided to take off at intersection D5, giving them less runway than the aircraft needed. Did they mess up their takeoff calculations? Were they just confused about which intersection they were taking off from? Midfield takeoffs aren’t at all uncommon, but of course they need to be from an intersection that leaves enough room to safely get airborne.

Here’s what we do know, based on air traffic control communications:

• The aircraft was cleared to taxi to runway 30L at D6, but instead taxied to runway 30L at D5
• The air traffic controller pointed out that the pilots entered the runway at the wrong intersection, and specifically warned them that they’d only have 1,273 meters, and said “I assume that is not enough”
• The air traffic controller told the pilots to calculate what they’d need to have sufficient space, and even gave them permission to backtrack on the runway to the D6 intersection
• After a moment, the pilots claimed they had enough space to depart from the D5 intersection, and then proceeded with their departure

This incident really defies logic. It’s bad enough when pilots make a mistake and no one catches on to it, but in this case the air traffic controller warned them about exactly what they did, but the pilots proceeded anyway.

Air Serbia ceases cooperation with Marathon Airlines

Following this incident, Air Serbia has announced that it has cut ties with Marathon Airlines effective immediately. Here’s how Air Serbia CEO Jiri Marek describes that decision, per EX-YU Aviation:

“This was a very serious incident, we are aware of the potential consequences that could have occurred. That’s why we very quickly made the decision to terminate cooperation with Marathon Airlines, regardless of the fact that it is a certified European airline. The decision was necessary because the safety of our passengers comes first. We will wait for the final results of the investigation, but this step was inevitable. We will contact all passengers from the flight, familiarise them with the procedure, what to do and how to fill out the compensation form. We will take appropriate measures as a matter of priority and in accordance with our regulations”.

Bottom line

An Air Serbia flight operated by Marathon Airlines had a bizarre accident, whereby the plane took off from an intersection that didn’t leave it with enough runway to actually safely take off. So the aircraft hit ground equipment, and only started to get airborne 1,650 feet past the end of the runway. The damage to the aircraft was immense, and this could have had a very different outcome.

We’ve now learned that air traffic control even warned the pilots how little runway they had remaining, but the pilots proceeded anyway. Unbelievable.

What do you make of this Belgrade Airport incident?