To explore the load impact and instantaneous flow characteristics of a tubular pump under unconventional operating conditions, the runaway condition caused by the unit power failure are investigated. Unsteady three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation and model test were executed on whole flow system of the pump, where a 3D VOF method was specifically adopted to simulate water surfaces of the upstream and downstream reservoirs. The results of numerical simulation in terms of system performance parameters and runaway speed presented a quite good agreement with the experimental data. During the transient process, both the rotational speed and flow rate of the pump unit were found to rapidly decrease with time until maximum runaway speed (1.51n(0)) was reached, where however, a time lag of 0.7s between the rotational speed and flow rate has been noticed. The explored increase of pressure pulsations is generally believed to have taken source from incurred water shock waves, where the main pulsation frequencies throughout the whole flow passage were the blade passing frequency (BPF) and its harmonics. Large flow vortical structures immerged within the rear guide vanes when the flow rate decreased to zero, while the same flow vortices appeared within the front guide vanes when the impeller rotational speed gradually fell to zero. This study's results provide a meaningful reference about pump transient operations, leading to the prevention of associated structural vibrations and possible blade cracks, for safe operations of the pumping stations. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.