San Juan-Isla Grande (Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci)

The pilot was receiving flight training as a new hire, and the accident occurred during his first flight in the airplane and the first landing. The pilot stated the approach was flown at the upper end of the allowable approach speed, and about 100 ft above the normal glidepath. During the landing, all three of the airplane’s landing gear touched down at the same time, the airplane immediately veered right, and continued off the right side of the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right-wing structure. The flight instructor chose an airport with a challenging approach that required a special training program prior to the first landing. The approach procedure requires a left 40° turn then rolling wings level just before touchdown. It is likely that the airplane’s descent rate during landing exceeded the airplane’s capability, which resulted in a hard landing and failure of the right-wing structure.

The pilot stated he experienced a high temperature in the right engine and a partial loss of engine rpm while at 9,000 feet mean sea level in cruise flight. He requested and received clearance from air traffic control to descend and divert to another airport. He leveled the airplane at 2,500 feet and both engines were operating; however, the right engine experienced a loss of rpm which made it difficult to maintain altitude. The pilot reduced power in both engines, turned the fuel boost pump on, opened the cowl flaps and the engine continued to run with a low rpm. The pilot elected to ditch the airplane in the ocean, instead of landing as soon as practical at the nearest suitable airport, as instructed in the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH). Additionally, he shut down the right engine before performing the troubleshooting items listed in the POH. He attributed his decision to ditch the airplane to poor single-engine performance and windy conditions. The wind at the destination airport was from 060 degrees at 6 knots and runway 8 was in use at the time of the accident. The airplane was not recovered.

The twin engine aircraft departed San Juan-Isla Grande Airport on a private flight to Santo Domingo with two passengers and two pilots on board. On final approach to Santo Domingo-Las Américas-Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez Airport, at an altitude of 2,000 feet and at a distance of 8 km from the airport, both engines failed simultaneously. As the crew realized he was unable to reach the airport, he attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed in a dense wooded area located about one km southeast of runway 35 threshold. All four occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft departed Santo Domingo-Las Améericas Airport at 2026LT on a positioning flight to San Juan, Porto Rico. While climbing in night conditions, the pilot lost control of the airplane that crashed in the sea few km offshore. SAR operations were initiated but no trace of the aircraft nor the pilot was found.

On September 29, 2004, about 1859, Atlantic standard time, the accident airplane, N902GD, operating as an "on demand" air taxi flight, transporting bank financial documents, departed
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and was later reported as not having arrived at its destination. Search and rescue assets later discovered airplane related debris, specific to the missing airplane, floating in the Atlantic Ocean, in the vicinity of geographic position 18 degrees 29 minutes north latitude, 066 degrees 27 minutes west longitude. The NTSB evaluated radar and weather data, and radar track data for the flight showed that after departure the accident airplane climbed to 1,700 feet, and then descended to 1,300 feet at 1840. From 1840 to 1850, the radar data indicated that the flight was proceeding east along the northern coast of Puerto Rico, at an altitude of 1,100 feet. About 1855, the data showed that the airplane climbed to 1,400 feet, and about 1856, it descended to about 1,000 feet. About 1858, the airplane descended to 800 feet, and then to 600 feet, before disappearing from radar at 18:59:18. Weather data showed that a weak upper air trough, a moist low level southeasterly flow and associated showers and thunderstorms had formed over Puerto Rico during the time of the accident flight. The weather data showed that at departure visual meteorological conditions existed, but doppler weather radar data showed that a 50 dBz (level 5) rain shower was positioned about 3 to 5 miles off the airplane's right wing from 1837 to 1838, and from 1855 to 1901 there was a level 4-5 (45-50 dBZ) rain shower along the accident airplane's track, and the radar track data along with the doppler weather radar data was consistent with the flight having penetrated the rain shower corresponding to the time radar contact with the flight was lost. The NTSB Weather Group Chairman's Report has been included as an attachment to the factual report.

After takeoff from runway 09, a climbing left turn was made. At about 1,000 feet, the #2 (right) engine backfired, emitted flames, and lost power. The captain instructed the copilot to feather the #2 propeller, which the copilot initiated with the feathering button. When the captain requested gear and flap extension, the copilot released the feathering button which did not remain engaged, contrary to system design. The airplane had arrived on a left downwind abeam the landing area at 500 feet and 95 to 100 knots. The captain turned toward the runway, then he ordered the gear and flaps to be retracted and initiated a go-around by increasing the left throttle without increasing propeller speed. A right turn was then made, and the airplane eventually crashed about 3 miles from the runway. During a postaccident examination, the propellers were found unfeathered, and the right engine fuel selector was in the main tank position. The emergency procedure listed the best single engine speed as 85 knots. The procedure for engine fire/failure was to feather the propeller and to move the respective fuel selector to 'OFF.' Examination revealed the number 11 cylinder on the right engine was cracked. There was evidence of fire, adjacent to the cylinder on the cowling, which consisted of scorching, sooting, and a burned through area of the underside of the right engine cowling. The copilot indicated a previous problem with the feathering system, but maintenance records did not contain any previous discrepancies regarding this anomaly.

The flight was a dual instruction flight for the purpose of giving the dual student an orientation to the aircraft. Witnesses observed the aircraft flying from east to west at a slow speed. The right wing dropped and then returned to level. The right wing and nose dropped and the aircraft descended in a 45-60 degree nose down attitude. As the aircraft descended the wings rolled back and forth and something was observed moving on the outboard right wing area. The aircraft did not recover from the descent and crashed nose first at a slow speed into a swamp area. Post crash examination of the aircraft showed no evidence to indicate pre-crash mechanical malfunction or failure of the aircraft structure, flight controls, engines, propellers, or systems. The rudder trim was found in the neutral position and the elevator trim was found set for 70% of the aircraft nose up trim. Toxicology tests showed the dual student had .319 ug/ml of marihuana in urine, .010 ug/ml marijuana in blood, and 10.90 ug/ml of acetaminophen in blood. The pilot-in-command/flight instructor had 47.90 ug/ml acetaminophen and 89.20 ug/ml salicylate in urine. The pilot-in-command had hand injuries consistent with operating the aircraft's controls at the time of the accident. The dual student did not have hand injuries consistent with operation of the aircraft's controls.

As the aircraft was taxiing for takeoff, witnesses noted the left rear baggage door was unlocked and hanging down. A warning was relayed to the pilot via the tower, but by then the aircraft was airborne and the pilot had reported a control problem. During lift-off, the aircraft pitched up sharply and entered an immediate right bank of about 45°. As the gear retracted, the bank angle decreased to about 20°. The aircraft was reported to yaw slightly from side to side and circle to the right while climbing to about 1,000 feet. A witness (in radio contact) asked the pilot about the problem; the pilot replied the controls (ctls) were locked to one side. On advice of others, the pilot tried to control the aircraft with engine power adjustments, but the aircraft lost altitude to about 200 feet agl. Subsequently, while maneuvering, it struck a tree, then hit a utility pole and crashed. During impact the lower fuselage, which housed the flight control linkages, was badly damaged. No preimpact mechanical problem was verified concerning the flight controls, autopilot or trim. A pilot, who had previously flown the aircraft with the baggage door open, said he experienced no adverse control problems. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

On May 8, 1987, flight 5452, a commuter flight regularly scheduled to depart from San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 0615 local time, for a flight to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, departed at 0620 with four passengers and two crewmembers. The captain was 15 minutes late when he arrived for the flight at 0600. The first officer arrived on time at 0545. The airplane, a CASA C-212~CC, was operated by Executive Air Charter, Inc., doing business as American Eagle. The flight was on a visual flight rules flight plan, and communications with the flight en route were reported to have been routine. The first officer handled the initial radio communications, and the captain made subsequent radio communications. While in the vicinity of Mayaguez, the captain cancelled the flight plan and proceeded to make a visual approach to runway 9. The captain did not make the customary in-range call to the operations agent at Mayaguez to report the flight’s arrival estimate and fuel requirements. Witnesses who observed the airplane on its downwind leg reported that it appeared normal. One witness said the airplane seemed too fast on the approach and appeared to overshoot the extended centerline on the baseleg turn to final. Another said the airplane “turned tighter” and did not extend the downwind leg as normal. He said as the airplane came toward him, the nose rose up quickly and then the airplane rolled to the right and nosed over. A third witness said the airplane made a violent turn, and he thought the engine noise was louder than normal. A fourth confirmed that the airplane made a shortened downwind leg, making a continuous left turn and sinking fast. He said that it turned rapidly to the right and nosed down and struck the ground. He then saw it pivot around and slide backwards. He stated that fire began when the right wing and engine separated from the airplane. A fifth witness, a company baggage handler, said he heard an explosion and saw flames come out of the right engine before it turned twice and struck the ground. A crop duster pilot reported that everything appeared normal until the airplane was about 1,000 feet from the runway and about 100 feet above the ground. He said at that point, he heard a sound similar to that of a turbo propeller airplane going into reverse pitch to slow down after landing. He said the airplane then yawed to the right, followed by a roll to the left, as if the pilot had attempted to counteract the yaw. The airplane then rolled back to the right and the right wing tip struck the ground. A fire erupted immediately, the airplane turned about 1800, and it came to rest upright. The four passengers on board reported that the flight was routine until the approach into Mayaguez. One passenger seated in 3A noticed that the noise from the engines was lower than usual and that it was not the normal engine sound. He thought afterward that perhaps an engine had stopped and that the noise was different on the right. He said the airplane was not shaking or vibrating. A second passenger seated in 4C reported that the airplane lost altitude abruptly and that it fell rapidly as it banked to the left on the approach. He said he heard strange sounds from the left side and that it was an engine or scraping noise. He stated that he saw a 1 l/2- to 2-foot long flame come from the left engine, but that it did not appear to be spreading. He reported that the airplane jerked before it hit the ground. The third passenger, seated in 6A, reported that she heard an unusual metallic sound similar to a landing gear retracting or extending immediately before the crash. The fourth passenger in seat 78 was asleep and did not awaken until the crash. He said that he thought the airplane made a hard or gear-up landing.

Witnesses stated that the aircraft used most of the runway to takeoff, reached an approximately altitude of 60 feet, then pulled up to clear an embankment. However, the aircraft struck a tall palm tree and crashed between 2 roads, near an intersection, where the roads merged. The cargo was removed from the acft and weighed. Computations showed that the maximum allowable gross weight of the acft was exceeded by approximately 1,928 lbs. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was evident. The passenger was injured and the pilot was killed.