Santiago de Compostela

Based on the information available, at 20:40 the ONT (National Transplant Organization) informed the Santiago Airport (LEST) that they were going to make a “hospital flight”. The aircraft was refueled at the Santiago Airport with 1062 liters of fuel. According to communications, the crew of aircraft EC-IBA contacted the Santiago tower at 21:46 to request permission to start up and information on the weather and the runway in use at Asturias. At 21:54 they were cleared to take off. According to the airport operations office, the aircraft landed in Asturias (LEAS) at 22:27. The hospital flight service commenced at 22:15. The RFFS accompanied the ambulance to the aircraft at 22:30 and at 22:44 the aircraft took off en route to Porto. The aircraft was transferred from Madrid control to Santiago approach at 22:52 at flight level 200 and cleared straight to Porto (LPPR). Based on the information provided by Porto Airport, the aircraft landed at 23:40. While waiting for the medical team to return, the crew remained in the airport’s facilities. According to some of the personnel there, the crew made some comments regarding the bad weather. There was fog, especially on the arrival route. At 01:34 and again at 02:01 the crew was supplied with the flight plan information, information from the ARO-LPPR office and updated weather data. The aircraft was refueled at the Porto Airport with 1,000 l of fuel and took off at 02:34. At 02:44 the aircraft contacted approach control at Santiago to report its position. Four minutes later the crew contacted the Santiago tower directly to ask about the weather conditions at the field (see Appendix C). The aircraft landed once more in Asturias at 03:28. At 03:26 the RFFS was again activated to escort the ambulance to the aircraft. The service was deactivated at 04:00. The crew requested updated weather information from the tower, which provided the information from the 03:00 METAR. According to the flight plan filed, the estimated off-block time (EOBT) for departing from the Asturias Airport was 03:45, with an estimated flight time to Santiago of 40 minutes. The alternate destination airport was Vitoria (LEVT). The aircraft took off from Asturias at 03:38. At 03:56 the crew established contact with Santiago approach control, which provided the crew with the latest METAR from 03:30, which informed that the runway in use was 17, winds were calm, visibility was 4,000 m with mist, few clouds at 600 ft, temperature and dew point of 13° and QNH of 1,019. The aircraft was then cleared to conduct an ILS approach to runway 17 at the Santiago Airport. At 04:15 the crew contacted the tower controller, who reported calm winds and cleared them to land on runway 17. At 04:18 the COSPAS-SARSAT system detected the activation of an ELT. The system estimated the position for the beacon as being in the vicinity of the LEST airport. At 04:38 the tower controller informed airport operations of a call he had received from SAR that a beacon was active in the vicinity of the airport, and requested that a marshaller go to the airport where the airplane normally parked to see if it was there. At 04:44 the marshaller confirmed that the aircraft was not in its hangar and the emergency procedure was activated, with the various parties involved in the search for the airplane being notified. At 05:10 the control tower called the airport to initiate the preliminary phase (Phase I) before activating the LVP. At 05:15 the RFFS reported that the aircraft had been found in the vicinity of the VOR. At 05:30 the LVP was initiated (Phase II). At 07:51 the LVP was terminated. The last flight to arrive at the Santiago Airport before the accident had landed at 23:33, and the next flight to arrive following the accident landed at 05:25.

While on approach to Santiago de Compostela Airport, around 0000LT, meteorological conditions were reported to be good, and the crew requested a visual approach to runway 17, even though the active runway was 35. Once cleared to land, the aircraft encountered a fog patch and from this moment it began a high rate descent (2,000 to 3,000 feet per minute). A minute after entering an unexpected and unforeseen fog patch, at 00:13:02 of June 7, the aircraft struck some trees, in level flight and with an airspeed of 148 knots. The wings and engines detached from the fuselage, and they dragged along a scrubland area until they came to a stop. The crew suffered minor injuries and the aircraft was completely destroyed.

After takeoff, while climbing, the right engine failed. The aircraft lost height and crashed, killing all four crew members. They were on their way to perform a scooping mission before flying to the region of Orense to fight a forest fire.

After touchdown on a wet runway at Santiago de Compostela Airport, the crew activated the thrust reverser systems and started the braking procedure. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest in flames in a wooded area, broken in two. All 223 occupants were evacuated, 52 of them were injured, some seriously. The aircraft was destroyed.

The crew departed Santiago de Compostela on a fire fighting mission in the region of Pontevedra. In unknown circumstances, the airplane crashed on the slope of Mt Xiabre and was destroyed. All three crew members were killed.

The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger transport flight from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid, carrying 32 passengers and 5 crew. As requested, the flight passed downwind to align itself for landing on the assigned runway 23 during which maneuver the control tower gave it the green light for landing. The aircraft went by at an altitude of about 300 metres, banking slightly to the left in order to see the light signal more easily. At 1904 hours it saw the green light, compensated for its left bank and, banking to the right, started a right spin which continued to the ground. The aircraft hit the ground with the front part of the fuselage, the right wing and the right engine propeller and caught fire. Although the airport fire fighting services reached the aircraft 6 minutes after the accident and promptly went into action, it was impossible to extinguish fire completely for more an hour. Its effects, however, were reduced to such an extent that the crew and passengers could have been saved had they not all died as a consequence of the violent impact.

About twenty minutes after his departure from Santiago de Compostela, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity. The aircraft went out of control and crashed on a mountain located near Monterroso. All four crew members were killed.