Crash of a De Havilland C-115 Buffalo at Ponta Pelada AFB

Date & Time: May 15, 1995
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
2361
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Ponta Pelada AFB - Ponta Pelada AFB
MSN:
31
YOM:
1969
Country:
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a local training flight at Ponta Pelada AFB, Manaus. Upon landing, the aircraft went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest few dozen metres further. There were no casualties while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Cessna 208A Caravan I in Luziânia

Date & Time: Apr 11, 1995 at 1630 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PT-OGO
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Luziânia - Luziânia
MSN:
208-0027
YOM:
1985
Country:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The single engine aircraft was dispatched at Luziânia Airport for local training purposes, carrying a crew of five consisting of one instructor and four pilot under training. Following several approaches, the aircraft was descending to the runway when the instructor reduced the engine power to simulate a failure. From a height of about 300 feet, the aircraft nosed down, lost height and crashed short of runway threshold. All five occupants were uninjured and the aircraft was written off.
Probable cause:
The following contributing factors were reported:
- The traffic and the high number of landings caused a natural fatigue by the instructor and reduced his appreciations,
- There were too much pilots under training for one single instructor,
- The copilot's experience was insufficient with only one hour on Cessna 208,
- Poor crew coordination,
- Poor crew action on engine power to expect recovery after stall.

Crash of a Harbin Yunsunji Y-12-II in Bom Jesus

Date & Time: Mar 4, 1995
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PNP-224
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
0072
YOM:
1993
Country:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
5
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
After touchdown, the twin engine airplane went out of control, veered off runway and came to rest 200 metres further. All eight occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Boeing 737-2A1 in São Paulo

Date & Time: Feb 2, 1995 at 0008 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PP-SMV
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
São Paulo – Buenos Aires
MSN:
20968
YOM:
1974
Country:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
121
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
8000
Captain / Total hours on type:
6500.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
4500
Copilot / Total hours on type:
2500
Circumstances:
Following a night takeoff from São Paulo-Guarulhos Airport, en route to Buenos Aires, the captain informed ATC about technical problems and was cleared to return for an emergency landing. The aircraft landed at a speed of 185 knots with flaps down to 15° on wet runway 09L. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest 200 metres further. All 128 occupants were evacuated safely, among them two passengers were slightly injured. The aircraft was written off.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the n°3 leading edge flap actuator attachment fitting on the wing front spar had fractured due to corrosion. The actuator came away and caused the failure of some hydraulic lines and damage to the thrust control cables. Some 1981 Boeing Service Bulletins had not been complied with. One of these included the replacement of the aluminium leading edge flap actuator attachment fitting with a steel one; this had not been done. The following contributing factors were reported:
- Excessive workload on approach and landing due to the emergency situation,
- Poor approach planning,
- Lack of visibility due to the night,
- Poor crew coordination,
- Poor crew resources management,
- The crew forgot to lower the flaps electrically on approach, causing the speed to be 32 knots in excess,
- Poor aircraft maintenance and supervision,
- Failures in the supervision of the Company's operating sector.
Final Report:

Crash of a Learjet 55 Longhorn in Rio de Janeiro

Date & Time: Nov 9, 1994 at 1412 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PT-LIG
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
55-111
YOM:
1984
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
After touchdown on runway 20L at Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance (runway 20L is 1,320 metres long). The aircraft overran and came to rest in the Guanabara Bay. All five occupants were injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Lockheed RC-130E Hercules in Formosa de Rio Preto: 21 killed

Date & Time: Oct 14, 1994 at 1900 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
2460
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Rio de Janeiro - Belém
MSN:
4293
YOM:
1968
Country:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
15
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
21
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft departed Rio de Janeiro-Galeão Airport at 1600LT on a flight to Belém, carrying 15 passengers and a crew of six. About three hours into the flight, while in cruising altitude, a fire erupted on board. The crew lost control of the aircraft that entered a dive and crashed in an open field located in Formosa de Rio Preto. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 21 occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
It was determined that a fire of unknown origin erupted in flight, followed by several explosions. A that time, a load of ammunition was stored in several boxes in the cargo compartment.

Crash of a Boeing 707-324C in São Paulo

Date & Time: Oct 9, 1994 at 1742 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
HK-3355X
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Campinas - Santa Cruz
MSN:
18886
YOM:
1965
Country:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
After takeoff from Campinas-Viracopos Airport, while climbing, the crew informed ATC about technical problems and was cleared to divert to São Paulo-Guarulhos Airport for an emergency landing. On final, both main landing gears were lowered but apparently not locked while the nose gear remained stuck in its main wheel. Upon touchdown on runway 09L, the aircraft sank on its belly and slid for few dozen metres before coming to rest. All five occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the hydraulic pump n°2 on the engine n°3 failed after takeoff, causing an oil leak and a loss of hydraulic pressure. The undercarriage could be lowered but not locked down while the crew attempted to lower the nose gear manually but doing so, caused the locking pin to obstruct and damage the landing gear extension system. It was also reported that several seals located on hydraulic lines were broken and have not been replaced during the last C check.

Crash of an Embraer EMB-110EJ Bandeirante in Feijó: 2 killed

Date & Time: Sep 23, 1994 at 0635 LT
Operator:
Registration:
PT-GJY
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Feijó - Tarauacá - Rio Branco
MSN:
110-087
YOM:
1976
Location:
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Captain / Total flying hours:
4095
Captain / Total hours on type:
1119.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
647
Copilot / Total hours on type:
187
Aircraft flight hours:
21502
Circumstances:
The aircraft was completing a cargo flight from Feijó to Rio Branco with an intermediate stop in Tarauacá, carrying two pilots and a load of 635 kilos of various goods. As the flight to Tarauacá was 10 minutes only, the crew decided to leave the undercarriage down. Shortly after takeoff from Feijó Airport, the crew encountered technical problems with the right engine. The aircraft lost speed and height so the captain decided to raise the landing gear but this was too late. The aircraft struck a tree, causing 3,2 metres of the right wing to be torn off. Out of control, the aircraft crashed in a wooded area, bursting into flames. Both pilots were killed.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the evening prior to the accident, the aircraft suffered an incident upon landing at Feijó Airport. Upon landing the copilot inadvertently mishandled the engines. Reverse pitch was not applied. Directional control was lost and the left main landing gear ran off the side of the runway. The airplane came to rest 40 metres past the runway end. It was towed to the ramp and the captain conducted an inspection of the airplane. As nothing wrong was noticed, the crew decided to continue the flight after the company base was notified of the occurrence. At the time of the accident, the crew was anxious about the event that occurred the preceding evening and the captain's attention was distracted. Thus, there was a higher level of stress in the cockpit at the time of the accident and the copilot did not want to be the PIC for the second leg due to anxiousness. As the right engine was totally destroyed by a post crash fire, it was not possible to determine the exact cause of its malfunction. Poor weather conditions, poor flight planning and insufficient control inputs on the rudder were considered as contributing factors.
Final Report:

Crash of an Embraer EMB-110EJ Bandeirante in São Gabriel da Cachoeira

Date & Time: May 7, 1994 at 1248 LT
Operator:
Registration:
PT-GJW
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Santa Isabel do Rio Negro – São Gabriel da Cachoeira
MSN:
110-072
YOM:
1976
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
14
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
15000
Captain / Total hours on type:
5180.00
Circumstances:
The crew encountered poor weather conditions on approach to São Gabriel da Cachoeira Airport with low visibility due to fog. On short final, the crew failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the aircraft collided with trees and crashed few hundred metres short of runway. All 16 occupants were injured, three seriously. The aircraft was destroyed.
Probable cause:
Contributing factors
a. Human Factor
(1). Psychological Aspect
It contributed, since the pilot in command adopted an improvisational attitude through the adoption of unforeseen procedures in the face of the insistence on landing, despite the weather conditions present. A likely channeling of attention to external references may have contributed to the loss of operational performance, leading to the loss of the maintenance condition of the basic flight parameters.
(2). Physiological Aspect
Undetermined since the absence of interference from toxicological factors was not effectively verified.
b. Material Factor
Didn't contribute.
c. Operational Factor
(1). Deficient Instruction
It contributed since there was no periodic simulator training and also no cockpit resource management (CRM) training.
(2). Deficient Supervision
It contributed since there was no adequate monitoring of the circumstances of operation by the Company's operations sector and, also, there were no defined and clear rules and specific operating routines that adequately addressed the various aspects of the operation.
(3). Little Flight or Aircraft Experience
It contributed because of the small experience in the aircraft by the copilot.
(4). Influence of the Environment
It contributed since visibility was limited at the time of the accident.
(5). Deficient Cockpit Coordination
Contributed since there was no briefing to the accomplishment of the descent procedure by instruments, the copilot did not follow the execution of the procedures after the critical point since he concentrated his attention to the search of external references, thus abandoning the monitoring of the flight parameters.
(6). Disabled Infrastructure
Indetermined since the influence of the low accuracy of the NDB on the heading lags occurred in the descent procedure was not perfectly established and no effective test was performed.
(7). Poor Planning
It contributed because there was no briefing in the procedure of descent by instrument and approach lost.
(8). Deficient discipline of Flight
The pilot therefore continued the flight, without visibility, at an altitude below the minimum for this operating condition.
(9). Adverse Weather Conditions
It contributed as the prevailing weather conditions were marginal, with the aerodrome closed for IFR operation.
Final Report:

Crash of a Cessna 208A Caravan in Jacareacanga: 2 killed

Date & Time: Apr 26, 1994 at 0740 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
PT-OGI
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Itaituba - Jacareacanga
MSN:
208-0039
YOM:
1986
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Captain / Total flying hours:
6000
Captain / Total hours on type:
2000.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
800
Copilot / Total hours on type:
350
Circumstances:
Five minutes after takeoff from Itaituba Airport, the crew was informed about weather conditions at destination with ceiling at ground and a visibility less than 300 metres which means that the conditions were below minimums. Upon arrival, the crew was unable to establish a visual contact with the airport and decided to circle for weather improvement. Few minutes later, the single engine aircraft crashed near the airport, killing both pilots.
Probable cause:
The accident was the consequence of the following factors:
1) Adverse Weather Conditions - Contributed
Weather conditions were unfavorable at the destination location for visual flight. There was a layer of fog near the forest.
2) Poor Instruction - Contributed
The Commander was not qualified to fly that type of aircraft and was not instrument cleared.
3) Disabled Judge - Contributed
The pilots continued the flight, even knowing the adverse weather conditions at their destination.
4) Flight Indiscipline - Contributed
One of the pilots was not qualified to fly that aircraft and, in addition, there was intentional disobedience to the air traffic rules and regulations, regarding the non observance of the minimum IFR flight level in the industry.
5) Disabled Oversight - Contributed
There was poor oversight of the responsible company by letting an unqualified pilot operate the aircraft.
6) Weak Cabin Coordination - Contributed
IFR flight without complying with IMA 100-12 rules, conducted below the limits and outside the descent profile are indications that there was no planning/coordination in the operations performed in the cockpit.
Final Report: