Date & Time:
Mar 3, 1972 at 2048 LT
Type of aircraft:
Fairchild-Hiller FH-227
Operator:
Registration:
N7818M
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
City
Schedule:
New York-LaGuardia - Albany
MSN:
541
YOM:
1967
Flight number:
MO405
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
44
Pax fatalities:
14
Other fatalities:
1
Total fatalities:
17
Captain / Total hours on type:
2202
Copilot / Total hours on type:
2723
Aircraft flight hours:
10068
Aircraft flight cycles:
15714
Circumstances:
On final approach to Albany by night and marginal weather conditions, the crew encountered technical problems with the left engine propeller cruise lock system. The propeller could not be feathered and the airplane lost height and eventually crashed onto two houses located 3,8 miles short of runway 01 threshold. Two crew members and 14 passengers as well as one people on the ground were killed. The aircraft and two houses were destroyed.
Probable cause:
The inability of the crew to feather the left propeller, in combination with the descent of the aircraft below the prescribed minimum altitudes for the approach. The Board is unable to determine why the left propeller could not be feathered. Contributing causal factors for the nonstandard approach were the captain's preoccupation with a cruise pitch lock malfunction, the first officer's failure to adhere to company altitude awareness procedures, and the captain's failure to delegate any meaningful responsibilities to the copilot which resulted in a lack of effective task sharing during the emergency. Also, the Board was unable to determine why the propeller pitch lock malfunctioned during the descent.
Final Report:
N7818M.pdf4.62 MB
