Positioning

The pilot was tasked with a medical evacuation flight to take a patient from Port Hope Simpson to St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador. The aircraft departed the company’s base of operations at Forteau, Newfoundland and Labrador, at approximately 0620 Newfoundland and Labrador daylight time. At approximately 0650, he made radio contact with the airfield attendant at the Port Hope Simpson Airport, advising that he was four nautical miles from the airport for landing. The weather in Port Hope Simpson was reported to be foggy. There were no further transmissions from the aircraft. Although the aircraft could not be seen, it could be heard west of the field. An application of power was heard, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of an impact. Once the fog cleared about 30 minutes later, smoke was visible in the hills approximately four nautical miles to the west of the Port Hope Simpson Airport. A ground search team was dispatched from Port Hope Simpson and the wreckage was found at approximately 1100. The sole occupant of the aircraft was fatally injured. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a severe post-crash fire. There was no emergency locator transmitter signal.

A Saudi Arabian Airlines MD-90 was substantially damaged during a runway excursion accident Riyadh (RUH). The seven crew members escaped unhurt. The airplane operated on a repositioning flight from Jeddah. During the flight, the captain discussed the use of manual spoilers during landing with the first officer. He further stated that; as he "had only around 400 hours in the aircraft" as a captain, he wanted to "see the effect' of landing with manual spoilers. He further explained that the flight provided an opportunity to "do it manually" (use manual spoilers) as it was a repositioning flight and, the weather and dry runway conditions were ideal. As such, he discussed the procedure with the first officer and elected to land with the auto ground spoiler system unarmed. The flight was uneventful. During the approach to Riyadh the Landing Checklist was completed, which included the arming of the auto ground spoiler system for landing. After the Landing Checklist was completed, the captain disarmed the auto ground spoiler system with the intention of applying manual ground spoilers after landing. The auto braking system was also not armed prior to landing. The final approach and touchdown to runway 15 Left at Riyadh were uneventful. The touchdown airspeed was 135 knots calibrated air speed (CAS). On touchdown, the captain manually extended the spoiler/speed brake lever, but did not latch it in the fully extended (EXT) position (fully aft and latched upwards). The captain then removed his right hand from the speed brake lever in order to deploy the thrust reversers. The first officer noted the movement of the spoiler/speed brake lever and called "Spoilers Deployed". Since the spoiler/speed brake lever was not fully pulled aft and latched upwards, the lever automatically returned to the forward retracted (RET) position. This movement of the spoiler/speed brake lever was not noticed by the captain and the first officer. In response, the ground spoilers re-stowed before being fully deployed and, a speed brake/flap configuration (SPD BRK/FLP CONFIG) Level 1 Amber Alert occurred. This alert occurred as the aircraft was not yet fully weight on wheels (WOW) and the aircraft still sensed a flight condition with speed brakes deployed and flaps extended beyond six degrees. Six seconds after touchdown on the right main landing gear, the nose gear touched down and the aircraft transferred to a ground condition (WOW on nose gear and main wheel spin up). The SPD BRK/FLP CONFIG alert extinguished when the nose gear oleo actuated ground shift on landing. After touchdown, the aircraft banked to the right and began to drift right of the runway centerline. In response, he applied left rudder, deployed the thrust reversers and applied left aileron. But this did not have any noticeable effect. The captain saw the approaching G4 taxiway exit and in an attempt to keep the aircraft from leaving the runway surface beyond the G4 taxiway exit, he decided to direct the aircraft towards the taxiway. He then applied a right rudder input which caused the aircraft to commence a rapid sweeping turn to the right towards the G4 taxiway exit. The aircraft left the runway at high speed, traversed the full width of the G4 taxiway, and exited the surface at its southern edge. The aircraft then entered a sand section and travelled the distance infield between the edge of the G4 taxiway and the adjacent section of taxiway GOLF. The left main landing gear collapsed during this time. The aircraft came to rest on taxiway GOLF. There was no post impact fire.

The crew was completing a positioning flight from Krasnoyarsk to Yakutsk with an intermediate stop in Lensk. The intended destination was in fact Prokovsk located about 70 km southwest of Yakutsk but the airfield was not suitable for night movements. On approach to Yakutsk-Magan Airport, the crew continued to Prokovsk where several cars were parked along the runway with their lights ON. Due to low visibility caused by night and snow falls, the crew was unable to establish a visual contact with the ground and two approaches were missed. During a third attempt to land, the aircraft collided with pine trees and power cables and crashed in an open field, bursting into flames. All three occupants were killed.

Shortly after take off from Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel Airport, the pilot informed ATC that he lost all his navigational instruments and was cleared to divert to Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport. On final, he encountered difficulties to lower the gears and eventually ditched the aircraft in the Elbe River. The aircraft came to rest upside down in 0,8 meter of water and was destroyed. The pilot escaped with minor injuries.

The multi-engine fire bomber, which was not carrying retardant, was established at its cruise altitude while en route to a fire base where it would be used as part of the effort to fight a local fire. While en route, the flight crew encountered a forecast area of instrument meteorological conditions, whereupon they began a series of descents to lower altitudes in order to stay in visual flight rules (VFR) conditions beneath the clouds. During the last few minutes of their flight, the flight crew had descended to an altitude that was less than 1,300 feet above ground level (agl) over nearly level terrain. As they approached rapidly rising terrain at the end of the broad open valley they had been flying over, they inadvertently entered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Soon thereafter, while still in a nearly wings-level attitude, the airplane impacted a ridge about 240 feet below its top. The First Officer, who was flying at the time, had asked the Captain about ten minutes prior to the impact if their altitude was high enough to clear the upcoming terrain, but the Captain did not respond, and the First Officer did not challenge the Captain about the issue. Witnesses in the area reported low clouds with ceilings about 200 feet above ground level with a visibility of one-quarter mile or less, with rain and fog. One of the witnesses reported momentarily viewing the airplane flying "very low," while the others reported only being able to hear the airplane.

Prior to the accident flight witnesses observed the pilot "haphazardly" pouring oil into the right engine. The pilot then ran the engines at mid-range power for approximately 20 minutes. The airplane subsequently taxied out of the ramp area and departed. Fire was observed emanating from the right engine after rotation. The airplane continued in a shallow climb from the runway, flying low, with the right engine on fire. The airplane then banked right to return to the airport and descended into a residential area. Examination of the right engine revealed an exhaust leak at the No. 4 cylinder exhaust riser flange. Additionally, one of the flange boltholes was elongated, most likely from the resulting vibration. The fuel nozzle and B-nut were secure in the No. 4 cylinder; however, its respective fuel line was separated about 8 inches from the nozzle. No determination could be made as to when the fuel line separated (preimpact or postimpact) due to the impact and postcrash fire damage. Examination of the right engine turbocharger revealed that the compressor wheel exhibited uniform deposits of an aluminum alloy mixture, consistent with ingestion during operation, and most likely from the melting of the aluminum fresh air duct. Additionally, the right propeller was found near the low pitch position, which was contrary to the owner's manual emergency procedure to secure the engine and feather the propeller in the event of an engine fire.

The crew was engaged in a positioning flight from Rome to Bologna to pick up a medical team for an ambulance mission. At 0554LT, the crew was cleared for takeoff. The aircraft departed Rome-Ciampino Airport runway 15 at 0600LT. During initial climb, after being cleared to Bolsena at FL240, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed near a cattle barn. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and both pilots were killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were as follow: wind from 140 at 18 knots, light rain, few at 1,800 feet, broken 3,000 feet and scattered at 7,000 feet with an OAT of 13° C.

The pilot, sole on board, was completing a positioning flight from Frankfurt-Main Airport to Reichelsheim where the airplane was based. At 1235LT, the twin engine aircraft departed Frankfurt-Main Airport runway 25L and the pilot was instructed to make a left turn and to climb and maintain 1,500 feet. The aircraft climbed to 1,800 feet then descended to 1,400 feet. In rain falls, the aircraft struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located in Königstein im Taunus, about 15 km north of Frankfurt Airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and the pilot was killed.

The crew was on a re-positioning flight from Thompson to Island Lake, Manitoba. On arrival in the Island Lake area, the crew commenced an instrument approach to Runway 12. On the final approach segment, the aircraft descended below the minimum descent altitude and the crew initiated a missed approach. During the missed approach, the aircraft struck trees. The crew was able to return for a landing on Runway 12 at Island Lake without further incident. The two crew members were not injured; the aircraft sustained damage to its right wing and landing gear doors. The accident occurred during hours of darkness at approximately 2110 Central Standard Time.

The airplane and two-person crew departed on a positioning flight. The pilot-in-command was not flying the airplane and sat in the right seat. The second-in-command was the pilot flying and sat in the left seat. The accident occurred on the second attempt to land at the destination airport on a snow-covered runway. While descending for the airport, the pilot not flying the airplane called the runway in sight. After assessing that they were too high the pilot not flying convinced the pilot flying to circle the airplane down to land on the runway. Circling at speeds greater than allowed by the approach categories, the crew performed a 360-degree turn to align themselves with the runway. The pilot flying did not have the runway in sight, and was verbally assisted by the pilot not flying. Both pilots stated that they were aligned with the center of the runway. During the flare to touchdown the pilot flying reported an unexpected gust of wind from the left requiring a correction. The airplane touched down about 20 feet off and to the right of the runway edge. Substantial damage was sustained to the airplane's wing and fuselage.