Flight

On 7 January 2015 a Pacific Aerospace Limited 750XL aeroplane was being used for tandem parachuting (or ‘skydiving’) operations at Taupō aerodrome. During the climb on the fourth flight of the day, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 engine failed suddenly. The 12 parachutists and the pilot baled out of the aeroplane and landed without serious injury. The aeroplane crashed into Lake Taupō and was destroyed.

The crew (a pilot and a load master) was performing a regular cargo service to Karisparu and departed Mahdia Airport at 1142LT. The duration of the flight should be less than 20 minutes as the aircraft was scheduled to arrive at Karisparu Airfield at 1200LT. Less than three minutes after departure, the radio contact was lost with the pilot. SAR operations were initiated but after four days, no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. The Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Zulfikar Mohamed, said that the crucial 72-hour window period since the aircraft vanished in the thick jungle in Region Eight expired on Tuesday December 30. On January 4, 2015, all SAR operations were suspended as no trace of the aircraft was found.

The aircraft left Surabaya-Juanda Airport at 0535LT and climbed to its assigned altitude of FL320 that he reached 19 minutes later. The crew contacted ATC to obtain the authorization to climb to FL380 and to divert to 310° due to bad weather conditions. At 0617, the radio contact was lost with the crew and a minute later, the transponder stopped when the aircraft disappeared from the radar screen. At this time, the aircraft was flying at the altitude of 36,300 feet and its speed was decreasing to 353 knots. It is believed the aircraft crashed some 80 nautical miles southeast off the Pulau Belitung Island, some 200 km from the Singapore Control Area. The Indonesian Company confirmed there were 156 Indonesian Citizens on board, three South Korean, one Malaysian, one Singapore and one French (the copilot) as well. At the time of the accident, the weather conditions were marginal with storm activity, rain falls and turbulence in the area between Pulau Belitung and Kalimantan. First debris were spotted by the Indonesian Navy some 48 hours later, about 150 NM east-south-east off the Pulau Belitung Island. About forty dead bodies were found up to December 30. The tail was recovered on January 10, 2015 and the black boxes were localized a day later. On January 12 and 13 respectively, the DFDR and the CVR were out of water and sent to Jakarta for analysis and investigations.

The aircraft was performing a cargo flight from Entebbe to Pointe-Noire with an intermediate stop in Bujumbura, Burundi, to refuel. After takeoff, while proceeding to the west by night, the aircraft struck the slope of Mt Kafinda (3,100 metres high), about 25 km south of Uvira. The wreckage was found on hilly and wooded terrain. All six occupants were killed.

The single engine aircraft departed Bucaramanga-Palonegro Airport on a charter flight to Málaga-Jerónimo de Aguayo Airport, carrying six passengers and one pilot. En route, the aircraft started a descent then a turn to the left when it impacted the slope of a mountain and crashed near Piedecuesta. The wreckage was found the following day and all seven occupants were killed. There was no fire.

The pilot Amílcar Suárez, sole on board, was killed when the twin engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances in a mountainous area located near La Bonanza. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire. It was en route from Valencia to Charallave.

On Tuesday December 2nd, 2014 at approximately 8:45 am (1345Z) a Ferg’s Air Limited, Piper PA-31-350 Navajo aircraft, registration C6-REV, operated as Southern Air Limited Flight 302, ditched in waters approximately 6nm from shore in the southwestern district of New Providence. The flight originated at Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera (MYEM) with 10+1 persons on board at approximately 8:15 am in Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC). At around 8:30am, the aircraft 15 nautical miles east of Lynden Pindling International Airport at 4,500 feet contacted Nassau Air Traffic Control Tower. The aircraft was instructed that runway 09 was in use and they can expect a landing on that runway. Upon final approach to runway 09, with the landing gears selected to the “EXTEND” position, only the nose and right main landing gear lights indicated the “down and locked” position. The left main landing gear light did not illuminate to indicate the “down and locked” position, so the landing was aborted and the pilot requested to go around so he could recycle and troubleshoot the landing gear issue. The pilot made a left turn, flew over the north western shoreline and recycled the landing gears a few times and also tried the emergency hand pump in an attempt to extend the gear. Despite all efforts, the left main landing gear light still did not illuminate to indicated the gear was in the safe “down and locked” position. At this time the aircraft was allowed to fly by the tower so that the controller may make a visual check of the landing gears to see if they were in the extended position. The controller advised the pilot that all gears “appeared to be extended”. Once again the pilot proceeded outbound to make another attempt for landing. For this approach the pilot made a right turn over the southwestern shoreline and proceeded downwind to runway 09. While on the downwind to runway 09 the pilot stated he began to experience problems with the right engine. The engine eventually stopped and all attempts to restart were unsuccessful. As a result of single engine operation, level flight could not be maintained even after retracting the gears and cleaning up the airplane. The decision was made by the pilot to ditch in the water vs. attempting to make the airport where numerous trees and obstacles would make the landing more difficult if the runway could not be made. After touching down on the water the most of the occupants were able to evacuate the aircraft through the normal and emergency exits before the aircraft sank into the ocean. One passenger died during the process. Witness stated that “the plane skipped across the water three times before rotating and hitting with a severe impact. The port (left) tail section received the bulk of the impact as did the port side of the plane.” Eye witness further stated that the passenger that died and “luggage from the baggage compartment were ejected from the rear of the plane on the port side.” “Multiple passengers could not swim or were extremely limited in their ability to swim.” Despite the plane having the full complement of survival equipment (life vests), only two were taken out of the aircraft. Passengers were holding on to bags and other debris that floated out of the aircraft as it submerged. Passengers helped each other until rescuers arrived to assist. Estimates from eye witness were that “the entire plane disappeared under water from 30 to 60 seconds after impact.” The depth where the aircraft came to rest on the water was reported as in excess of 6,500 feet. Once the aircraft settled, it submerged and was not able to be recovered. Safety concerns raised by eye witness could not be confirmed as the plane was never recovered.

The airline transport pilot was conducting a cross-country repositioning flight. While en route to the destination airport, the pilot contacted air traffic control and stated that he was beginning to descend. No further radio transmissions were made by the pilot. Radar and GPS information showed, about the same time as the pilot's last transmission, the airplane's flightpath began descending in a westerly direction. The last recorded GPS point showed the airplane about 200 ft southwest of the initial impact point, 90 ft above ground level, and at a groundspeed of 66 knots. The airplane wreckage was located in an open field and impact signatures were consistent with a stall/spin, which had resulted in a near-vertical impact at a slow airspeed. The right propeller blades were found in the feathered position. Examination of the right engine found that the oil gauge housing extension was improperly secured to the oil gauge housing, which resulted in a loss of engine oil. Additionally, the examination revealed a hole in the right engine's crankcase, metal material in the oil sump, and signatures consistent with the lack of lubrication. Cockpit switches were positioned in accordance with the in-flight shutdown of the right engine. No anomalies were found with the left engine or airframe that would have precluded normal operation. Another pilot who had flown with the accident pilot reported that the pilot typically used the autopilot, and the autopilot system was found with the roll, heading, and pitch modes active. During the descent, no significant changes of heading were recorded, and the direction of travel before the stall was not optimal for the airplane to land before a fence line. It is likely that the autopilot was controlling the airplane's flightpath before the stall. Despite one operating engine, the pilot did not maintain adequate airspeed and exceeded the airplane's critical angle-of-attack (AOA), which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin. Correcting the last GPS recorded airspeed for prevailing wind, the airplane's indicated airspeed would have been about 72 knots, which is above the airplane's 0-bank stall speed, but an undetermined mount of bank would have been applied to maintain heading, which would have accelerated the stall speed. It could not be determined why the pilot did not maintain adequate airspeed or notify air traffic controller of an engine problem. Although a review of the pilot's medical records revealed that he had several historical medical conditions and the toxicology tests detected several sedating allergy medications in his system, it was inconclusive whether the medical conditions or medications impaired the pilot's ability to fly the airplane or if the pilot was incapacitated. It is also possible that the pilot was distracted by the loss of oil from the right engine and that this resulted in his failure to maintain adequate airspeed, his exceedance of the airplane's critical AOA, and a subsequent stall/spin; however, based on the available evidence, the investigation could not determine the reason for the pilot's lack of corrective actions.

The single engine aircraft departed Lima-Callao-Jorge Chávez Airport bound for Pisco. While cruising in foggy conditions east of Lima, the airplane collided with a mountain located between La Molina and Villa Maria del Triunfo. The wreckage was found in the evening, around 1840LT, and all three occupants were killed.

The Air Tindi Ltd. Cessna 208B Caravan departed Yellowknife Airport, Northwest Territories, on 20 November 2014 at 0642 Mountain Standard Time under instrument flight rules as Discovery Air flight DA223 to Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories. The flight had been rescheduled from the previous night because of freezing drizzle at Fort Simpson. During the climb to 8000 feet above sea level, DA223 encountered icing conditions that necessitated a return to Yellowknife. On the return to Yellowknife, DA223 was unable to maintain altitude. At 0721, flying in darkness approximately 18 nautical miles west of Yellowknife, it contacted the frozen surface of the North Arm of Great Slave Lake. The aircraft sustained substantial damage when it struck a rock outcropping, but there were no injuries to the pilot or to the 5 passengers. The pilot established communication with Air Tindi via satellite phone, and the pilot and passengers were recovered approximately 4 hours after the landing. The emergency locator transmitter did not activate during the landing, but was activated manually by the pilot.