Landing (descent or approach)

The twin engine aircraft was completing a taxi flight from São Luis to Belém, carrying two passengers, two pilots and a load of briefcases with bank documents. On approach to Belém-Val de Cans Airport by night, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with limited visibility, CB's, rain falls and severe turbulences. On final approach, the aircraft went out of control and crashed on the Ilha das Onças Island, about 5,5 km west of runway 06 threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.

On Sunday 22 June 2003, the CRJ-100 registered F-GRJS was operating as scheduled flight AF 5672 between Nantes Atlantique and Brest-Guipavas aerodromes (France) under an IFR flight plan. The flight represented the last leg of a Brest – Nantes – Strasbourg – Nantes – Brest rotation. The aeroplane was operated by Brit Air on behalf of Air France. The Captain was pilot flying (PF). The crew also included another pilot (the co-pilot), and one cabin crew. The aeroplane took off at 21 h 16 (2) with twenty-one passengers. The flight was approximately fifty minutes late, due to a delay in the first flight of the day that had affected the subsequent flights. During the flight, with the authorisation of the control centre, the crew passed northeast of the planned track in order to avoid cumulonimbus formations. At Brest Guipavas, the 21 h 00 ATIS indicated visibility of eight hundred meters with some fog and a cloud base at two hundred feet with the presence of cumulonimbus. The runway in use was 26 Left with an ILS approach. Runway use was temporarily restricted to Cat I due to presence of works. At 21 h 36 min 27 s, the flight (radio call sign BZ 672 EC) was cleared by the enroute controller to descend to Flight Level 150 then, at 21 h 39 min 10 s, to Flight Level 70. At 21 h 39 min 23 s, the crew announced that they were descending to Flight Level 70 towards BODIL, the initial approach fix, avoiding storms. At 21 h 39 min 31 s, the Brest approach controller transmitted "Descend four thousand feet QNH one thousand and eight, number two on approach, plan a holding pattern at Golf Uniform". At 21 h 44 min 21 s, the controller cleared descent to three thousand feet and added "and perform a holding pattern". The aeroplane was approximately 20 NM DME from BG. At 21 h 47 min 40 s, that is, approximately one-and-a-half-minutes before the planned start of the hold, the controller cleared descent to two thousand feet QNH. At 21 h 48 min 01 s, the controller announced "Echo Charlie, preceding aeroplane has landed, continue the approach, report at Outer Marker". Four seconds later, at 9.4 NM DME, the autopilot "Heading" and "Vertical Speed" modes became active and the aeroplane adopted a heading of 257°. The Brest ILS frequency was displayed on the VOR 1 and the VOR navigation source was selected. At 21 h 48 min 21 s, the controller called back "Are you ready for the approach?". The crew confirmed and the controller asked "Report at Outer Marker". The Copilot read this back. At the Captain’s request, the Co-pilot extended the flaps to 20° then the landing gear. The aeroplane stabilized at two thousand feet QNH on autopilot, still in Heading mode, at about 7 NM DME. Simultaneously, the wind, which had started to veer northwest during the descent, caused the aeroplane to drift towards the left. The flight crew did not notice this drift. At 21 h 49 min, the co-pilot extended the flaps to 30° then to 45° and the crew performed the pre-landing checklist. At 21 h 49 min 35 s, the controller cleared the landing for runway 26 Left and indicated a cloud base of less than one hundred feet. At 21 h 49 min 40 s, the aeroplane, in level flight, passed under then above the glide slope. At 21 h 50 min, the aeroplane passed the GU beacon, slightly to the left, with a track deviating to the left in relation to the localizer centreline. At that moment, the wind calculated by the Flight Management System (FMS) was 300° / 20 kt. A short time later, the aeroplane began its descent. The aeroplane continued to drift to the left of the localizer centreline. At 21 h 50 min 45 s the aeroplane again passed through the glide slope, and the Captain said "Approach selected, LOC and Glide"; the Co-pilot confirmed. The autopilot "heading" and "vertical speed" modes remained active. The aeroplane thereafter remained below the glide slope for the remainder of the flight. Between 21 h 50 min 58 s and 21 h 51 min 02 s, the GPWS announced, successively, "Five hundred", "Glide slope" then "Sink rate". At 21 h 51 min 01 s, the aeroplane began a turn to the right. By this time, the aeroplane was 4.68 points to the left of the localizer centreline. At 21 h 51 min 04 s, the Captain disengaged the autopilot. At 21 h 51 min 05 s, the GPWS announced "Three hundred". Between 21 h 51 min 07 s and 21 h 51 min 14 s, seven "Glide slope" alarms sounded. During this time, the Co-pilot said "come right" on two occasions and the aeroplane attitude changed from - 5° to 0°. At 21 h 51 min 15 s, the GPWS announced "One hundred". At 21 h 51 min 16 s, with the aeroplane at 529 feet QNH and 93 feet on the radio altimeter, the Co-pilot said "I’ve got nothing in front", then the Captain said "Go around". Simultaneously, the engine thrust increased significantly. The aeroplane attitude returned to - 5 in four seconds. At 21 h 51 min 19 s, the Co-pilot said "Go around". At 21 h 51 min 20 s, the GPWS announced "Sink rate" then "Pull up". The Co-pilot said "Go around" again at 21 h 51 min 22. The first sounds of the impact were recorded by the CVR at 21 h 51 min 22 s, and the recording stopped at 21 h 51 min 24. s. The aeroplane, which touched the ground without any great force, rolled, struck several obstacles and ended up 450 meters left of the extended runway centreline, 2,150 meters from the runway threshold. The Captain was killed. The rest of the crew and the passengers managed to evacuate the aeroplane, which was destroyed by fire.

On June 17, 2003, about 1330 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 402B, N3748C, registered to Hamilton Development Company Ltd., operated by Execstar Aviation, Inc., collided with a seawall during the landing roll at a private airstrip located on Little Whale Cay, Bahamas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 135 non-scheduled, international, passenger/cargo flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial-rated pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight originated about 10 minutes earlier from Chub Cay, Bahamas. The pilot stated that after takeoff the flight proceeded to the destination airport where he overflew the runway and set up for landing to the southeast on the 2,000 foot-long runway. While on final approach with the flaps fully extended, he maintained 95 knots which was just below blue line, then slowed to 88 knots when the runway was assured. He landed within the first 1/3 on the wet runway and reported inadequate braking and the airplane was possibly hydroplaning. Recognizing that he was unable to clear an approximately 4-foot-tall seawall near the end of the runway, he applied aft elevator control input. He further stated he believes the main landing gear contacted the seawall causing them to structurally separate. The airplane descended and impacted the water where he and the passengers exited the airplane using the emergency window and walked to the beach.

After landing on a gravel runway at Adar Yeil Airport, the aircraft collided with a flock of birds, damaging the left engine. The aircraft went out of control and veered to the left, causing the left propeller to struck the ground. The propeller blades separated, punctured the fuselage and injured three passengers. The aircraft came to a halt and all occupants evacuated. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

After takeoff from Nueva Gerona-Rafael Cabrera Airport runway 23, the crew elected to climb to an altitude of 1,000 feet he encountered technical problems. He contacted ATC and was cleared for an immediate return. Following a 180 turn, the crew completed a flapless approach to runway 05. After landing, the aircraft rolled for about 2,500 metres then overran and came to rest in an artificial lake. All 52 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

After landing at Jaffna-Palaly Airport, the aircraft went out of control and veered off runway. It collided with a signpost, injured one soldier on the ground and came to rest. All 55 occupants escaped uninjured but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The twin engine aircraft departed Belo Horizonte-Pampulha Airport at 1522LT on a taxi flight to Juiz de Fora, carrying two pilots, two passengers and a load of valuables. While cruising about 35 nm south of Belo Horizonte, the crew encountered technical problems with the engines and elected to return for an emergency landing. On approach to runway 13, the aircraft was too high and the crew was cleared to make a 360 turn to reduce his altitude. Doing so and after he completed 270° of this turn, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed 2 km short of runway, bursting into flames. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all four occupants were killed.

The aircraft was on an air transport charter flight from Palmerston North to Christchurch with one pilot and 9 passengers. At 1907 it was on an instrument approach to Christchurch Aerodrome at
night in instrument meteorological conditions when it descended below minimum altitude, in a position where reduced visibility prevented runway or approach lights from being seen, to collide with trees and terrain 1.2 nm short of the runway. The pilot and 7 passengers were killed, and 2 passengers received serious injury. The aircraft was destroyed. The accident probably resulted from the pilot becoming distracted from monitoring his altitude at a critical stage of the approach. The possibility of pilot incapacitation is considered unlikely, but cannot be ruled out.

The float-equipped airplane was in the traffic pattern to land at a seaplane base when the engine lost all power, and the pilot made an emergency landing in the backyard of a private residence. During the forced landing, the airplane struck trees and a railing on the deck of the residence, sustaining structural damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that he had the right wing fuel tank selected, and thought the tank was about 1/4 full. He indicated that when the engine lost power, he was too low and didn't have sufficient time or altitude to switch to the belly tank and restore power. Postaccident draining of the fuel tanks disclosed about 18 gallons of fuel in the belly tank, and about one quart in the right wing tank.

The aircraft with a single pilot on board was performing firefighting operations in the vicinity of Lake Wicksteed, approximately 10 nautical miles north of Hornepayne, Ontario. The aircraft was scooping water from Lake Wicksteed for the nearby fire. The lake is approximately 7300 feet in length with gentle rising terrain along its shoreline. This was the third scooping from the lake, and the approach was flown in an easterly direction in light wind conditions. The pilot performed the inbound checks, lowered the water probes to begin filling the float water tanks, and touched down on the lake. Within a short time, he observed water spraying from the overflow vents located on top of the floats, indicating that the tanks were filled to capacity. He pressed a button on the yoke to retract the probes, and the aircraft immediately nosed over into the lake in a wings-level attitude and began to sink. The accident occurred at approximately 1800 eastern daylight time. The pilot extricated himself from the aircraft and held on to the side of the partially submerged aircraft. A witness to the occurrence immediately boarded a powered, aluminum boat and went to assist the pilot, while a second witness travelled to Hornepayne to notify the authorities and emergency services. Once the pilot reached the shore, he was taken to a nearby cottage where he remained until emergency services arrived. The aircraft came to rest on the bottom of the shallow lake in an inverted attitude with the floats above the surface of the water.