Landing (descent or approach)

On August 21, 2023, about 1315 central daylight time, an Israel Aircraft Industries 1125 Westwind Astra airplane, N39TT, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Wheeling, Illinois. The pilot and co-pilot were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight. According to the flight crew, they were cleared to land on runway 16 at Chicago Executive Airport, Wheeling, Illinois, and the airplane touched down within the touchdown zone. The pilot applied the brakes and deployed the thrust reversers. The pilot applied additional brake pressure and “found they were not grabbing.” The pilot released the brakes and reapplied brake pressure with no effect and advised the co-pilot he had no brakes. The co-pilot applied his brakes with no effect. The pilot selected the emergency brake handle and applied emergency braking. The pilot reported the emergency braking produced some slowing, and with the airplane’s nose wheel tiller, he attempted a right turn to exit the runway onto the 45° taxiway D, which he thought provided additional stopping distance. Due to the airplane’s energy and momentum, the airplane slid off the taxiway and into the adjacent grass. The airplane’s right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest upright.

While in flight, the pilot heard and felt a bang from the right side of the airplane. He saw that the right engine nacelle had a hole in it and the engine was on fire. He secured the engine and diverted to a nearby airport. While on final approach for landing, the engine fire reignited. The pilot landed the airplane, taxied clear of the runway, shut down the left engine, and egressed. The engine fire continued to burn and consumed the right engine and a majority of the fuselage. Examination revealed that the right engine’s No. 2 cylinder was displaced from the engine case but remained attached via the injector manifold vent tube and injector lines. All eight of the No. 2 cylinder’s attach bolts were broken off at the case. The connecting rod cap was found lodged in the bottom of the piston. One connecting rod bolt was found broken off flush in the connecting rod; the top portion was not located. The other connecting rod bolt remained in the connecting rod cap with the nut also not located. One side of the lower connecting rod flange was bent back towards the piston, capturing the nut and remaining portion of the broken bolt. Neither bearing half could be identified in the remaining material. Numerous impact marks were noted on the piston, cylinder, and case. A review of maintenance records found that the engine was last overhauled about 4 ½ years before the accident and had accrued about 900 hours since the overhaul. Based on the available information, it is likely that the nut that secured one side of the connecting rod cap became loose, resulting the separation of the cap and subsequent damage to the No. 2 cylinder. Since the nut could not be located, the reason it did not remain secure could not be determined.

N28JV departed WMKL with eight persons on board at approximately 1408 LT, heading to WMSA. At around 1446 LT, N28JV contacted the WMSA air traffic tower controller to report it was established on the NBD Runway 15 approach and requested landing clearance. At 1448:36 LT, N28JV was cleared to land on Runway 15. The flight acknowledged the clearance at 1448:41 LT. No further radio transmissions were heard from the flight. Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) data indicated that at 1447:24 LT, at an altitude of 2,600 feet, the aircraft began a speed reduction and descent. At approximately 1449:06 LT, at an altitude of 1,025 feet, the aircraft initiated a right turn, continuing until about 1449:14 LT, when it was at an indicated height of 550 feet. This was the last recorded data transmission from the accident flight, which was near the accident location. The ground speed during the right turn ranged between 146 and 154 knots. The aircraft crashed at Persiaran Elmina, Elmina, Shah Alam. The airplane was destroyed following the ground impact and subsequent fire. All eight occupants and two ground bystanders were fatally injured.

The twin engine airplane (registration unknown) entered the Mexican airspace without authorization and attempted to land on an remote airstrip located about 40 km west of Tapachula. Following a belly landing on a grassy runway, the airplane veered to the left and collided with palm trees. No one was found on site but Police found a load of about 462 kg of cocaine.

The single engine airplane was conducting a visual flight rules repositioning flight from Louie Bay on Nootka Island, British Columbia (BC), to Gold River Water Aerodrome (CAU6), BC, with only the pilot on board. On arrival at CAU6, the pilot noted a rough sea state in the company’s primary landing area and elected to land in the secondary area, a tree-lined river to the east of the base. The aircraft was observed overflying the company dock to the north and then turning right, aligning with the southwest direction of the river. When descending on the alignment turn to final approach, the aircraft experienced an uncommanded yaw and roll. It
abruptly turned further right, heading west, and continued to descend toward the trees. It was reported that opposite aileron input, to try and arrest the uncommanded yaw and roll, increased the roll rate. At approximately 1720, the aircraft struck the forested area on the west side of the river, coming to rest approximately 75 feet from the river. There was no post-impact fire. The pilot received serious injuries, was extracted by local firefighting personnel, and attended to by local paramedics. He was then airlifted to hospital by a search and rescue helicopter.

The single engine airplane departed Juba Airport at 1400LT on a cargo flight to Walgak, carrying three passengers and two pilots. While on approach, in unclear circumstances, the crew apparently attempted to gain height when the airplane impacted a tree and crashed in an open field. All five occupants were injured and the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

After touchdown on runway 05 at Mogadishu-Aden Adde Airport, the crew started the braking procedure. Following a course of few hundred metres, the twin engine airplane deviated to the left and veered off runway. While contacting soft ground, it pivoted to the left at almost 180° until it crashed against a concrete wall, coming to rest broken in two. All 34 occupants were rescued, among them two passengers were injured.

On approach to Temecula-French Airport Runway 36 at night, the crew encountered foggy conditions. Due to poor visibility, the crew initiated a go around then made a right hand turn and followed a circuit for a second attempt to land. On short final, at a speed of approximately 130 knots, the airplane impacted the ground and crashed short of runway, bursting into flames. The airplane was totally destroyed and all six occupants were killed.

At 1121LT on 20 June 2023, the privately registered Quest Kodiak 100 amphibious float-equipped aircraft (registration C-GKTX, serial number 100-0010) departed Masset Airport (CZMT), British Columbia (BC), on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight to Tofino/Long Beach Airport (CYAZ), BC, with 1 pilot and 3 passengers on board. While enroute, at 1246, the pilot contacted air traffic control to cancel IFR and continued the flight under visual flight rules (VFR). The aircraft continued the flight to the planned final destination, which was a cabin approximately 60 nautical miles northwest of CYAZ. The aircraft followed an inlet (Tahsis Narrows) toward the destination and continued for a straight-in landing on the water, near the cabin. On initial touchdown, both floats touched the surface of the water simultaneously. The aircraft bounced and, as the aircraft approached the surface of the landing area the 2nd time in a level attitude, the left float reportedly made contact with either a boat wake or object. 2 The force of the contact resulted in the aircraft bouncing to a height of approximately 30 feet and banking to the right. The pilot initiated a go-around. At 1337, during the initial climb over land, the aircraft contacted trees and then impacted the terrain. The pilot and 1 passenger were fatally injured, 1 passenger received serious injuries, and 1 passenger received minor injuries. There was a post-impact fire. The aircraft was destroyed. The emergency locator transmitter signal was received by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, BC. The Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Armed Forces search and rescue, the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), and fire personnel responded.

The airplane was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Panama City, Florida. The pilot, copilot and three passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight departed Cobb County International Airport – McCollum Field (RYY), Atlanta, Georgia about 1932 destined for Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP), Panama City, Florida. According to the pilot, all the airplane’s systems (steering, engines, electrics, hydraulics, and avionics), worked normally for taxi and takeoff, and the enroute portion of the flight which was operated at FL220 (22,000 ft) was uneventful. The pilot set up for a straight-in ILS 16 Approach to ECP in the night visual meteorological conditions. The landing gear and wing flaps extended normally, and the hydraulic pressures and quantities were normal. The airplane touched down 2,500 ft from the approach end of the runway. The pilot then extended the airbrakes (speed brakes) and placed both engines into reverse idle; however, the reversers never deployed, and the system disagree horn annunciated. The pilot applied normal brakes and felt no deceleration. He verbalized on the interphone “no brakes” and the copilot immediately tried his brakes with no effect. The pilot then pulled the emergency brake handle to the first notch, with no effect, followed by the second stop (full emergency brakes), with the same result. The pilot tried recycling the brakes and reversers, again with no effect. He elected not to abort the landing at that point because he was unsure of the position the reversers (deployed or stowed) and the airplane was approaching the end of the 10,000-foot-long runway. The pilot Page 2 of 3 ERA23LA261 This information is preliminary and subject to change. then tried to shutdown both engines with the throttles but was unable because the reverser piggyback handles were still up. The pilot did not consider telling the copilot to pull the fire handles (another means of shutting down the engines) because the airplane was exiting the prepared surface of the runway and he was distracted by approaching obstacles. The pilot used the rudder to maneuver the airplane between two runway 34 approach lighting support poles. The airplane’s wings struck the poles, driving them across the inboard portion of the wings and into both engines inlets. The airplane bounced over a mound in the grass and then traveled into deep, soft sand where the gear collapsed, bringing the airplane to a stop.