Crash of a Saab 340 off Hsinchu: 13 killed

Date & Time: Mar 18, 1998 at 1932 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
B-12255
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Hsinchu - Kaohsiung
MSN:
337
YOM:
1993
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
8
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
13
Aircraft flight hours:
8076
Circumstances:
When the crew boarded the aircraft in Hsinchu for the flight to Kaohsiung it had been a long and demanding day for the captain who was to fly the aircraft. He had been on duty more than 11 hours and performed nine flights. The accident flight, which was planned to be his last flight of the day, was to take place in darkness. The weather was above minima but IMC. During the pre-flight check the crew noted a failure in the RH Main Bus. This caused a number of systems to be unavailable, a.o.: the autopilot, the left hand EFIS, LH/RH Flight Director, LH RMI, EFIS Comparators, and the no. 2 engine anti-ice start bleed valve being open (as a result of this, the ITT on this engine was approximately 15°C higher than normal at selected power on this engine). Despite the fact that, according to the Minimum Equipment List (MEL), taking off for a flight with any of the Main Buses inoperative was not allowed, the captain decided to continue. During taxi to runway 05 the aircraft was cleared for a Chunan One (CN1) departure. The aircraft took off at 19:29:09. Because of the autopilot was not available, the captain now had to fly manually. In addition, the flying had to be performed without support from the yaw-damper that was also inoperative as a result of the RH Main Bus failure. This means that more active rudder control was required, while the DFDR-data shows that such input was not made. The more than 30°C ITT-split between the engines, of which approximately 15°C was caused by the RH Engine Anti-ice Start Bleed Valve being open, did have little effect on the behavior of the aircraft in the initial start-sequence. But when the crew, 30 seconds after lift off, disengaged CTOT and started to manually adjust the RH PLA downwards, possibly to get equal ITT in the engines, this ended up in a torque-split of more than 13% between the engines, with the RH engine being lower in torque. This asymmetry tended to yaw and roll the aircraft to the right and required higher aileron input than normal to the left in order to keep the aircraft at a constant bank angle. Normally the flaps are retracted at around 1,000 feet during initial climb. In this flight the flap retraction was not initiated until the first officer was reading the Climb Check List in which the flap position should be checked and verified. Flap retraction was done just prior to the aircraft reaching VFE15 (175 KIAS, which is the maximum allowed speed with flaps extended). When the climb power was set, a symmetric PLA change was made. However, due to the earlier RH Power Lever Angle (PLA) pull in combination with the normal backlash in the power lever cables between the PLA and the HMU, the RH engine torque was decreased while the LH engine torque remained unchanged. Hence, a torque split occurred. This resulted in an increased aerodynamic asymmetry giving a force tending to yaw and bank the aircraft to the right. Consequently, still more aileron input was required in order to maintain a correct bank angle. Because the behavior of the aircraft was very different from what the captain was used to, the need for continuous manual flying under IMC-conditions may have totally occupied his capacity. This could also explain why, during this phase of flight, he did not observe the aircraft starting a turn to the right 78 seconds after take off instead of continuing the left turn for a heading of 260. At about this same time, and for no obvious reasons, the positive rate of climb decreased and the aircraft leveled out at approximately 2,000 feet for a short time instead of continuing the climb to its assigned altitude of 3,000 feet. The captain's actions could be interpreted as signs that he might have been suffering from fatigue or spatial disorientation. It is difficult to determine if the F/O was aware of the captain's deviation from the cleared departure route. All indications point to the fact that he was not aware or that he out of respect for the captain did not report of the deviations. For example, the F/O transmitted back to Taipei Approach 114 seconds after takeoff, "Left 230, Bravo 12255," while at the same time the aircraft was in a right turn with a 21 degree right bank, passing through a heading of 312 degrees. In fact, his primary means for monitoring the flight were very limited due to dark, IMC-conditions since his EFIS instruments were black or flagged. This could also explain why the captain did not receive any support from the F/O about the flight becoming more and more uncontrolled. Not until 124 seconds after takeoff and 37 seconds prior to the last DFDR-recording did the captain state that he was having a problem with the heading and asked for help with the magnetic compass. At that time the aircraft was in a 24° right bank and 10° pitch up position and had a heading and roll rate by one degree per second. From that moment a continuous decrease in pitch angle was recorded down to -65,4° just prior to the impact. Just 19 seconds before the last DFDR-recording, with a heading of 022 and a bank angle of 36° to the right, the captain said "Ask for a radar vector." At this moment, he also initiates a short aileron input to the right, further increasing the bank angle. The other crewmembers did not answer or give any notable response to the captain's request for help with the magnetic compass. The reason might be that they also were very confused about the situation and unable to take any relevant action. When the captain, 14 seconds before the last DFDR-recording, said "Wah Sei!!! Everything is wrong." the aircraft was in a 8,4° pitch down and the right bank angle was 47,5°. Finally, only 10 seconds before the last data point was recorded, the first officer responds by asking "Sir, shall we look at this one? ". Pitch down was then 15,8° and the right roll angle 71,7°. In the last part of the flight the pitch and bank angles were at extreme values not to be experienced in normal operation. At this stage of the flight, the control inputs recorded are rapid aileron inputs to the right that further increased the adverse attitudes. The aircraft was then totally uncontrolled and the airspeed and sink rate increased dramatically. Four seconds before impact the Vmo warning started. The aircraft then crashed into the sea.
Probable cause:
The following factors were identified:
- The flight crew's failure to maintain the situational awareness resulting in the loss of aircraft control,
- The failure of R/H main electrical bus resulting in the malfunction of R/H navigation system and flight instruments,
- Flight crew did not comply with MEL,
- Night time and IMC resulted in no or limited visual reference for the flight crew,
- The captain conducted the flight in a fatigue and spatial disorientation condition,
- Flight crew did not comply with standard operation procedures.

Crash of a Cessna 401 off Chaitén: 5 killed

Date & Time: Mar 2, 1998 at 1505 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CC-CIX
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Chaitén - Puerto Montt
MSN:
401-0029
YOM:
1967
Country:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
4
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Chaitén Airport, while climbing, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in the sea near the La Puntilla harbor. The aircraft was destroyed and all five occupants were killed. It was reported that the aircraft was on fire prior to impact with water, maybe after an engine caught fire.

Crash of an Antonov AN-26 in Nasir: 27 killed

Date & Time: Feb 12, 1998 at 0830 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
7744
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Khartoum - Malakal - Nasir
MSN:
29 02
YOM:
1991
Flight number:
ZY001
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
50
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
27
Circumstances:
The approach was completed in low visibility due to poor weather conditions. The crew continued the approach and landed too far down the runway, reducing the landing distance available. After touchdown, th aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overrun and crashed in the Sobat River. Three crew and 24 passengers were killed while 30 other occupants were injured. Flight ZY001 was performed from Khartoum to Nasir with an intermediate stop in Malakal on behalf of the Sudanese Government. Several officials were on board, among them the Vice President, General Al Zubair Mohammed Saleh who was killed in the accident.
Probable cause:
Wrong approach configuration on part of the crew who landed too far down the runway, reducing the landing distance available. Poor weather conditions was considered as a contributing factor.

Crash of a Gulfstream GIII off Chambéry

Date & Time: Feb 6, 1998 at 1239 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
VP-BLN
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Geneva - Chambéry - Riyadh
MSN:
402
YOM:
1983
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total flying hours:
9173
Captain / Total hours on type:
2863.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
2841
Copilot / Total hours on type:
415
Aircraft flight hours:
7205
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Geneva-Cointrin Airport at 1220LT with three crew members and two passengers on a short flight to Chambéry where additional passengers should embark before a flight to Riyadh. After being cleared for an ILS approach to runway 18, the crew continued the descent in relative good weather conditions. On final approach, the aircraft descended below the glide until it struck the water surface of Lake of Bourget and crashed one km short of runway. All five occupants evacuated the cabin and jumped in a 4° C water. The aircraft lost its tail and sank by a depth of 33 metres. The stewardess suffered a broken arm.
Probable cause:
The impact with the water was the result of a loss of visual references during final approach during which the crew voluntarily brought the plane beneath the ILS glide slope, in an area affected by mist, on one hand and on the other hand due the failure to decide to execute a missed approach.

Crash of a Fokker F27 Friendship 200 off Lubang Island

Date & Time: Dec 31, 1997
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
10210
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
MSN:
10210
YOM:
1962
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Crashed in unknown circumstances in the sea off Lubang Island while completing a training flight. Crew fate unknown. The exact date of the accident remains unknown, somewhere in 1997.

Crash of an Antonov AN-72 off Angola: 11 killed

Date & Time: Dec 22, 1997
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ER-ACF
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Abidjan - Rundu
MSN:
36572094888
YOM:
1981
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
6
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
11
Circumstances:
The aircraft departed Abidjan on a cargo flight to Rundu, Namibia. While cruising along the Angolan coast, the crew contacted ATC when he was apparently forced to divert to Angola for control purposes. It is believed that the crew refused to divert to Angola and continued his route. Eventually, the decision to shut the aircraft down was taken by the Angolan Army. The aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Angolan coast, killing all 11 occupants.
Probable cause:
Shot down.

Crash of a Beechcraft 65-80 Queen Air off Maiquetía: 9 killed

Date & Time: Dec 20, 1997 at 1805 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
YV-539C
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Los Roques – Caracas
Country:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
9
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
At 1759LT, while descending to Caracas-Maiquetía-Simón Bolívar Airport by night, the pilot informed ATC about an engine failure. Six minutes later, the aircraft crashed in the sea about 22 km north of the airport. A passenger was rescued at 2205LT. The following night, two dead bodies were found while seven other occupants were never found. The aircraft sank and was lost.
Crew:
Ricardo Batija. †
Passengers:
Francesco Porco,
Fernando Guasamucare, †
Ileana González, †
Víctor Ruiz, †
Yelitza Arenas, †
Juan Cabezas, †
Ledda Martínez, †
Edwin Núñez, †
Paola de Guasamucare. †
Probable cause:
Engine failure for unknown reasons.

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL off Guerrero Negro

Date & Time: Dec 20, 1997 at 1440 LT
Registration:
XA-CUC
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Guerrero Negro - Isla de Cedros
MSN:
7377
YOM:
1943
Country:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Guerrero Negro Airport, while climbing, the aircraft nosed down and crashed in the San Jose estuary, few hundred metres offshore. All five occupants were rescued while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Britten-Norman BN-2A-26 Islander in Sangafa-Siwo

Date & Time: Nov 27, 1997
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
YJ-RV2
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
172B
YOM:
1970
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The twin engine aircraft landed hard, went out of control, veered off runway and crashed in the sea. All three occupants were seriously injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Cessna 402B off Vilanculos: 6 killed

Date & Time: Nov 18, 1997
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
ZS-JTD
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
402B-1240
YOM:
1977
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
6
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
On approach to Vilanculos Airport, the pilot encountered bad weather conditions with limited visibility due to heavy rain falls. On final, the twin engine aircraft crashed in the sea few hundred metres offshore. A passenger was rescued while six other occupants were killed.