Plain, Valley

The crew was returning to Kinshasa after delivering election equipments and materials in Tshikapa on behalf of the Independent National Election Commission. The crew was cleared to descend to 5,000 feet on approach to runway 06 at Kinshasa-N'Djili Airport but encountered poor weather conditions with rain falls. In limited visibility, the airplane crashed on a hilly terrain located about 35 km west of the airport. The wreckage was found few hours later and all seven occupants were killed.

On November 30, 2018, about 1028 central standard time, a Cessna 525A (Citation) airplane, N525EG, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Memphis, Indiana. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight. The cross-country flight originated from Clark Regional Airport (JVY), Jeffersonville, Indiana, and was en route to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW), Chicago, Illinois. The airplane was equipped with automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B), which recorded latitude and longitude from GPS, pressure and geometric altitude, and selected altitude and heading. The airplane was also equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which recorded the accident flight and annunciations from the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). It was not equipped with a flight data recorder (FDR) nor was it required to be. Review of the CVR transcript showed that the pilot operated as a single pilot but verbalized his actions as he configured the airplane before departure. He referenced items from the Before Taxi checklist and included in his crew briefing that in the event of a problem after takeoff decision speed, he would handle it as an in-flight emergency and “fly the airplane, address the problem, get the autopilot on, talk on the radios, divert over to Stanford.” The air traffic controller provided initial clearance for the pilot to fly direct to the STREP intersection and to climb and maintain 3,000 ft mean sea level. Before the departure from JVY, the pilot announced on the common traffic advisory frequency that he was departing runway 36 and verbalized in the cockpit “this is three six” before he advanced the throttles. The flight departed JVY about 1024:36 into instrument meteorological conditions. The CVR recorded the pilot state that he set power to maximum cruise thrust, switched the engine sync on, and turned on the yaw dampers. The pilot also verbalized his interaction with the autopilot, including navigation mode, direct STREP, and vertical speed climb up to 3,000 ft. According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) airplane performance study, the airplane climbed to about 1,400 ft msl before it turned left onto a course of 330° and continued to climb. The CVR recorded the pilot state he was turning on the autopilot at 1025:22. At 1025:39, the pilot was cleared up to 10,000 ft and asked to “ident,” and the airplane was subsequently identified on radar. The pilot verbalized setting the autopilot for 10,000 ft and read items on the After Takeoff/Climb checklist. The performance study indicated that the airplane passed 3,000 ft about 1026, with an airspeed between 230 and 240 kts, and continued to climb steadily. At 1026:29, while the pilot was conducting the checklist, the controller instructed him to contact the Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center; the pilot acknowledged. At 1026:38, the pilot resumed the checklist and stated, “uhhh lets seeee. Pressurization pressurizing anti ice de-ice systems are not required at this time.” The performance study indicated that, at 1026:45, the airplane began to bank to the left at a rate of about 5° per second and that after the onset of the roll, the airplane maintained airspeed while it continued to climb for 12 seconds, consistent with engine power not being reduced in response to the roll onset. At 1026:48, the CVR recorded the airplane’s autopilot disconnect annunciation, “autopilot.” The performance study indicated that about this time, the airplane was in about a 30° left bank. About 1 second later, the pilot stated, “whooooaaaaah.” Over the next 8 seconds, the airplane’s EGPWS annunciated six “bank angle” alerts. At 1026:57, the airplane reached its maximum altitude of about 6,100 ft msl and then began to descend rapidly, in excess of 11,000 ft per minute. At 1026:58, the bank angle was about 70° left wing down, and by 1027:05, the airplane was near 90° left wing down. At 1027:04, the CVR recorded a sound similar to an overspeed warning alert, which continued to the end of the flight. The performance study indicated that about the time of the overspeed warning, the airplane passed about 250 kts calibrated airspeed at an altitude of about 5,600 ft. After the overspeed warning, the pilot shouted three expletives, and the bank angle alert sounded two more times. According to the performance study, at 1027:18, the final ADS-B data point, the airplane was about 1,000 ft msl, with the airspeed about 380 kts and in a 53° left bank. At 1027:11, the CVR recorded the pilot shouting a radio transmission, “mayday mayday mayday citation five two five echo golf is in an emergency descent unable to gain control of the aircraft.” At 1027:16, the CVR recorded the EGPWS annunciating “terrain terrain.” The sound of impact was recorded about 1027:20. The total time from the beginning of the left roll until ground impact was about 35 seconds. The accident site was located about 8.5 miles northwest of JVY.

The pilot and two medical crewmembers were repositioning the airplane to pick up a patient for aeromedical transport. Dark night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight. Radar data showed the airplane climb to 14,000 ft mean sea level after departure and proceed direct toward the destination airport before beginning a right descending turn. The airplane subsequently broke up inflight and impacted terrain. No distress calls were received from the pilot before the accident. Although weather conditions were conducive for inflight icing, no evidence of structural icing was identified at the scene. The debris field was 2,500 ft long and the disbursement of the wreckage confirmed that both wings, the horizontal stabilizer, both elevators, and both engines separated from the airplane before impacting the ground. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the initiating failure was the failure of the wing where it passed through the center of the airplane. The three wing spars exhibited S-bending deformation, indicative of positive overload producing compressive buckling and fracture. Further, impact signatures as black paint transfers and gouged aluminum, were consistent with the left outboard wing separating when it was struck by the right engine after the wing spars failed. There was no evidence of any pre-exiting conditions that would have degraded the strength of the airplane structure at the fracture locations. Flight control continuity was confirmed. An examination of the engines, propellers, and available systems showed no mechanical malfunctions or failure that could have contributed to the accident. The descending right turn was inconsistent with the intended flight track and ATC-provided clearance. However, there was insufficient information to determine how it was initiated and when the pilot became aware of the airplane's state in the dark night IMC conditions. Yet, the
absence of a distress call or communication with ATC about the airplane's deviation suggests that the pilot was not initially aware of the change in state. The structural failure signatures on the airplane were indicative of the wings failing in positive overload, which was consistent with the pilot initiating a pullup maneuver that exceeded the airplane spars' structural integrity during an attempted recovery from the spiral dive.

The single engine airplane departed Arkhangelsk-Vaskovo Airport on a flight to Mezen with intermediate stops in Soyana and Dolgoshchel’e, carrying 12 passengers (11 adults and one child) and two pilots. En route, weather conditions deteriorated with drizzle. The crew reduced his altitude from 400 to 300 metres when frost formed on the windshield. The captain decided to return to Arkhangelsk but the aircraft' speed dropped from 170 to 120 km/h. Unable to maintain the speed and altitude, the crew attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft collided with trees and crashed in a wooded area located about 50 km northeast of Arkhangelsk-Talaghy Airport. All 14 occupants were rescued, among them two passengers were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

The twin engine airplane was engaged in a humanitarian flight from Bolivia to Brazil, carrying one passenger and a pilot. Shortly after takeoff from a little private airstrip located in the suburb of Santa Cruz, the crew was supposed to land at Santa Cruz-Viru Viru International Airport before continuing to Manaus, Brazil. After takeoff, the pilot encountered engine problems (power issue) and decided to return for an emergency landing when the airplane struck trees and belly landed in a grassy area located in Barrio Lindo. Both occupants were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew departed Santa Elena de Uairén on a flight to Urimán. En route, the engine failed, forcing the crew to attempt an emergency landing in a prairie located 42 km southeast of Urimán Airport. The airplane rolled for few dozen metres and eventually collided with trees and came to rest in a wooded area. Both pilots escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Both pilots were recovered by the crew of an helicopter two days after the accident.

The crew was completing a spraying mission against mosquito in the regon of Jagodina. Following a 50-minutes successful mission, the crew encountered engine problems. The engine started to vibrate, smoke emanated and an oil leak occurred. The crew elected to divert to the nearest airport when oil spread onto the windshield. The crew lost all visual contact with the ground and attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft impacted a tree with its left wing and crashed in a field. All three occupants evacuated uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The pilot departed Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz Airport at 1100LT on a flight to Chapecó. Following an uneventful flight, the pilot initiated the descent to Chapecó-Serafim Enoss Bertasco Airport but encountered marginal weather conditions with limited visibility. While descending under VFR mode, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed in a dense wooded area located in Ipumirim, some 50 km east of Chapecó Airport, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and the pilot, sole occupant, was killed.

The twin engine airplane departed Goiânia-Santa Genoveva Airport at 0810LT on a charter flight to Ceres, carrying nine passengers and one pilot. En route, it was decided to change the itinerary and to land in Itapaci where there was no suitable terrain for landing. On final approach, the aircraft impacted ground, lost its undercarriage and veered to the right. It collided with a fence and made a 180 turn before coming to rest. All 10 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. On board was the candidate for governor of the state of Goiás and his campaign team.

The twin engine airplane departed Belo Horizonte-Pampulha-Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport at 0820LT on a private flight to Confresa, carrying five passenger and one pilot. While descending to Confresa, the pilot decided to fly directly to the farm of the owner (Fazenda Angola) located in Vila Rica, about 80 km northeast of Confresa Airport. On final approach, the aircraft was too low when it struck the surface of a lake then its bank. On impact, the undercarriage were torn off and the aircraft crash landed and came to rest on its belly. There was no fire. All six occupants were injured, one seriously. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.