Description

On 1 January 2007, the crew of a ATR 42-500 carried out successive night approaches into Seinajoki Finland including three with Terrain Avoidance and Warning System (TAWS) warnings, one near stall, and one near loss of control, all attributed to poor flight crew performance including use of the wrong barometirc sub scale setting.

Summary

This is an extract from the Investigation Report published by the Accident Investigation Board Finland:

"An incident occurred in Seinäjoki aerodrome airspace on 1 January 2007 from 17:50-18:30 local time. The incident involved a Finncomm Airlines ATR-42 airliner, call sign WBA205S. The aircraft made several unsuccessful instrument approach attempts to Seinäjoki. Onboard warning systems generated several warnings during approaches. In the end, the aircraft was flown to Vaasa, the alternate aerodrome.

The aircraft departed Helsinki at 17:15 and flew to Seinäjoki at FL 200. The first officer was the Pilot Flying

Meteorological conditions at Seinäjoki were: cloud base varying between 500 and 1500 ft; light snow; surface wind 120 degrees 10-12 KT, gusting to 18 KT; wind at 3000 ft 160 degrees 30 KT.

…the aircraft passed Seinäjoki outer marker (PSJ) for runway 32 and initiated an NDB approach via locator O for runway 14. On the final approach the aircraft descended too low, resulting in an EGPWS warning. The first officer flew a missed approach profile towards PSJ. Again, the aircraft descended too low during the approach and they received another EGPWS warning.