Description

On 21 March 2004, an MD-83 operated by Luxor Air, performed an unstabilised non-precision approach (NPA) to runway 21 at Nantes Atlantique airport, at night and under Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) conditions, which resulted in near-Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) and a go around contrary to the standard missed approach procedure.

Synopsis

This is an extract from the official report of the incident published by the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA) pour la Securite de l’Aviation Civile, France:

“…the crew was cleared to descend towards 3,000 ft, and was then cleared for approach…The airplane was then on a 330° heading on autopilot in NAV mode (GPS navigation). The co-pilot selected VOR/LOC mode to intercept the 043° radial inbound on the NTS VOR. The airplane was configured for landing and the Captain told ATC…that he planned to descend from three thousand feet to five hundred feet then..[1 minute later]that the airplane was established on the approach radial.

Note that the MDA is 500 feet but the approach includes a series of step-down fixes, see the approach plate below: