SW4, en-route, near La Alianza Puerto Rico, 2013

SW4, en-route, near La Alianza Puerto Rico, 2013

Summary

On 2 December 2013, an SA227 Freighter crew lost control of their aircraft after commencing descent from an 11,000 feet cruise in night VMC and it was destroyed by terrain impact which followed structural break-up at about 1,500 feet agl. The Investigation concluded that the break-up had followed an aggressive elevator input in a late attempt to recover from an earlier loss of control which the evidence suggested had been the consequence of unintended crew actions rather than mechanical anomalies. A number of previous SA227 loss of control events were identified, some of which had potentially similar features.

Description

On 2 December 2013, a Fairchild SA227-AC Freighter (N831BC) being operated by IBC Airways on a non-scheduled cargo flight from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to San Juan Puerto Rico under call sign 'Chasqui 405' in night VMC lost contact with ATC and the aircraft was subsequently seen by witnesses descending towards terrain impact, which did follow and kill both pilots.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the NTSB. The accident aircraft was operating under an FAA Part 135 AOC and configured for freight operations and it was not equipped with an FDR or a CVR, nor was it required to be, although it had previously been fitted with a CVR when configured for passenger operations.

The 35 year-old Captain had an estimated 1,740 hours total flying experience which included 686 hours on type and the 28 year-old First Officer had an estimated 1,954 hours total flying experience which included 92 hours on type. Although it was not possible to be certain who had been the designated PF for the accident flight, circumstantial evidence indicated that it was likely that the Captain had been.

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