On 4 January 2002, a Bombardier Challenger 604 became very quickly uncontrollable as the crew attempted to rotate for lift off at Birmingham and within a few seconds it had crashed inverted near the airport passenger terminal killing all on board. A rigorous Investigation found that an uncontrollable roll had occurred after an aerodynamic stall attributable to frost on the wings which had been noticed but apparently not considered indicative of a need for de-icing. The exclusively FAA promoted notion of polished frost may have played a part in the pilots decision making and was considered to be dangerously misleading.
Description
On 4 January 2002, a Bombardier Challenger 604 (N90AG) being operated by Epps Air Service on a non-scheduled passenger flight from Birmingham to Bangor ME was observed to roll rapidly to the left as it attempted to take off in day VMC and within a few seconds it had crashed inverted within the airport perimeter and been quickly destroyed by impact forces and a fire which resulted in the deaths of all 5 occupants.
The crash site whilst the fire was still being extinguished. [Reproduced from the Official Report]
Investigation
An Investigation was commenced by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). Data relevant to the Investigation were successfully downloaded from the FDR and CVR recovered from the wreckage and a range of eye witness accounts were available.
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