ATR 72-600 suffers first fatal crash

by Devesh Agarwal

Lao Airline ATR72-600. Photo courtesy ATR.

Airbus joint-venture subsidiary ATR (Aerei da Trasporto Regionale or Avions de transport régional) suffered the first fatal crash of the ATR 72-600 aircraft it manufactures.

The airframer confirmed that an ATR 72-600 operated by Lao Airlines as flight QV301 from capital Vientiane to Pakse crashed at around 16:00 (09:00 UTC) near Pakse (Laos).

All 44 passengers and 5 crew members on board perished.

The aircraft, registered RDPL-34233, was MSN (Manufacturing Serial Number) 1071, was delivered from the production line in March 2013.

At this time, the circumstances of the accident are still to be determined. Official sources of Lao Airlines declared that “the aircraft ran into extreme bad weather conditions and was reportedly crashed into the Mekong river. There were no news of survivors at this time”.

The Laos' Authorities will lead the investigation. In line with the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Annex 13 convention, ATR will provide full assistance and the French Bureau d'Enquêtes et Analyses (BEA), safety investigation authority representing the country of the aircraft manufacturer will join the investigation.

The ATR 72-600 is a 68-to-74-seat twin turboprop engine aircraft which is the most recent variant of the ATR72-500 being operated around the world, including India;s Jet Airways group.

For more information on the accident, visit avherald.

Read more »

Sita Air Dornier 228 crashes on take-off in Nepal. 19 dead.

Media reports say a twin-engined turbo-prop, a Dornier Do 228, operated by Sita Air, crashed minutes after take-off from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, around 06:19 local (06:02IST 00:32Z). All 19 people on board, 13 foreign tourist, three Nepali passengers, and three crew, are feared dead.

The plane was on its way to Lukla, a popular hub for trekking in the Everest region.

Police spokesman Binod Singh told AFP news agency

"The pilots seem to have tried to land it safely on the banks of the river but unfortunately the plane caught fire,"

See photo of the crash at Nepali Blogger site.

Nepal does not have a large road network and the country's domestic airlines which most operate small turbo-props, provide critical linkage to numerous "airports" within the country, most of these airports in remote areas, are just basic airstrips.

This is the sixth fatal crash in Nepal, in less than two years.

Read more »

BEA's final report on the crash of Air France AF-447

Image courtesy BEA

France's Bureau of Investigations and Analysis’ (BEA) submitted its final report on the crash of Air France flight AF-447 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 passengers and crew on-board.

The final report essentially re-states what has already been released till date.

The crash commenced with ice crystals blocking the pitot tubes, sending false information to the flight computers and causing the autopilot to shut down while the plane was at cruising altitude, and a reconfiguration of flight controls to alternate law.

A confluence of factors, including a barrage of alarms coupled with inadequate training of the flight crew, and false sensor readings, completely surprised the crew. As per the report "The crew likely never understood that it was faced with a ‘simple’ loss of all three sources of airspeed information.”

In a series of errors, the pilots relying on erroneous readings never recognised they were in a stall and kept nosing the Airbus A330 aircraft upward, rather than downward as was necessary. Chief investigator Alain Bouillard said "The crew was in a state of near-total loss of control". Ironically the flight captain, who was on a rest break, did not return to the cockpit until it was too late.

The BEA has passed the blame all around and its recommendations call for more training of pilots, an improved layout of cockpit instruments and warning systems to help crew better recognise and manage unusual flight situations, and thorough review of the flight director software..

Investigators recommended that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) require the aircraft manufacturer Airbus S.A.S. to review the flight director’s design and to possibly modify the software so that it either disengages permanently in the event of a stall or displays “appropriate orders” when a stall warning is set off.

Read more details at the BEA's page for AF-447.
Read the final report here.
Read the final report summary here.

Read more »

Buddha Air Beechcraft 1900D crashes. All 19 aboard feared dead.

A Beechcraft 1900D belonging to Kathmandu, Nepal based Buddha Air crashed while attempting to land, in dense fog, near the national capital Kathmandu earlier this morning.

The plane with 16 passengers and three crew was on a flight from the capital to view Mount Everest and crashed on its return around Bisankunarayan village, just a few kilometres south of Kathmandu. All aboard are feared dead. Ten Indians are amongst the 16 passengers.

Police officials near the crash site said rescuers had reached the crash site, but would not comment on causalities. The aircraft last made contact with the Kathmandu air traffic control at 07:31 local (07:15 IST, 01:45Z).

Update 1 - (10:30IST, 05:00Z)
The aircraft registration is 9N-AEK. Photos of the aircraft including the Mount Everest trip can be seen here.

Read more »

49 killed in Continental Airlines crash in Buffalo, NY

Aviation Herald is reporting a Colgan Air De Havilland Dash 8-400 on behalf of Continental Airlines, registration N200WQ performing flight 9L-3407/CO-3407 from Newark, NJ, USA to Buffalo, NY, USA with 44 passengers and 4 crew, crashed into a home in a surburb of Buffalo about 5 nm (10km) from the airport and burst into flames while on approach to Buffalo's Niagara Airport at about 10:17pm local time (03:17 GTM). All 48 occupants and one person on the ground died.

This is the second accident Continental is suffering in recent past. On December 20, 2008, a Continental Boeing 737 crashed at Denver airport.

The airplane was on the approach frequency, had been cleared down to 2300 feet, guided via radar vectors (heading 330 then heading 310) and cleared for an ILS approach to runway 23 and had just been handed over to the tower. The crew confirmed the frequency change, but didn't contact the tower anymore and also could not be reached on the approach frequency about one minute after hand over. A following Delta flight 1998 could not see the Dash 8 due to being in cloud, but also could not see the plane on their TCAS.

The home on 6050 Long Road is reported to be completely destroyed and reduced to rubble. Twelve homes along Long Road, Goodrich Road and Clarence Center Road near Clarence Town Hall in Clarence Center had to be evacuated. Two more residents on the ground were treated for injuries and brought to a hospital. Fire fighters were on the scene within seconds since their fire house on Clarence Center Road just next to the crash site.

A witness on the ground saw the airplane flying low with the left wing slightly low before it impacted ground.

The tower controller reported, that the airplane dropped off his radar without any anomaly beforehand.

Following the recognition, that the airplane was on the ground, the tower checked the ILS equipment of the airport sending Delta 1998 into a hold, found the ILS in the clear but transmitted a warning to all aircraft on tower and approach frequencies. Delta 1998 coming from the North reported upon request by the approach, that they were not building any significant ice, however reported a quarter of an inch. Another airplane, Cactus 1452 (US Airways/America West) coming from the South like the crashed Colgan Air, reported that they were picking up some ice for about 10 minutes for about 20nm. Subsequently Delta 1998 was commanded to not perform an autoland for possible localizer fluctuations.

The aircraft is new and was delivered 16th April 2008.

Relatives and friends of those traveling on flight 3407 who want to give or receive information about those on board may telephone the family assistance number at 1-800-621-3263.

Hear ATC conversation at Buffalo at the time of the accident.

For an edited version click here.

Read more »