Incident Overview

Description
The flightcrew had performed four flights that day (Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca-Alicante-Valencia-Barcelona) when they departed Barcelona at 22:38 UTC (23:38 local time) for a cargo flight to Brussels. Weather at the time of departure included wind 2 knots at 270 degrees, 2000 m visibility in fog. Nine minutes after takeoff, while climbing through 8400 feet, the crew radioed that they wanted to return to the airport: “Requeririamos volver al campo”. This request was granted and the pilot was told to contact Barcelona Approach. The approach controller cleared the flight for a runway 07 approach. After having been cleared down to 6000 feet and 3000 feet, the crew were told to contact Barcelona Tower at 22:59. At 23:00:15 the aircraft passed the Outer Marker at 1500 feet, with an airspeed of 170 knots. At a distance of 3,7nm from the QUV VOR the aircraft started deviating from the localizer course. One minute later the aircraft contacted the ground at a speed of 130 knots, crashed and caught fire. CAUSAS: “Se considera que la causa probable del accidente fue el establecimiento y mantenimiento de un ngulo de descenso inapropiado durante la aproximaci¢n a la pista 07 del Aeropuerto de Barcelona, en condiciones de visibilidad reducida combinadas con posible fatiga de la tripulaci¢n debido a la duraci¢n de los periodos de actividad area y de descanso precedentes, y con indicios de posible mal funcionamiento del motor izquierdo que requer¡a la compensaci¢n de la gui¤ada y una cuidadosa atenci¢n en el control del avi¢n, que provocaron que la aeronave descendiera por debajo de la senda de planeo y se desviase del eje de la pista hasta impactar con la copa de un rbol y posteriormente con el terreno.”
Primary Cause
The incident is attributed to an inappropriate descent angle during the approach to the 07 runway, compounded by fatigue from prolonged flight periods and potential issues with the left engine, leading to a descent below the planned plane level and a deviation from the intended flight path, resulting in a crash landing.The incident is attributed to an inappropriate descent angle during the approach to the 07 runway, compounded by fatigue from prolonged flight periods and potential issues with the left engine, leading to a descent below the planned plane level and a deviation from the intended flight path, resulting in a crash landing.Share on: