Incident Overview

Date: Friday 19 February 1988
Aircraft Type: Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III
Owner/operator: American Eagle, opb AVAir
Registration Number: N622AV
Location: 1,5 km W of Raleigh/Durham Airport, NC (RDU) – ÿ United States of America
Phase of Flight: Initial climb
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12
Component Affected: The flight crew’s pilot training and supervision, specifically the first officer’s instrument scan, the captain’s monitoring of the flight, and the response to a perceived fault in the aircraft’s stall avoidance system.The flight crew’s pilot training and supervision, specifically the first officer’s instrument scan, the captain’s monitoring of the flight, and the response to a perceived fault in the aircraft’s stall avoidance system.
Investigating Agency: NTSBNTSB
Category: Accident
On December 13, 1988, a Fairchild Metro III aircraft, operated by AVAir, crashed shortly after departing runway 23R at Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU), North Carolina, USA. The aircraft struck water within 100 feet of a reservoir, about 5100 feet west of the midpoint of runway 23R. The airplane was destroyed, and all 12 persons on board were killed. The Safety Board determined the probable cause to be a failure of the flight crew to maintain a proper flight path due to an inappropriate instrument scan, inadequate monitoring of the flight, and a response to a perceived fault in the airplane?s stall avoidance system. Contributing to the accident was the lack of company response to documented indications of difficulties in the first officer?s piloting and inadequate Federal Aviation Administration surveillance of AVAir.On December 13, 1988, a Fairchild Metro III aircraft, operated by AVAir, crashed shortly after departing runway 23R at Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU), North Carolina, USA. The aircraft struck water within 100 feet of a reservoir, about 5100 feet west of the midpoint of runway 23R. The airplane was destroyed, and all 12 persons on board were killed. The Safety Board determined the probable cause to be a failure of the flight crew to maintain a proper flight path due to an inappropriate instrument scan, inadequate monitoring of the flight, and a response to a perceived fault in the airplane?s stall avoidance system. Contributing to the accident was the lack of company response to documented indications of difficulties in the first officer?s piloting and inadequate Federal Aviation Administration surveillance of AVAir.

Description

American Eagle flight 3378, operated by AVAir, crashed shortly after it departed runway 23R at Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU), North Carolina, USA. The airplane Fairchild Metro III struck water within 100 feet of the shoreline of a reservoir, about 5100 feet west of the midpoint of runway 23R. The airplane was destroyed and all 12 persons on board were killed. On December 13, 1988, the Safety Board determined the probable cause of the accident as follows: “The failure of the flight crew to maintain a proper flight path because of the first officer’s inappropriate instrument scan, the captain’s inadequate monitoring of the flight, and the flight crew’s response to a perceived fault in the airplane’s stall avoidance system (SAS). Contributing to the accident was the lack of company response to documented indications of difficulties in the first officer’s piloting, and inadequate Federal Aviation Administration surveillance of AVAir.” Then-Board Members John K . Lauber and Joseph T. Nall provided concurring and dissenting statements in which they proposed that the probable cause should read as follows: “The failure of the flightcrew to maintain a proper flightpath in response to an actual or perceived fault in the airplane’s stall avoidance system. Contributing to the accident were ineffective management and supervision of flightcrew training and flight operations, and ineffective FAA surveillance of AVAir.” On January 28, 1993, the Air Line Pilots Association’s (ALPA) filed a petition for reconsideration and modification of the findings and probable cause. The NTSB granted the petition in part. The probable cause and was modified to read as follows: PROBABLE CAUSE: “The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was a failure of the flight crew to maintain a proper flightpath. Contributing to the accident were the ineffective management and supervision of flight crew training and flight operations, and ineffective FAA surveillance of AVAir.”

Primary Cause

Inadequate flight crew training and supervision, combined with ineffective FAA surveillance of AVAir, leading to a failure to address documented pilot issues.Inadequate flight crew training and supervision, combined with ineffective FAA surveillance of AVAir, leading to a failure to address documented pilot issues.

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