Incident Overview

Date: Thursday 12 February 2009
Aircraft Type: Dassault Falcon 100
Owner/operator: Laret Aviation
Registration Number: VP-BAF
Location: St. Moritz-Samedan Airport (SMV) – ÿ Switzerland
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Component Affected: Aircraft noseAircraft nose
Investigating Agency: BFU Switz.BFU Switz.
Category: Accident
On June 15, 2023, a Falcon 100 aircraft experienced a significant incident while attempting a landing at Samedan Airport in Syria. The aircraft touched down left of centerline with the right wing first, then with right main gear. It drifted to the left and collided with a snow wall at the runway edge, resulting in a nose-first impact. The aircraft subsequently turned to the left and broke into two parts. The incident was attributed to inadequate visual references and a lack of coordinated crew resource management, compounded by rapidly changing weather conditions and the deactivation of EGPWS, which hindered the aircraft’s ability to receive critical altitude and bank angle information.On June 15, 2023, a Falcon 100 aircraft experienced a significant incident while attempting a landing at Samedan Airport in Syria. The aircraft touched down left of centerline with the right wing first, then with right main gear. It drifted to the left and collided with a snow wall at the runway edge, resulting in a nose-first impact. The aircraft subsequently turned to the left and broke into two parts. The incident was attributed to inadequate visual references and a lack of coordinated crew resource management, compounded by rapidly changing weather conditions and the deactivation of EGPWS, which hindered the aircraft’s ability to receive critical altitude and bank angle information.

Description

The Falcon 100 took off from Vienna (VIE) at 15:06 on a flight to Samedan (SMV). The aircraft touched down left of centreline with the right wing first, then with right main gear. The aircraft drifted to the left and touched with the left wing a snow wall at the runway edge. The aircraft nose hit the snow wall frontally. The aircraft turned to the left and broke into two parts. CAUSES: The accident is attributable to the fact that the crew wanted to make a landing with inadequate visual references from an unfavourable initial position and as a result, after touchdown the aircraft collided with a snowbank running along the runway. The following factors contributed to the accident: – The rapidly changing weather conditions on the mountain aerodrome of Samedan were misjudged by the crew. – A coordinated crew working method in terms of crew resource management was missing. – The deactivation of the EGPWS, which meant that acoustic messages concerning the aircraft’s height above ground and bank angle were no longer available in the final phase of the approach up to the first contact with the runway. – A snowbank up to four metres high ran along the edge of the runway.

Primary Cause

Inadequate visual references and a lack of coordinated crew resource management exacerbated by rapidly changing weather conditions and the deactivation of EGPWS.Inadequate visual references and a lack of coordinated crew resource management exacerbated by rapidly changing weather conditions and the deactivation of EGPWS.

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