Incident Overview

Description
A Dornier 228 passenger plane was destroyed when it crashed near Vi¤a del Mar Airport (KNA), Chile. Both pilots were killed. The airplane operated on a repositioning flight from Los Pelambres Airport to Vi¤a del Mar. There it would pick up workers for the Los Pelambres mine. The airplane approached in poor visibility conditions. The ILS glideslope was inoperative so the crew conducted a non precision approach to runway 05. The aircraft descended below the minimum descent altitude, struck power lines and trees and crashed in a field. CAUSE: (translated from Spanish report) Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), one nautical mile southeast of the threshold of SCVM runway 05, descending below the minimum descent altitude (MDA) published for the instrument approach ILS X, without glideslope, of Vi¤a del Mar Aerodrome. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: 1. Failure to apply the concepts of Crew Resource Management (CRM). 2. Failure to use checklists. 3. Failure to brief the maneuvers to be executed. 4. Loss of situational awareness of the crew. 5. Failure to keep a sterile cockpit during approach. 6. Complacency and overconfidence of the pilots. 7. Unstabilized instrument approach. 8. Lack and/or non-use of equipment and systems to support the flight.
Primary Cause
Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT)Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT)Share on: