Incident Overview

Date: Wednesday 12 February 2014
Aircraft Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-8-201Q Dash 8
Owner/operator: Oriental Air Bridge
Registration Number: JA801B
Location: Nagasaki Airport (NGS/RJFU) – ÿ Japan
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Component Affected: Dash 8-Q201 aircraft ? Nose landing gear, fuselage skin.Dash 8-Q201 aircraft ? Nose landing gear, fuselage skin.
Investigating Agency: JTSBJTSB
Category: Accident
A DHC-8-Q201 aircraft, operated by Oriental Air Bridge, ORC, suffered damage during a six-touch-and-go training exercise at Nagasaki Airport. The damage occurred during fourth touchdown in six successive touch-and-go training sessions, following a contact with the runway with the right-hand main gear. The trainee, who was attempting a crab approach, inadvertently shifted to a wing-low attitude, causing the aircraft to pitch upwards and subsequently downward. The trainee?s actions, influenced by the captain?s observation of excessive nose pitch and control column pressure, resulted in a sudden and excessive angle of descent. The aircraft?s impact resulted in a significant shock strut brace contact with the runway surface, leading to damage to the nose landing gear and fuselage skin deformation.A DHC-8-Q201 aircraft, operated by Oriental Air Bridge, ORC, suffered damage during a six-touch-and-go training exercise at Nagasaki Airport. The damage occurred during fourth touchdown in six successive touch-and-go training sessions, following a contact with the runway with the right-hand main gear. The trainee, who was attempting a crab approach, inadvertently shifted to a wing-low attitude, causing the aircraft to pitch upwards and subsequently downward. The trainee?s actions, influenced by the captain?s observation of excessive nose pitch and control column pressure, resulted in a sudden and excessive angle of descent. The aircraft?s impact resulted in a significant shock strut brace contact with the runway surface, leading to damage to the nose landing gear and fuselage skin deformation.

Description

A DHC-8-Q201 operated by Oriental Air Bridge, ORC, was damaged at the nose landing gear and the forward side of the outer skin of the fuselage while fourth touchdown in six successive touch-and-go training at Nagasaki Airport. The damage were found after the training flight was completed. The crew were uninjured. Japan Transport Safety Board says the trainee probably changed from a crab approach to a wing-low attitude to counter the crosswind, and that the aircraft initially contacted the runway with its right-hand main gear. The Dash 8 bounced and pitched up slightly, says the inquiry, and the trainee pushed on the control column ? a decision which ?abruptly? caused the aircraft to pitch to 4.57ø nose-down. JTSB says the trainee had thought the nose of the turboprop was ?taking longer? to lower than it should have. He had also been influenced by the captain?s observations that he tended to pitch the nose too high while switching from crabbing to a wing-low attitude, and that he also needed to push harder on the control column to maintain direction during take-off. JTSB says the recorded impact was 2.016g, and this caused the shock strut brace of the nose-gear to contact the runway surface. It is probable that the accident occurred while the aircraft was landing under strong crosswind, under the condition that the main landing gear grounded without sufficient load being applied, the nose of the airplane downed excessively and the nose landing gear grounded heavily, which caused damage on the nose landing gear and the deformation of the right and left fuselage skins. As for the nose landing gear of the aircraft grounding heavily, it is probable that the trainee continuously downed the nose, and subsequently the captain who was the instructor failed to provided an appropriate corrective operation.

Source of Information

http://jtsb.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/aircraft/detail.php?id=2082, http://www.orc-air.co.jp/db_img/news_img/272/c20140213123519343.pdf, http://www.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/eng-air_report/JA801B.pdfhttp://jtsb.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/aircraft/detail.php?id=2082, http://www.orc-air.co.jp/db_img/news_img/272/c20140213123519343.pdf, http://www.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/eng-air_report/JA801B.pdf

Primary Cause

Uncoordinated transition from crab approach to wing-low attitude during a touch-and-go training exercise.Uncoordinated transition from crab approach to wing-low attitude during a touch-and-go training exercise.

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