Incident Overview

Date: Monday 20 March 2017
Aircraft Type: ATR 42-500 ?
Owner/operator: TOTAL Linhas A‚reas
Registration Number: PR-TTH
Location: Coari-Urucu Airport, AM – ÿ Brazil
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Component Affected: The ATR 42-500 aircraft’s No.2 propeller and the landing gear system, specifically the reverse pitch control mechanism of the propeller.The ATR 42-500 aircraft’s No.2 propeller and the landing gear system, specifically the reverse pitch control mechanism of the propeller.
Investigating Agency: CENIPACENIPA
Category: Accident
An ATR 42-500 aircraft landed at Coari-Urucu Airport, Brazil, experiencing a significant landing deviation. The aircraft?s no.2 propeller rpm unexpectedly increased during descent, triggering a reverse pitch shift. The crew executed standard landing procedures and approached the runway with an NDB approach, but the right propeller failed to reverse, causing the aircraft to yaw to the left and veer off the runway. The incident was attributed to a combination of factors including inadequate lighting, a malfunctioning landing procedure, and potential quality control issues with the Microswitch Box.An ATR 42-500 aircraft landed at Coari-Urucu Airport, Brazil, experiencing a significant landing deviation. The aircraft?s no.2 propeller rpm unexpectedly increased during descent, triggering a reverse pitch shift. The crew executed standard landing procedures and approached the runway with an NDB approach, but the right propeller failed to reverse, causing the aircraft to yaw to the left and veer off the runway. The incident was attributed to a combination of factors including inadequate lighting, a malfunctioning landing procedure, and potential quality control issues with the Microswitch Box.

Description

The ATR 42-500 veered off runway 09 during landing at Coari-Urucu Airport, AM, Brazil. There were no injuries, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. After approximately one hour and ten minutes of flight time, during the descent procedure, the no.2 propeller rpm suddenly increased. The crewmembers performed the procedures set out in the aircraft manuals and proceeded to their destination. The crew carried out an NDB approach to runway 09 at Coari-Urucu Airport in light rain conditions. After touchdown the right propeller did not assume the reverse pitch with the throttle in position below Ground Idle. The aircraft then yawed to the left and veered off the runway approximately 500 m after the touchdown point, traveling about 180 m through the grass. Contributing factors. – Attention – a contributor. The lack of attention to the lighting of the Low Pitch lights contributed to the application of reverse in both engines, with only one of the lights on. Thus, this action contributed to the asymmetric reverse condition, which allowed the aircraft to exit the runway on the left. – Emotional state – undetermined. The feeling of apprehension experienced by the crewmembers in relation to the length of the runway, associated with the condition of night operation and in the rain, may have affected their performance, so that, in an attempt to anticipate the engines entering the reverse regime, the standard landing procedures were not properly performed. – Aircraft maintenance – undetermined. The series of discrepancies identified in the Microswitch Box, PN 11S76180650-10, SN 0199, indicating that the unit could have been opened in an unauthorized location, raised doubts about the quality standard of the services performed on the aircraft, which may have allowed an aircraft grounding condition fault that has affected several aircraft electrical components and caused the Np Cancel function to fail.

Primary Cause

Unexpected propeller reverse pitch shift during descent due to a malfunctioning landing procedure and inadequate lighting conditions.Unexpected propeller reverse pitch shift during descent due to a malfunctioning landing procedure and inadequate lighting conditions.

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