Incident Overview

Date: Monday 21 November 1977
Aircraft Type: BAC One-Eleven 420EL
Owner/operator: Austral Lineas A‚reas
Registration Number: LV-JGY
Location: 21 km E of San Carlos de Bariloche, RN – ÿ Argentina
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 46 / Occupants: 79
Component Affected: AircraftAircraft
Category: Accident
A BAC One-Eleven aircraft impacted a mountain during approach to San Carlos de Bariloche Airport, Argentina, resulting in the loss of 46 lives and 33 survivors. The aircraft was the second to depart from Buenos Aires, and the ILS approach was discontinued due to ILS reception issues. The pilot initiated a visual runway 10 approach after abandoning the ILS procedure, leading to a collision with terrain near Cerro Pichileuf£.A BAC One-Eleven aircraft impacted a mountain during approach to San Carlos de Bariloche Airport, Argentina, resulting in the loss of 46 lives and 33 survivors. The aircraft was the second to depart from Buenos Aires, and the ILS approach was discontinued due to ILS reception issues. The pilot initiated a visual runway 10 approach after abandoning the ILS procedure, leading to a collision with terrain near Cerro Pichileuf£.

Description

Austral flight 9, a BAC One-Eleven, impacted a mountain while on approach to San Carlos de Bariloche Airport, Argentina, killing 46 occupants; 33 survived the accident. BAC One-Eleven LV-JGY was one of three chartered aircraft flying from Buenos Aires to San Carlos de Bariloche. LV-JGY was, at 22:53, the second plane to depart from Buenos Aires. While climbing to the assigned cruising altitude of FL350, the airplane suffered pressurization problems. This forced the crew to request FL290. At 00:40 the flight was cleared to descend to FL200. Nine minutes later the crew requested and was granted a direct ILS approach. The ILS approach to runway 28 was discontinued because of problems with the ILS reception. The pilot then requested a visual runway 10 approach. Wind was 270deg/15 knots and the pilot decided to use ILS procedure no. 2 and try to land at runway 28 anyway. Last radio contact was when the pilot reported abeam the VOR beacon. The airplane collided with terrain near Cerro Pichileuf£. PROBABLE CAUSE; “The accident was caused by the collision of the aircraft with the ground during the final approach to Bariloche runway after an improper and premature descent which was below safety limits. The accident can be attributed to a procedural error by the crew during the final approach in that they abandoned the ILS procedure, an action strongly and unduly influenced by the interruption of the VOR signal and also probably by the state of mind of the pilot-in-command.”

Primary Cause

Procedural error during the final approach, specifically the abandonment of the ILS procedure, exacerbated by the interruption of the VOR signal and potentially influenced by the pilot-in-command’s state of mind.Procedural error during the final approach, specifically the abandonment of the ILS procedure, exacerbated by the interruption of the VOR signal and potentially influenced by the pilot-in-command’s state of mind.

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