Incident Overview

Date: Saturday 15 March 2008
Aircraft Type: Beechcraft 1900D
Owner/operator: Wings Aviation
Registration Number: 5N-JAH
Location: near Bushi Village, Obanliku – ÿ Nigeria
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Component Affected: Flight CrewFlight Crew
Investigating Agency: AIB NigeriaAIB Nigeria
Category: Accident
A Beech 1900D aircraft, en route to Obudu from Lagos, descended to FL110 and subsequently lost contact with ATC. The aircraft failed to arrive at Bebi Airstrip, and subsequent investigation revealed it crashed in a thick rainforest area near Obanliku, Enugu, on August 30, 2008. The Enugu tower controller issued descent instructions exceeding the aircraft?s safe altitude, disregarding terrain clearance and minimum safe altitude, leading to a Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) incident.A Beech 1900D aircraft, en route to Obudu from Lagos, descended to FL110 and subsequently lost contact with ATC. The aircraft failed to arrive at Bebi Airstrip, and subsequent investigation revealed it crashed in a thick rainforest area near Obanliku, Enugu, on August 30, 2008. The Enugu tower controller issued descent instructions exceeding the aircraft?s safe altitude, disregarding terrain clearance and minimum safe altitude, leading to a Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) incident.

Description

The Beech 1900D airplane took off from Lagos at 07.36 en route to Obudu. It was expected to arrive at Bebi Airstrip at approximately 09:21. The aircraft contacted Enugu ATC at 08:56 while descending to FL110. The crew were cleared to descend further down to 5000 feet. It did not arrive at Bebi Airstrip and was declared missing. On August 30, 2008, hunters found the wreckage in thick rain forest in Obanliku local government area. Investigation revealed that the Enugu tower controller issued descent instructions to 5, 000 feet AMSL (FL50) outside its control airspace not considering that the aircraft was not flying the filed flight plan route and the minimum safe altitude (MSA) of the area reported by Jeppesen charts as 11,200 feet. Causal Factor: I. The flight crew conducted an approach into a VFR airfield in an instrument meteorological condition and did not maintain terrain clearance and minimum safe altitude which led to Controlled Flight Into Terrain. II. The crew did not respond promptly to GPWS warning. Contributory Factors 1. The flight crew was not familiar with the route in a situation of low clouds, poor visibility and mountainous terrain. 2. The Area Controllers did not detect the estimate as passed by the pilot for positions not in the filed flight plan (LIPAR and LUNDO) and omitting ENUGU. 3. The erroneous co-location of Bebi airstrip and Obudu on the NAMA Chart confused the crew.

Source of Information

http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/B190,_vicinity_Bebi_south_eastern_Nigeria,_2008http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/B190,_vicinity_Bebi_south_eastern_Nigeria,_2008

Primary Cause

Lack of situational awareness and adherence to established procedures due to low cloud conditions, poor visibility, mountainous terrain, and incorrect route planning, resulting in a failure to maintain terrain clearance and minimum safe altitude.Lack of situational awareness and adherence to established procedures due to low cloud conditions, poor visibility, mountainous terrain, and incorrect route planning, resulting in a failure to maintain terrain clearance and minimum safe altitude.

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