British Aerospace BAe-146-100 – EC-GEO

Incident Overview

Date: Friday 25 September 1998

Aircraft Type: British Aerospace BAe-146-100

Owner/operator: Paukn Air

Registration Number: EC-GEO

Location: 15,3 km N of Melilla Airport (MLN) – ÿ Morocco

Phase of Flight: Approach

Status: Destroyed, written off

Casualties: Fatalities: 38 / Occupants: 38

Component Affected: Aircraft (BAe-146)Aircraft (BAe-146)

Investigating Agency: MinTrans MoroccoMinTrans Morocco

Category: Accident

On October 17, 2001, a BAe-146 aircraft, Flight 4101, experienced a catastrophic accident while flying across the Mediterranean Sea from Malaga, Spain, to Melilla, Morocco. The flight was initiated at 07:25 local time, climbing to FL140, and then instructed to descend to FL70. The crew reported to Melilla Tower, where they were informed of runway 33 being in use and a wind of 270 degrees at 5 knots, visibility of 8 km with few clouds at 1000 feet. At 06:45, the copilot reported being at 22nm at an altitude of 3000 feet, descending below the Minimum Safe Altitude (MSA) of 4000 feet. The descent continued, and the aircraft crossed the coastline at approximately 1100 feet. At 07:49:52, the GPWS alarm was triggered ‘terrain, terrain’, indicating a collision with terrain. The aircraft struck terrain at an elevation of 886 feet, resulting in a breakup. The investigation concluded that this accident was caused by a collision with terrain in IMC, resulting from a combination of factors including non-application of arrival procedures, inadequate crew coordination, and failure to utilize company procedures regarding the GPWS alarm.On October 17, 2001, a BAe-146 aircraft, Flight 4101, experienced a catastrophic accident while flying across the Mediterranean Sea from Malaga, Spain, to Melilla, Morocco. The flight was initiated at 07:25 local time, climbing to FL140, and then instructed to descend to FL70. The crew reported to Melilla Tower, where they were informed of runway 33 being in use and a wind of 270 degrees at 5 knots, visibility of 8 km with few clouds at 1000 feet. At 06:45, the copilot reported being at 22nm at an altitude of 3000 feet, descending below the Minimum Safe Altitude (MSA) of 4000 feet. The descent continued, and the aircraft crossed the coastline at approximately 1100 feet. At 07:49:52, the GPWS alarm was triggered ‘terrain, terrain’, indicating a collision with terrain. The aircraft struck terrain at an elevation of 886 feet, resulting in a breakup. The investigation concluded that this accident was caused by a collision with terrain in IMC, resulting from a combination of factors including non-application of arrival procedures, inadequate crew coordination, and failure to utilize company procedures regarding the GPWS alarm.

Description

Paukn Air Flight 4101, a BAe-146 jet, took off from Malaga, Spain, at 07:25 hours local time for a flight across the Mediterranean Sea to the Spanish enclave Melilla on the Moroccan coast. Flight 4101 climbed to the cruising altitude of FL140. The copilot contacted ATC at Sevilla and received clearance to descend to FL70. Two minutes later the flight was further cleared to 5000 feet and the crew were instructed to contact Melilla Tower. The copilot reported to the Melilla Tower controller that they were 30 nm from the airport, descending to 5000 feet. Melilla Tower then reported that runway 33 was in use and reported wind at 270 degrees at 5 knots, visibility 8 km with few clouds at 1000 feet. At 06:45 the copilot reported that they were at 22nm at an altitude of 3000 feet. By now they had descended below the MSA of 4000 feet. The descent was continued and the airplane crossed the coast line at about 1100 feet. In IMC conditions the flight descended over mountainous terrain. At 07:49:52 the GPWS alarm sounded “terrain, terrain”. Dangerously close to terrain, at about 890 feet, the GPWS alarm sounded again “Whoop, whoop, Pull Up, Whoop, whoop, Pull Up”. The airplane struck terrain at an elevation of 886 feet and broke up. CONCLUSION: “Given the facts and analysis conducted, the Commission concluded that the accident was caused by a collision with terrain in IMC. This confirms the hypothesis put forward by members of the committee of investigation from the beginning of their investigations, it is a type of CFIT accident (collision with the ground without loss of control) due to a combination of several factors: – Non-application of the arrival procedure, including descending below the minimum safe altitude; – Inadequate crew coordination; – Non-application of company procedures regarding GPWS alarm. “

Primary Cause

Failure to adhere to established arrival procedures, including descending below the minimum safe altitude, coupled with inadequate crew coordination and the failure to utilize company procedures regarding the GPWS alarm.Failure to adhere to established arrival procedures, including descending below the minimum safe altitude, coupled with inadequate crew coordination and the failure to utilize company procedures regarding the GPWS alarm.

Share on: