Incident Overview

Date: Monday 6 September 1999
Aircraft Type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Owner/operator: Hangar 5 Air Services (operated for BenAir)
Registration Number: LN-PBB
Location: Sumburgh Airport, Lerwick, Shetland Islands – ÿ United Kingdom
Phase of Flight: Landing
Status: Substantial
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Component Affected: Aircraft Structure (particularly propeller, landing gears, and lower and rear fuselage sections) and Control Systems (particularly the co-pilot’s role in maintaining control).Aircraft Structure (particularly propeller, landing gears, and lower and rear fuselage sections) and Control Systems (particularly the co-pilot’s role in maintaining control).
Investigating Agency: AAIBAAIB
Category: Accident
On September 6, 1999, a commercial mail flight from Aberdeen to Sumburgh, Shetland Islands, experienced a significant landing accident at Sumburgh Airport, Lerwick. The aircraft, ex-N1002D (US registry), was severely damaged due to adverse weather conditions and pilot error. The co-pilot, who was operating the aircraft, exhibited a lack of control during the landing, resulting in the aircraft crossing the runway threshold and impacting a substantial amount of concrete blocks. The captain subsequently initiated a go-around, which led to the aircraft bouncing across the runway and ultimately impacting the ground. The aircraft was subsequently repaired and re-registered as N4YA (US Registry) in 1960, and later sold to Japan, becoming JA881B (Japan) in 2001.On September 6, 1999, a commercial mail flight from Aberdeen to Sumburgh, Shetland Islands, experienced a significant landing accident at Sumburgh Airport, Lerwick. The aircraft, ex-N1002D (US registry), was severely damaged due to adverse weather conditions and pilot error. The co-pilot, who was operating the aircraft, exhibited a lack of control during the landing, resulting in the aircraft crossing the runway threshold and impacting a substantial amount of concrete blocks. The captain subsequently initiated a go-around, which led to the aircraft bouncing across the runway and ultimately impacting the ground. The aircraft was subsequently repaired and re-registered as N4YA (US Registry) in 1960, and later sold to Japan, becoming JA881B (Japan) in 2001.

Description

Ex-N1002D (US registry); re-registered as OY-TCB (Danish registry) from 1992. Became LN-PBB in 1994. Substantially damaged in a landing accident at Sumburgh Airport, Lerwick, Shetland Islands 6-9-1999. According to the following excerpt from the official AAIB report into the accident: “The aircraft was operating a mail flight from Aberdeen to Sumburgh but, due to poor weather at Sumburgh, had diverted to Kirkwall. After about 90 minutes on the ground at Kirkwall, the weather at Sumburgh had improved sufficiently for the flight to continue. The handling pilot between Kirkwall and Sumburgh was the co-pilot. On arrival at Sumburgh, the flight was cleared for an ILS approach to Runway 27. However, once established, the captain noted that the co-pilot was ‘having a little difficulty’ in maintaining the aircraft on both the localiser and glide slope. The co-pilot later reported that he felt that they had been ‘slightly high and fast.’ As the aircraft crossed the runway threshold, the co-pilot called out that he had too much speed and that ‘it wasn’t going to work.’ The captain, who was concentrating on the runway aspect, did not respond. The co-pilot took the captain’s lack of response as an indication that he was ‘content’ with the approach and continued with the landing. The aircraft landed long and fast, touching down about halfway along the runway, and bounced before touching down again. Both crew members applied full braking but, as the aircraft approached the end of the runway, the captain took over control and applied full power, apparently in an attempt to carry out a go-around. The aircraft yawed to the left and overran the end of the runway. It continued across the grass overrun area and a road before eventually coming to rest after impacting a number of large concrete blocks forming part of a sea wall. The accident happened in daylight (11:34 hours Local time). Weather; wind 010 degrees/11 knots, visibility 9,000 metres in rain, cloud, few at 300 feet, scattered at 1,000 feet and broken at 1,600 feet. Runway 27 at Sumburgh has an available landing distance of 1,093 metres Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report “Severe damage to the propeller, all three landing gears and the lower and rear fuselage structures”. However, aircraft later repaired and returned to service: became N4YA (US Registry) from 19-6-2000. Later sold to Japan, and became JA881B from 26-10-2001 with Ashai Airlines

Source of Information

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/542303c0ed915d1374000bbd/dft_avsafety_pdf_501642.pdf, http://www.aircraftregister.net/aircrafts/1649/LN-PBB, http://www.airframes.org/reg/lnpbb, http://www.oy-reg.dk/register/3939.html, http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=4YA, http://rzjets.net/aircraft/?page=17&typeid=238https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/542303c0ed915d1374000bbd/dft_avsafety_pdf_501642.pdf, http://www.aircraftregister.net/aircrafts/1649/LN-PBB, http://www.airframes.org/reg/lnpbb, http://www.oy-reg.dk/register/3939.html, http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=4YA, http://rzjets.net/aircraft/?page=17&typeid=238

Primary Cause

Pilot error and inadequate control during the landing, exacerbated by adverse weather conditions and the co-pilot’s actions.Pilot error and inadequate control during the landing, exacerbated by adverse weather conditions and the co-pilot’s actions.

Share on:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *