Incident Overview

Date: Friday 12 December 2008
Aircraft Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Owner/operator: Aviastar Mandiri
Registration Number: PK-BRS
Location: Ewer Airport (EWE) – ÿ Indonesia
Phase of Flight: Take off
Status: Substantial, repaired
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 21
Component Affected: Aircraft control system (specifically, the pilot’s control inputs and the aircraft’s steering mechanism).Aircraft control system (specifically, the pilot’s control inputs and the aircraft’s steering mechanism).
Investigating Agency: NTSCNTSC
Category: Accident
On December 2, 2008, a DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft, registered PK-BRS, experienced a significant loss of control during a scheduled flight from Timika, Papua to Ewer. The aircraft began sliding before brakes release and subsequently veered to the right, leading to a left-side slide off the runway. The pilot successfully regained control, but the aircraft subsequently slid further left, impacting a wet and soft ground surface.On December 2, 2008, a DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft, registered PK-BRS, experienced a significant loss of control during a scheduled flight from Timika, Papua to Ewer. The aircraft began sliding before brakes release and subsequently veered to the right, leading to a left-side slide off the runway. The pilot successfully regained control, but the aircraft subsequently slid further left, impacting a wet and soft ground surface.

Description

On 12 December 2008, a DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft, registered PK-BRS, was being operated by Aviastar Mandiri on a series of scheduled flights from Timika, Papua. The last flight of the day was a return flight from Timika to Ewer, about 36 minutes each way. The copilot was the handling pilot for the flight sector from Ewer to Timika, and the PIC was the support/monitoring pilot. The PIC reported that the aircraft commenced sliding before brakes release, and shortly after commencing the takeoff roll the aircraft veered to the right, so he took over control from the copilot. However, he was unable to prevent the aircraft from swinging to the left and it rolled through the centreline to the left side of the runway. The PIC aborted the take off and attempted to regain the runway centreline from the left using nose-wheel steering. That attempt was unsuccessful, and the aircraft veered further left and slid off the runway into wet soft ground on the edge of the marsden matting runway. It came to a stop 360 meters from the departure end of the runway on a heading of 190 degrees. The PIC shut down the engines and instructed the copilot to disembark the passengers. None of the aircraft’s occupants were injured. The Ewer runway was constructed on swampy ground, using the marsden matting to give a solid surface. CAUSE: “The investigation was unable to determine why the pilots were unable to maintain directional control during the take-off roll. It is likely that in taking control from the co-pilot, and using nose-wheel steering, the PIC may have over corrected, resulting in a loss of directional control.”

Primary Cause

Loss of directional control during the take-off roll due to pilot overcorrection during control transfer and nose-wheel steering.Loss of directional control during the take-off roll due to pilot overcorrection during control transfer and nose-wheel steering.

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