Incident Overview
Date: Saturday 2 January 1971
Aircraft Type: de Havilland DH-106 Comet 4C
Owner/operator: United Arab Airlines – UAA
Registration Number: SU-ALC
Location: 7 km N of Tripoli International Airport (TIP) –
ÿ Libya
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 16
Component Affected: AircraftAircraft
Category: Accident
A Comet aircraft struck sand dunes at 395 feet during an ADF approach to runway 18, Algiers. The accident was likely caused by the pilot-in-command?s decision to land despite visibility below the airline?s minimum for nighttime operations, potentially due to an unforeseen altitude discrepancy during the approach.A Comet aircraft struck sand dunes at 395 feet during an ADF approach to runway 18, Algiers. The accident was likely caused by the pilot-in-command?s decision to land despite visibility below the airline?s minimum for nighttime operations, potentially due to an unforeseen altitude discrepancy during the approach.
Description
The Comet, on a flight from Algiers, struck sand dunes at 395 feet while making an ADF approach procedure turn for runway 18. PROBABLE CAUSE: The probable cause of the accident was the decision of the pilot-in-command to land while the prevailing visibility was below the Airline’s minimum for that airport at night, and for undetermined reasons, the aircraft was lower than the altitude it ought to have been for an ADF approach to the runway in use. The weather was a contributing factor.
Primary Cause
Pilot-in-command?s decision to land despite visibility below minimum for nighttime operations.Pilot-in-command?s decision to land despite visibility below minimum for nighttime operations.Share on:
