Flight Safety Foundation Accident Prevention 1999

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December 1999

Business Jet Overruns Wet Runway After Landing Past Touchdown Zone 6 pages. [PDF 66K]

Recorded radar data showed groundspeeds of more than 160 knots when the Cessna Citation 500 was on final approach. The aircraft struck a navigational-aid-support structure, terrain and two mobile homes off the departure end of the runway. The three occupants were injured during the impact, but they exited the aircraft before it was destroyed by fire.

November 1999

Unaware of Strong Crosswind, Fokker Crew Loses Control of Aircraft on Landing 6 pages. [PDF 62K]

During approach to Guernsey, United Kingdom, the pilots of the Fokker F27 received a report containing an average of wind-speed values recorded over a two-minute period. They did not request a report of instantaneous wind speed. Thus, the pilots did not know that sudden, strong gusts exceeded the crosswind limit in the company operations manual. The aircraft touched down about mid-field, according to witnesses, then overran the end of the runway, veered left and struck an embankment.

October 1999

Erroneous Airspeed Indications Cited in Boeing 757 Control Loss 8 pages. [PDF 69K]

Investigators concluded that the airplane had a blocked pitot tube and that, during departure, the flight crew became confused by false indications of increasing airspeed and did not respond to a stall warning. All the occupants were killed when the airplane struck the Caribbean Sea off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic.

September 1999

Rudder Malfunction Causes Loss of Control of Boeing 737 16 pages. [PDF 208K]

All 132 occupants were killed when the airplane struck terrain near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. The investigation report said that, following an encounter with wake turbulence, the airplane’s rudder moved to the limit of its travel, in a direction opposite to that commanded by the flight crew. The report said that the rudder-control anomaly most likely was caused by a malfunction of the rudder’s main power control unit.

August 1999

Double Engine Failure Leads to Ditching of Cessna 402C 6 pages. [PDF 52K]

The investigation concluded that fuel exhaustion might have caused both engines to fail while the airplane was on a scheduled flight in New Zealand. Five of the 10 occupants were rescued. Four occupants were unable to find their life jackets and died before rescuers arrived. Another occupant was missing and presumed dead.

July 1999

Airplane’s Low-energy Condition and Degraded Wing Performance Cited in Unsuccessful Go-around Attempt 12 pages. [PDF 118K]

The Canadair Regional Jet’s airspeed was decreasing, and its engines were producing idle thrust when the crew rejected the landing 33 feet (10 meters) above the runway. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said that there was insufficient time for the engines to spool up to go-around thrust, and that a thin accumulation of ice was a major factor in causing the airplane to stall at a lower-than-normal stall angle-of-attack. The crew lost control of the airplane, and the airplane struck the runway and terrain.

June 1999

Learjet Strikes Terrain When Crew Tracks False Glideslope Indication and Continues Descent Below Published Decision Height 12 pages. [PDF 120K]

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said that the flight crew did not follow standard operating procedures while conducting an instrument landing system approach. The investigation prompted the board to recommend acceleration of a proposed schedule for requiring installation of terrain awareness and warning systems in all turbine airplanes with six or more passenger seats.

May 1999

B-757 Damaged by Ground Strike During Late Go-around from Visual Approach 8 pages. [PDF 76K]

Deviations from standard operating procedures, deficient crew resource management and crew distraction were cited as factors in a controlled-flight-into-terrain accident that caused substantial airplane damage but no injuries.

April 1999

Jammed Elevator Prompts Twin-turboprop Rejected Takeoff, Runway Over-run 8 pages. [PDF 93K]

The investigating authority said that deficiencies in the Hawker Siddeley 748 flight control gust-lock system might have caused the elevator gust lock to re-engage when the flight crew checked the flight controls at the beginning of the takeoff.

March 1999

Thin, Rough Ice Accumulation Causes Twin-turboprop Aircraft Upset 12 pages. [PDF 82K]

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said that the absence of adequate aircraft-certification standards and operating procedures for flight in icing conditions was a probable cause of the accident, and that the flight crew’s acceptance of a relatively low airspeed restriction while operating in icing conditions was a contributing factor.

February 1999

Ice Ingestion Causes Both Engines to Flame Out During Air-taxi Turboprop’s Final Approach 8 pages. [PDF 62K]

The accident was attributed to the flight crew’s failure to comply with procedures requiring the use of continuous engine ignition during and after an encounter with icing conditions.

January 1999

Attempted Go-around with Deployed Thrust Reversers Leads to Learjet Accident 6 pages. [PDF 49K]

The pilot said that he rejected the landing when the aircraft veered left after touchdown. He said that although the thrust levers were positioned full forward, the aircraft did not accelerate after lifting off the runway.