Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Date: | Thursday 18 April 1991 |
Time: | 11:56 |
Type: | Dornier 228-212 |
Operator: | Air Tahiti |
Registration: | F-OHAB |
MSN: | 8196 |
First flight: | 1990-08-16 (8 months) |
Total airframe hrs: | 634 |
Crew: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
Passengers: | Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 20 |
Total: | Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 22 |
Aircraft damage: | Damaged beyond repair |
Location: | 1 km (0.6 mls) WNW off Nuku Hiva Airport (NHV) ( French Polynesia)
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Phase: | Approach (APR) |
Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
Departure airport: | Hiva Oa Airport (HIX/NTMN), French Polynesia |
Destination airport: | Nuku Hiva Airport (NHV/NTMD), French Polynesia |
Flightnumber: | 805 |
Narrative:A Dornier 228-212, registration F-OHAN, crashed in the waters off Nuku Hiva Airport, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. Ten of the 22 occupants sustained fatal injuries.
Air Tahiti flight 805 had taken off from Hiva Ou at 11:10 for a flight to Nuku Hiva. The crew were approaching runway 06 when the no. 1 engine suffered an uncontained failure. Both crewmembers didn't recognize the failure but concentrated on the low oil pressure warning for the engine in question. The approach was abandoned and the aircraft flew parallel to the runway in order to land on runway 24. The Dornier lost altitude and at the very last moment it was decided to carry out an unprepared ditching.
Probable Cause:
PROBABLE CAUSE (translated from French): "The accident resulted from a series of inappropriate actions by the crew, facing a mechanical failure of an engine which alone should never have led to this outcome.
Among the factors explaining this below-average performance of the crew, the inquiry committee noted:
1) The influence of a possible levels of alcohol of the crew members;
2) A lack of rigor in the type rating qualifying of the crew;
3) Ommissions in the Operations Manual (no division of tasks in some occasional or emergency situations);
4) Deficiencies in the company's technical control of the state of the aircraft."
Accident investigation:
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Investigating agency: | BEA France |
Status: | Investigation completed |
Duration: | 1 year and 1 months | Accident number: | Report f-ab910418 | Download report: | Final report
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Classification:
Flightcrew member's alcohol, drug usage
Shutdown of wrong engine
Uncontained engine failure
Ditching
Sources:
» Rapport relatif a l'accident survenu le 18 avril 1991 pres de l'aérodrome de Nuku Hiva a l'avion DORNIER DO 228 immatriculé F-OHAB exploité par la Compagnie Air Tahiti
» Scramble Vol.13, nr.01
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does
not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Hiva Oa Airport to Nuku Hiva Airport as the crow flies is 171 km (107 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.