Narrative:A Beechcraft B300C Super King Air 350, registration F-GOAE, departed from Le Mans-Arnage Airport (LME), France to Santiago De Compostela Airport (SCQ), Spain on a cargo flight according to instrument flight rules. Near the destination airport, the meteorological conditions were reported to be good, and the crew requested a visual approach to runway 17, even though the active runway was 35.
Once cleared to land, the aircraft encountered a fog patch and from this moment it began a high rate descent (2000 to 3000 ft/min). A minute after entering an unexpected and unforeseen fog patch, the aircraft struck some trees in level flight and with an airspeed of 148 kt.
The wings and engines detached from the fuselage, and they dragged along a scrubland area until they came to a stop.
The crew suffered minor injuries and the aircraft was completely destroyed.
Probable Cause:
Causes:
The probable cause was the decision to start a visual approach without having the runway in sight and the continuance of the visual approach in spite of the loss of external visual references, as they unexpectedly entered a fog patch.
Contributing Factors:
As contributing factors to the accident, the following are considered:
- Lack of coordination amongst the crew which resulted in poor cockpit workload distribution, neglecting altitude alerts and instrument references once in the fog.
- Lack of planning and preparation of the approach which caused the PNF to not completely know the procedure they were going to perform resulting in an ineffective decision making when the aircraft entered the fog.
- Lack of response to the GPWS alerts due to inexistent procedures and lack of knowledge and training.
- The aircraft encountered the fog patch when the workload was highest. The autopilot had been disconnected, they were attempting to intercept the LOC 17, the landing gear was extended and the aircraft was not trimmed.
- The mental predisposition of both crewmembers to complete a visual approach, even before starting the descent to Santiago, since the weather information that they had got indicated VMC conditions and did not warn against possible visibility problems.
Accident investigation:
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Investigating agency: | CIAIAC Spain |
Status: | Investigation completed |
Accident number: | A-032/2001 | Download report: | Final report
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Classification:
VFR flight in IMC
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Ground
Sources:
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CIAIAC
METAR Weather report:
00:00 UTC / 02:00 local time:
LEST 070000Z 36002KT CAVOK 10/10 Q 1021 NOSIG=visibility of 10 km or more with no significant changes expected in the following two hours.
00:30 UTC / 02:30 local time:
LEST 070030Z 36001KT 0800 R35/P1500 R17/1200 BCFG VV001 10/10Q 1021 NOSIG=visibility 800 meters, an RVR for runway 35 of 1,500 meters and for runway 17 of 1,700 meters and observed fog patches. Vertical visibility was 100 ft. No significant changes were expected in the following two hours.
Follow-up / safety actions
CIAIAC issued 2 Safety Recommendations
Issued: -- | To: DGAC | REC 16/06 |
It is recommended to the French DGAC in operational inspections to similar companies similar to AEROPE to specifically check:
a) Clear operational guidelines are given out to the crews that, in the absence of other limiting factors, and especially in night flights, force the crews to always use approaches which offer the most amount of navigational aids of the arriving airport.
b) That they have procedures in the use of GPWS and provide adequate training in this matter to the flight crews to guarantee an immediate response to the associated warnings.
c) That they have procedures and provide adequate training to flight crews to ensure that approach briefings, be them IFR or VFR, contain all information regarding the procedure to be carried out, criteria to decide and the way to perform a missed approach procedure, and the correct cockpit workload distribution for the execution, especially during to transfer from instrument flight to visual and vice versa. |
Issued: -- | To: National Meteorological Institute (INM) | REC 17/06 |
It is reiterated to the INM the need to accomplish REC 21/04 section b). |
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Photos
Flight track
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 Le Mans-Arnage Airport to Santiago de Compostela Airport as the crow flies is 869 km (543 miles).
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.