Date:	Tuesday 27 January 2009
Time:	04:37
Type:	ATR 42-320
Owner/operator:	Empire Airlines
Registration:	N902FX
MSN:	175
Year of manufacture:	1990
Total airframe hrs:	28768 hours
Cycles:	32379 flights
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PW121
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB) -   United States of America
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Fort Worth Alliance Airport, TX (AFW/KAFW)
Destination airport:	Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB/KLBB)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
Empire Airlines flight CFS8284 departed Fort Worth Alliance Airport, TX (AFW) at 03:21 CST on a cargo flight to Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB). Weather at Lubbock was poor with an overcast at 500 feet, freezing drizzle and mist.
The aircraft encountered icing conditions while en route to Lubbock. And although the airplane accumulated some ice during the flight that degraded its performance, the NTSB determined that the aircraft could have landed safely had the airspeed been maintained.
During the approach to Lubbock runway 17R, at about 1400 feet above the ground and about 90 seconds from the runway, the captain indicated a flight control problem saying, "We have no flaps." Although the crewmembers had been trained to perform a go-around and refer to a checklist if a flap problem occurred during an approach, the captain chose to continue the approach as he attempted to troubleshoot the flap anomaly while the first officer flew the plane. Neither flight crewmember adequately monitored the airspeed, which decayed to the extent that the stick shaker activated, which warned of an impending aerodynamic stall.
The captain continued the unstabilized approach even though he received additional stick shaker activations and an aural "pull up" warning from the terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS). At that point, the plane was descending at a rate of over 2,000 ft per minute.
Although procedures for responding to either the stick shaker or the TAWS warning require the immediate application of maximum engine power, the captain did not apply maximum power until 17 seconds after the TAWS warning. Seconds after maximum power was applied, the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall and crashed.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crew's failure to monitor and maintain a minimum safe airspeed while executing an instrument approach in icing conditions, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at low altitude. Contributing to the accident were 1) the flight crew's failure to follow published standard operating procedures in response to a flap anomaly, 2) the captain's decision to continue with the unstabilized approach, 3) the flight crew's poor crew resource management, and 4) fatigue due to the time of day in which the accident occurred and a cumulative sleep debt, which likely impaired the captain's performance."

09:53 UTC / 03:53 local time:
KLBB 270953Z 01014KT 3SM -FZDZ BR OVC005 M08/M09 A3013 RMK AO2 PRESRR SLP227 P0000 T10781094=
wind at 10 degrees, 14 kts, visibility 3 miles in mist and freezing drizzle, ceiling 500 feet overcast, temperature -7.8 deg C, dewpoint -9.4 deg C

10:53 UTC / 04:53 local time:
KLBB 271053Z 02011G18KT 2SM -FZDZ BR OVC005 M08/M09 A3013 RMK AO2 CIG 004V009 SLP228 P0000 T10781094=
wind at 20 degrees, 11 kts gusting to 18 kts, visibility 2 miles in mist and freezing drizzle, ceiling 500 feet overcast, temperature -7.8 deg C, dewpoint -9.4 deg C

SKYbrary 
NTSB

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

21 January 1998

N15827

Continental Express

0

Hartford-Bradley International Airport, CT (BDL)

sub

photo (c) NTSB; Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB/KLBB); January 2009; (publicdomain)

photo (c) NTSB; Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB/KLBB); January 2009; (publicdomain)

photo (c) NTSB; Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB/KLBB); January 2009; (publicdomain)

photo (c) NTSB; Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB/KLBB); January 2009; (publicdomain)

photo (c) NTSB; Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB/KLBB); January 2009; (publicdomain)

photo (c) NTSB; Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB/KLBB); January 2009; (publicdomain)

photo (c) via Werner Fischdick; Houston-Intercontinental Airport, TX (IAH/KIAH); February 1993

Date/time	Contributor	Updates