Loss of control Accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan TI-BEI,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 319747

Date:	Sunday 31 December 2017
Time:	12:16
Type:	Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Owner/operator:	Nature Air
Registration:	TI-BEI
MSN:	208B0900
Year of manufacture:	2001
Total airframe hrs:	12073 hours
Cycles:	20813 flights
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	0,6 km N of Punta Islita Airport (PBP) - Costa Rica
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Punta Islita Airport (PBP/MRIA)
Destination airport:	San José-Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO/MROC)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan operated by Nature Air was destroyed after impacting wooded terrain near Punta Islita Airport, Costa Rica. All 12 occupants suffered fatal injuries.
The accident airplane was the second of a flight of two airplanes transporting hotel guests from Punta Islita to San José, where most of the passengers had international airline flights out of Costa Rica. Both airplanes were Cessna 208B airplanes. The first airplane departed Punta Islita using runway 3 and after liftoff made a right turn through a pass through the hills that led back out to the ocean. The first airplane reached San José successfully. The accident airplane remained on the ground for about 15 minutes longer. According to the hotel worker that was at the airport during the departure, when the accident airplane took off, it did not make the same right turn as the prior airplane but continued on runway heading. The terrain in the direction of the runway orientation consisted of a valley with rising terrain on either side. The valley continues and turns left with the floor of the valley rising until reaching a mountain. When heading in a northerly direction there was no exit from the valley. The airplane impacted terrain on the northwest side of the valley about 0.5 miles from the departure end of runway 3 at Punta Islita.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The flight crew's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering to exit an area of rising terrain, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the flight crew's decision to continue the takeoff toward rising terrain that likely exceeded the airplane's climb capability, the lack of adequate weather reporting available for wind determination, and the lack of documented training for an airport requiring a non-standard departure."

Accident investigation: