Date:	Friday 29 January 2016
Time:	10:11
Type:	Cessna 425 Conquest I
Owner/operator:	Eros Air/Ohlthaver & List Group
Registration:	V5-MJW
MSN:	425-0077
Year of manufacture:	1981
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	3km from Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH/FYWH), Windhoek -   Namibia
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	Windhoek-Eros Airport (ERS/FYWE)
Destination airport:	Windhoek-Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH/FYWH)
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Cessna 425 Conquest twin crashed near Windhoek-Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH/FYWH), Windhoek. Three pilots were conducting a local training flight.
The aircraft is destroyed and burned totaly.
The pilot and two passengers died in the crash.
The pilot as Uwe Herbert, a Chief Corporate Pilot of Eros Air who was conducting training on board.
He has been working for the O&L Group for 31 years.
Fritz Alpers and Ole Friede were the others occupants.

Weather reports at the airport
FYWE 291000Z 10011KT 9999 FEW040CB BKN045TCU 29/12 Q1025
FYWE 290900Z 08011KT 9999 BKN040TCU 28/10 Q1025
FYWE 290800Z 10011KT 9999 FEW050 26/09 Q1025
FYWE 290700Z 16006KT CAVOK 24/07 Q1025

APR 2017:
The probable cause of the crash was that the Cessna 425 stalled at low altitude before it crashed into the ground, Aircraft accident investigator Hafeni Mweshixwa concluded in his report on the investigation of the accident.

The report, which is the result of the investigation that the works ministry's Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations carried out after the crash, has now been released.

Herbert, Friede and Alpers died when the Cessna 425 in which they were doing a flight to test Herbert and Friede's skills for the renewal of their commercial pilot licences crashed about 300 metres north of the runway at Hosea Kutako International Airport.

Mweshixwa recorded in his report that the pilots – Herbert was not seated in the front two seats of the aeroplane at the time of the crash – had been doing a landing approach when the airport's air traffic controller was asked for permission to make a right turn out of the approach in order to circle back and do another landing approach.

The air traffic controller reported that he last saw the twin-engined aircraft on final approach, looked away for a moment, and then heard a bang before he saw a ball of flames north of the runway.

The aircraft first made ground contact with its nose section, it is stated in the accident report.

As a result of the ensuing fire that engulfed the plane, it was difficult to verify the positions the different flight controls had been in at the time of the crash, it is also stated in the report.

No evidence to indicate that a mechanical defect or malfunction could have contributed to the accident could be found with an examination of the engine and mechanical components of the aircraft.

Although there was also no evidence that the pilots had been doing a training manoeuvre in which the loss of power of one of the plane's engines during a landing approach was simulated, Mweshixwa recorded that the investigation revealed such a manoeuvre was a common practice that was performed.

The accident report states that performing such a manoeuvre was a highly risky operation, and that most flight operations prohibit it, unless it is done in a flight simulator or at high altitude to ensure enough altitude to recover should the aircraft stall or a pilot lose control.

It is further stated in the report that an “asymmetrical thrust scenario” – a situation in which one engine was producing more thrust than the other, causing the aircraft to veer to one direction and to flip to the underpowered side – could also not be ruled out.

The Namibia Civil Aviation Authority should review the practice in which the loss of an aircraft's engine power during a landing approach is simulated to test pilots' skills, and this should possibly be restricted to tests in a flight simulator or at high altitude to assure enough height should a stall occur, the directorate recommended at the end of the investigation report.

https://www.enca.com/africa/namibian-aircraft-crashes-caused-by-pilots
https://twitter.com/cckaira
https://twitter.com/norris_na/status/693012397313921028
https://twitter.com/namibiansun/status/693016152080060416
https://www.facebook.com/RadiowaveNetworkNews/photos/a.1660819657506463.1073741828.1660451020876660/1689797794608649/?type=3&theater
http://www.ohlthaverlist.com/o-l-companies/eros-air.php
[LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.nbc.na/news_article.php?id=17258&title=A-Cessna-twin-engine-plane-crashes-at-the-Hosea-Kutako-International-Airport]
https://www.namibian.com.na/53706/read/Low-level-stall-probable-cause-of-plane-crash
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https://www.lph2o.com/library/databases/aircraft-database/list/25?resetfilters=0&clearordering=0&clearfilters=0&group_by=airplanesregister___connumber&limitstart25=46890
https://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?page=read&id=36563

https://d3rp5jatom3eyn.cloudfront.net/assets/images/3454/crash120202_1.jpg (photo)

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Jan-2016 10:25	harro	Added
29-Jan-2016 10:26	harro	Updated [Location, Source]
29-Jan-2016 12:17	harro	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative]
29-Jan-2016 14:20	harro	Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, Narrative]
30-Jan-2016 08:12	Dmitriy	Updated [Time, Operator, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
30-Jan-2016 15:31	Iceman 29	Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
30-Jan-2016 16:38	Iceman 29	Updated [Embed code]
21-Apr-2017 13:55	Iceman 29	Updated [Source, Narrative]
17-May-2020 06:48	harro	Updated [Destination airport, Source, Accident report, ]