Date:	Friday 18 November 1988
Time:	06:31
Type:	Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II
Owner/operator:	Air Littoral
Registration:	F-GCPG
MSN:	TC-334E
Year of manufacture:	1980
Total airframe hrs:	10346 hours
Engine model:	Garrett TPE331-3UW-303G
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Montluçon-Guéret (Lepaud) Airport (MCU) -   France
Phase:	Initial climb
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Montluçon-Guéret (Lepaud) Airport (MCU/LFBK)
Destination airport:	Paris-Orly Airport (ORY/LFPO)
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
It was still dark outside when Air Littoral flight 440 received clearance to taxi to runway 35 for its early morning flight to Paris. The first officer was pilot flying on this leg. Six minutes later, at 06:31, the throttles were advanced and the Metro II started the takeoff roll. Shortly after lifting off the runway, the nose pitched down. The Metro II descended and contacted the ground again 600 m past the runway end and continued through bushes, eventually catching fire. It appears that the Stall Avoidance System (SAS) had activated, resulting in the stick pusher activation at a critical altitude. The Metro's SAS system, as well as the SAS system on this particular aircraft, had a history of problems. These problems resulted in several NTSB Safety Recommendations (A-84-66, A-88-154).

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The accident resulted from a reduction in the attitude of the airplane causing a downward trajectory in the moments that followed the takeoff. It is likely that this decrease in attitude is due to an untimely triggering of the stick pusher.
The absence of a recorder and the complete destruction of the SAS (apart from angle of attack vane and its transmitter) did not prove this hypothesis. With or without inadvertent triggering of the stick pusher, the imprecision of the right horizon and the absence of external visual references played an important role in this accident."

Rapport final sur l'accident survenu le 18 november 1988 près de l'aerodrome de Montlucon-Guéret (23) au Swearingen Metro II immatriculé F-GCPG de la compagnie Air Littoral

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