Date:	Thursday 24 November 1994
Time:	00:01
Type:	de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Owner/operator:	Kenn Borek Air
Registration:	C-GKBD
MSN:	314
Year of manufacture:	1971
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Rothera Research Station -   Antarctica
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	Rothera Research Station (EGAR)
Destination airport:	Terra Nova Bay-Zucchelli Station
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The aircraft, which was based at Calgary, Canada, had been chartered to carry out a Radio Echo Survey task for the Italian National Antarctic Programme and the accident occurred during the ferry flight, as the aircraft took off from Rothera, a UK base on Adelaide Island, and struck an iceberg which was situated just off the end of the runway in use. The aircraft was fItted with two ferry fuel
tanks in the fuselage and there were two pilots, an aircraft engineer and a technical adviser aboard.
The aircraft was destroyed by a post-impact fire.

There was no evidence to show that any weight and balance calculations had been made for the accident flight. The 'approved' Flight Manual MTOW for this aircraft was 12,500 lb and it was operating more than 6,000 lb over that weight. However, the operating company (incorrectly) believed that it was permissible to operate under the Supplement 14 dispensation, which allowed an
MTOW of 17,500 lb, but the aircraft was more than 1,000 lb above that limit as well.
The aircraft needed a 408 m ground run before becoming airborne. The pilot had been advised to fly round the side of an iceberg that was positioned 517 meters past the runway end. Instead, the pilot continued straight ahead in an attempt to climb over the iceberg. The aircraft was seen to roll from side to side just prior to the stall which occurred at a height which was insufficient to allow recovery before striking the iceberg.

Air Safety Week 27 February 1995 (p. 5)
ICAO Adrep Summary 1/95
Scramble 188
Scramble 189
Scramble 190(47)

photo (c) Karl Krämer, via Werner Fischdick; Medellín-Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport (EOH); August 1991

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