ASN Aircraft accident Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander P2-ISM Dinangat Village
ASN logo
 

Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Saturday 23 December 2017
Time:10:10
Type:Silhouette image of generic BN2P model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander
Operator:North Coast Aviation
Registration: P2-ISM
MSN: 227
First flight: 1970-11-13 (47 years 2 months)
Total airframe hrs:32232
Engines: 2 Lycoming IO-540-K1B5
Crew:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:11,3 km (7.1 mls) S of Dinangat Village (   Papua New Guinea)
Crash site elevation: 2900 m (9514 feet) amsl
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Cargo
Departure airport:Derim Airport (DER/AYDE), Papua New Guinea
Destination airport:Lae-Nadzab Airport (LAE/AYNZ), Papua New Guinea
Narrative:
A BN-2A Islander aircraft, registered P2-ISM, owned and operated by North Coast Aviation, impacted a ridge, at about 9,500 ft, that runs down towards the Sapmanga Valley from the Sarawaget Ranges, Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea. The pilot elected to track across the Sarawaget ranges, from Derim to Nadzab Airport, not above 10,000 ft. GPS recorded track data immediately prior to the last GPS fix showed that the aircraft was on a shallow descent towards the ridge at that time. The aircraft impacted the ridge about 150 metres beyond the last fix.
During the search for the aircraft, what appeared to be the right aileron was found hanging from a tree near the top of the heavily-timbered, densely-vegetated ridge. The remainder of the wreckage was found about 150 m from the aileron along the projected track. The aircraft impacted the ground in a steep nose-down, right wing-low attitude. The majority of the aircraft wreckage was contained at the ground impact point. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces. The pilot, the sole occupant, initially survived. The pilot had made contact with one of the operator’s pilots at 16:15 on 23 December.
Bad weather in the area prevented a recovery until December 26. By that time the pilot had died of his injuries.

Probable Cause:

Causes [Contributing factors]:
Cloud build up along the pilot's chosen route may have forced him to manoeuvre closer than normal to the ridge, in order to avoid flying into the cloud.
The aircraft's right wing struck a tree protruding from the forest canopy during controlled flight into terrain. It is likely that the right aileron mass balance became snagged on the tree and rapidly dislodged the aileron from the wing. The loss of roll control, and the aerodynamic differential, forced the aircraft to descend steeply through the forest and impacted terrain.

Other factor
While not contributing to this accident, the lack of appropriate and effective Search and Rescue capability, and the lack of a Rescue Coordination Centre established, maintained and operated in accordance with ICAO Annex 12 Standards, likely contributed to the delayed rescue.

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: AIC PNG
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 219 days (7 months)
Accident number: AIC 17-1004
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain

Sources:
» looppng.com


Follow-up / safety actions

PNG AIC issued 1 Safety Recommendation

Show all...

Photos

photo of BN-2A-Islander-P2-ISM
accident date: 23-12-2017
type: Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander
registration: P2-ISM
photo of BN-2A-Islander-P2-ISM
Aircraft track and wreckage location
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Derim Airport to Lae-Nadzab Airport as the crow flies is 63 km (39 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
languages: languages

Share

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org