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| Date: | Friday 6 October 2023 |
| Time: | 16:43 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 |
| Owner/operator: | Manta Air |
| Registration: | 8Q-RAL |
| MSN: | 045 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1967 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 44254 hours |
| Cycles: | 78306 flights |
| Engine model: | Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 8 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Malé-Velana International Airport (MLE/VRMM) -
 Maldives
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Soneva Jani water aerodrome |
| Malé-Velana International Airport (MLE/VRMM) | |
| Investigating agency: | AICC Maldives |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The float-equipped DHC-6-300 Twin Otter suffered a loss of engine power while on final approach to Male, at an altitude of 350 feet. The aircraft made a sudden right turn and the flight crew force landed the aircraft on the water. The aircraft bounced, landed and swung after landing.
Manta Air flight NR2205, a float-equipped DHC-6 Twin Otter, departed Soneva Jani water aerodrome (Medhufaru, Noonu Atoll) on a charter service destined to MLE.
The flight was uneventful until about 350 feet altitude on approach to MLE. The PIC called for full flaps, max propeller rpm and landing checks. Immediately after flaps were fully extended and the propeller levers were selected to the fully forward position, for max rpm, the aircraft reacted violently and yawed to the right, with a right bank. The crew reported that they did lose control of the aircraft initially and felt as if it was entering into a spin.
Flight radar recordings and the ATC Communication recordings indicate the aircraft was at about 350 feet altitude on final course to water runway South Left and the speed was 80 knots at 16:43:43 hours. Just 4 seconds later the aircraft had turned right by about 30 degrees and descended to 300 feet giving a descend rate of 750 per minute with a speed of 66 knots. Even though the aircraft continued to turn right the aircraft descend rate changed to 500 per minute over the next 9 seconds. But by this time the speed had bled to 52 knots. After the initial veering to the right of the approach path, the aircraft was seen making a slow left turn before impacting the water.
The PIC stated that he was unable to even glance at the flight instruments or engine instruments since the aircraft was at a critically low altitude. When the crew regained control of the aircraft, the aircraft had veered to almost 60° to the right, and an imminent crash was feared. The PIC stated that an attempt was made to add power on the LH engine but was unable to move the lever as it was stuck and added that he felt both the power levers were stuck.
The PIC realized that the aircraft was heading towards the red and white painted tanks located on the south end of HulhuMale’ island. At the time the stall warning horn was heard the PIC was attempting to pitch down the aircraft more in a desperate attempt to gain airspeed to avoid the aircraft stalling. At this point the PIC advised the FO to declare MAYDAY.
PIC stated that the idea was to gain maximum air speed and flare up so that the touchdown would be on the water instead of land in front.
The PIC was concerned that the float could become detached on impact, hence attempted to land on both floats thus sharing the impact load equally. The aircraft had a very hard landing on water and bounced; the aircraft remained upright on both the floats. When the aircraft stabilised on water, the crew found the LH power lever had come free and was able to gain partial control of the aircraft.
The crew then shut down the RH engine by retarding the fuel lever thus shutting off the fuel to the RH engine. The aircraft taxied with the assistance of the rescue boat and docked on the fixed platform and the left engine was shut down. The passengers then disembarked through the main airstair door.
Causes / Contributing Factors
The AICC determines that the cause of the serious incident is related to the CSU [Constant Speed Unit] failure due to the separation of clevis from the plunger of the Beta valve assembly
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
AICC
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 31-Oct-2023 13:22 | harro | Added |
| 31-Oct-2023 13:23 | harro | Updated |
| 25-Sep-2024 11:00 | ASN | Updated |
| 19-Sep-2025 12:15 | ASN | Updated [Departure airport, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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