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| Date: | Thursday 15 August 2024 |
| Time: | 07:57 |
| Type: |  Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 |
| Owner/operator: | Skippers Aviation |
| Registration: | VH-WBQ |
| MSN: | DC-884B |
| Year of manufacture: | 1996 |
| Engine model: | Garrett TPE331-12 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 14 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | 27 km ENE of Perth, WA -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Perth Airport, WA (PER/YPPH) |
| Bronzewing Airport, WA (YBWG) | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Skippers Aviation flight PY5003, a Metro 23, was climbing after departure from Perth (PER) when hot air and smoke were observed emanating from the cockpit ventilation system.
As the smoke quickly increased, the crew commenced actioning the ‘smoke in aircraft’ checklist but required items of the checklist were not completed – the first officer did not don an oxygen mask due to difficulty with its usage, and the left bleed air system was not selected ‘off’. Instead, the crew commenced preparations for a return to Perth and subsequently, the left wing overheat light illuminated. The crew then actioned the ‘wheel well and wing overheat’ checklist and selected the left bleed air system ‘off’, which stopped the smoke ingress into the cabin, but elected not to complete the required action of extending the landing gear.
During the return to Perth, the aircraft deviated both above and below the altitude assigned by air traffic control including a descent to 639 ft below the lowest safe altitude. The crew then completed the ILS approach and landed without further incident. The aircraft was not damaged, and there were no crew or passenger injuries.
Contributing factors
• A failure within the left air cycle machine resulted in hot engine bleed air and smoke entering the cabin soon after take-off. In response, the crew elected to return to Perth.
• After commencing the ‘smoke in aircraft’ checklist memory items, the quick reference handbook checklist was not completed, and the left engine bleed air system was not selected off. As a result, during the return, the left air conditioning duct overheated, and the wing overheat light illuminated.
• The workload associated with the in-flight response to the smoke in the aircraft and wing overheat indication adversely affected the flight crew's performance, leading to errors in flight path adherence, checklist completion and decision-making.
• On several occasions during the return to Perth Airport, the aircraft deviated above and below the assigned and lowest safe altitude. These deviations included a descent to 639 ft below the lowest safe altitude.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
ATSB
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 22 August 2012 | VH-WBQ | 0 | Granny Smith Airport (YGRS), Laverton, WA | |
min |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Aug-2024 08:02 | ASN | Added |
| 16-Aug-2024 08:09 | ASN | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, ] |
| 05-Sep-2024 07:50 | ASN | Updated |
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