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| Date: | Monday 12 August 2024 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Fairchild SA227-DC Metro 23 |
| Owner/operator: | Skippers Aviation |
| Registration: | VH-WAJ |
| MSN: | DC-876B |
| Year of manufacture: | 1995 |
| Engine model: | Garrett Turbineo TPE331-12 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | 52.8 km E of Perth, WA -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Forrestania Airport, WA (YFTA) |
| Perth Airport, WA (PER/YPPH) | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Skippers Aviation flight PY6002, a Metro 23, experienced a complete loss of pressure in the aircraft’s hydraulic system during a flight to Perth, WA (PER).
The crew coordinated with air traffic control for a holding pattern to allow for time to troubleshoot the failure and prepare for an appropriate approach and flapless landing. Ground inspection vehicles were requested to ascertain post-landing if fluid was visibly leaking onto the runway and a tow vehicle was requested to recover the aircraft after landing.
After successfully landing and stopping on the taxiway, the captain was unable to establish contact with the tow vehicle and then decided to continue to taxi to the operator’s apron. As the aircraft approached the operator’s apron, a slight downhill slope caused an increase in speed. However, when the crew applied the brakes, they were ineffective. In an effort to avoid collision with a hangar, the captain applied reverse thrust. However the aircraft continued to roll forward, the captain shut down the engines and feathered the propellors before impacting the hangar. The aircraft sustained damage to the right-side wingtip and propellor, there were no injuries to crew or passengers.
Contributing factors
• A crack in a hydraulic line in flight resulted in a loss of hydraulic pressure and required the crew to manage the emergency.
• Following the hydraulic system failure, the captain was required to take-on both the pilot flying and pilot monitoring roles. This reduced the ability to effectively manage the emergency.
• The first officer's inexperience limited their ability to contribute to managing the hydraulic system failure. This negatively impacted crew resource management and increased the captain's workload
• After stopping on the taxiway, the captain mistakenly assumed the brakes were functioning. Unable to locate or contact the tow tug and influenced by self-imposed pressure, continued the taxi to the apron. Approaching a hangar, the crew applied the brakes, but they were ineffective and resulted in the right wingtip and propellor colliding with the hangar.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
ATSB
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 27 November 1996 | VH-WAJ | Skippers Aviation | 0 | Bronzewing Airport, WA | |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Aug-2024 08:16 | ASN | Added |
| 16-Aug-2024 08:18 | ASN | Updated [Departure airport, Narrative, ] |
| 21-Feb-2025 09:13 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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