You can contribute by submitting additional or updated information.
| Date: | Tuesday 29 September 1998 |
| Time: | c. 07:45 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-8-311 |
| Owner/operator: | British Airways Express, opb Brymon Airways |
| Registration: | G-BRYS |
| MSN: | 296 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1991 |
| Engine model: | P&W Canada PW123 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 52 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Location: | near Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ/EGPD) -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Manchester International Airport (MAN/EGCC) |
| Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ/EGPD) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The crew reported for duty at 0530 hrs to operate a return flight from Manchester to Aberdeen. The
commander was operating as the Pilot Flying (PF) with the first officer as the Pilot Not Flying
(PNF). The 22 year old first officer had 458 hours flying experience on type. It was normal for the
aircraft to be flown, for the most part, with the auto pilot engaged. On this occasion the commander
briefed the first officer that he would probably fly the aircraft manually more than normal as he was
due to carryout a company base check in a weeks time and wanted to practice his manual flying
skills. The aircraft, which was serviceable with no recorded defects in the technical log, departed
'off chocks' at Manchester at 0629 hrs and climbed to its cruising altitude of FL180 without
incident.
The cruise phase of the flight was flown with the auto pilot engaged in ALT HOLD (Altitude Hold)
and L NAV (Lateral Navigation) modes. Aberdeen Runway 34 was in use and so the commander
briefed for a manually flown 'radar vectors to ILS' approach. The current ATIS for Aberdeen gave
the surface wind as calm with few clouds at 200 feet, scattered clouds at 800 feet and broken cloud
at 1,200 feet.
At 0735:30 hrs, during the manually flown descent to FL90 on a radar heading of 050°, the aircraft
was transferred to Aberdeen approach control whereupon the controller instructed the crew to
resume their own navigation for the 'ADN' VOR. The crew, however, requested to route direct to
an 8 mile centre fix position for Runway 34. The controller transmitted "THAT'S APPROVED IT'LL BE
RADAR ADVISORY SERVICE OUTSIDE CONTROLLED AIRSPACE". At this stage the commander
decided to re-engage the autopilot in the L NAV mode. The crew were then given the QNH of 1004
mb and QFE of 997 mb and asked by the controller if they could "SELF ESTABLISH (on the ILS
localiser) AT EIGHT MILES". The crew confirmed the request and at 0743 hrs were cleared to descend
to an altitude of 3,200 feet and asked to reduce speed to 180 kt. Moments later they were cleared to
descend to 2,000 feet and "REPORT LOCALISER ESTABLISHED". At 0745:50 hrs the crew reported
localiser established and were cleared to descend on the ILS and change to the tower frequency.
The next call from the crew was still on the approach frequency when they reported at 4.5 DME.
The approach controller was surprised to hear the aircraft still on his frequency but replied "YOU'VE
COME OFF THE ILS BY THE LOOK OF THINGS YOU'RE TWO MILES TO THE EAST, ARE YOU SHOWING
ESTABLISHED?" The crew replied "NEGATIVE...WE'RE JUST TURNING BACK ON" to which the
controller replied "YOU HAPPY TO CONTINUE THE APPROACH?" The crew confirmed that they were
and were transferred again to the tower frequency.
The crew made contact on the tower frequency at 0746:50 hrs reporting at 3.5 DME. The tower
controller immediately transmitted "...CONFIRM YOU ARE VISUAL". (Coincident with the end of this
transmission was an internal call from the radar controller to the tower controller of "I'VE WARNED
HIM ALREADY!") The crew transmitted 'NEGATIVE' to which the tower controller replied "YOU'RE
CLEARED TO LAND RUNWAY THREE FOUR SURFACE WIND CALM". The crew however immediately
responded by transmitting '...GOING AROUND'. This was acknowledged by the tower controller who
cleared them to climb to an altitude of 3,000 feet and maintain runway heading. At 0748 hrs the
aircraft was transferred back to the radar frequency.
When the aircraft came onto his frequency the radar controller asked if there had been a problem.
The crew explained that they had tried to turn onto the ILS using the Flight Management System
(FMS) but that appeared not to have worked. The controller then instructed the crew to turn right
onto a heading of 080°. The aircraft initially turned to the left before reversing its turn to the right.
The radar controller then asked if they could maintain 3,000 feet. The crew confirmed that they
could but the radar controller re-emphasised 3,000 feet as the cleared altitude. Data recorded on the
Flight Data Recorder (FDR) showed that the aircraft had in fact climbed to 3,800 feet and then
descended to 2,700 feet before eventually levelling at 3,000 feet.
Minutes later the radar controller transmitted "...I ADVISED YOU (during that approach) THAT YOU
SEEMED TO BE GOING AWAY FROM THE ILS YOU SAID YOU WERE TURNING BACK (but) ONCE I'D
PUT YOU BACK TO TOWER YOU APPEARED TO GO EVEN FURTHER AWAY FROM THE ILS". The first
officer replied "WE ACTUALLY RECEIVED SOME GPWS SPURIOUS WARNINGS IT STARTED SHOUTING
TERRAIN TERRAIN AT US.....". The controller responded 'UNDERSTAND THAT I THINK YOU GOT
QUITE CLOSE TO THE MAST PROBABLY."
The remainder of the radar vectored instrument pattern and subsequent ILS and landing were flown
without further incident.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/542304d840f0b61346000d43/dft_avsafety_pdf_500888.pdf
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/8010678 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 15 November 2022 | C-GIAB | Air Inuit | 0 | Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, QC (YQB/CYQB) |  |
min |
| Collision with an animal on the ground | ||||||
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Sep-2025 19:23 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 29-Sep-2025 19:23 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2025 Flight Safety Foundation