Fairchild Swearingen Metro

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Fairchild Swearingen Metro
OLT Metroliner.jpg

Swearingen Metroliner of Ostfriesische Lufttransport at Bremen Airport

Type: Turboprop aircraft
Design country:

United StatesUnited States United States

Manufacturer:

Fairchild / Swearingen

First flight:

26th August 1969

Commissioning:

1971

Production time:

1969 to 2001

Number of pieces:

1053 (including Merlin)

The Metro (types SA-226 and SA-227 ; also Metroliner , military type number C-26 ; IATA code SWM) is a twin-engine turboprop aircraft produced by the US aircraft manufacturer Swearingen , which was operated from 1969 to 2001 (from 1971 by Fairchild ) in San Antonio was built.

history

The Fairchild Metro was developed in the late 1960s by the American aircraft designer Ed Swearingen in response to the regional flight that was emerging at the time .

In contrast to other contemporary business travel and feeder aircraft, the metro was not designed as a stretched version of a previous version, but was completely redeveloped. The metro's direct predecessor was the Swearingen Merlin II business jet , which was also twin-engined and first flew in 1965. The Merlin was the first aircraft developed independently by Swearingen and combined many technologies of the business aircraft of the time. In contrast to many types of aircraft of this size, the metro was equipped with a pressurized cabin .

Air Chathams's Fairchild Metro

Series production of the Metro, which was successful from the start, began in 1971, and in the same year Swearingen was taken over by Fairchild . The metro was the aircraft with which most of the successful regional airlines in the United States entered the market in the 1970s and 1980s. Among these were z. B. Skywest Airlines , Air Wisconsin , Horizon Airlines , Comair and Wings West , which later became American Eagle Airlines .

In addition to the Metro, Fairchild began marketing a corporate travel version of the Metro called the Merlin IV . Over the years 331 Merlin, 117 Merlin IV and 605 Metro aircraft have been built.

Several improved versions of the Metro have been introduced over the years. In 1975, Fairchild introduced the Metro II , the Metro III followed in 1981. The last metro, the Metro 23 , was introduced in 1991. The production of the Merlin and Metro ended with the delivery of the 1053rd machine on March 28, 2001.

Although the metro is no longer being built, more than 750 Metro and Merlin aircraft were still in service around the world in 2005. After the insolvency of Fairchild Dornier, the operator was taken over by the US company M7 Aerospace .

Interior

Cabin view

The cabin is divided into a passenger and pilot area. The cockpit is only separated by two side partition walls, there is no cockpit door. The passengers can therefore look over the shoulder of the pilot during the entire flight.

The Metroliner offers little comfort for passengers. The inner cabin height is 1.45 meters; a passenger can only get to his seat when bent over. The maximum of 19 seats are arranged in two rows of individual seats. They are narrow, have no armrests and the backrests cannot be adjusted. Due to the low interior height, there are no overhead lockers and hand luggage cannot be stowed under the seats, but is housed in the fuselage of the machine in front of the cockpit. The machine has no service facilities such as a galley. Depending on the equipment variant, there is only a very simple toilet in the rear of the machine.

Since most airlines operate these machines without a flight attendant, there is no or only limited service on board. Before the start of the flight, a pilot distributes a packed lunch with snacks and soft drinks from some operating companies, coffee or tea is available from the thermos. Due to the poor air conditioning and the high level of noise, there were plastic compartments and noise protection in the form of cotton balls in the aircraft of the Bolivian airline Aerocon .

use

Civil users

Merlin IVC from Bin Air, 2003
City-Air metro 23, 2002
Crossair Metro III, 1986
Metro III of Dauair, 2006
Metro III of the European Air Express, 2007

In German-speaking countries , the Fairchild Swearingen Metro and Merlin IV were used by:

Military users

A Metro III of the Swedish Air Force, 1990

Incidents

From 1975 to November 2017 there were 128 total losses with the aircraft types Swearingen Metro and Merlin IV. 256 people were killed in 50 of them. Examples:

  • On February 5, 1987, a Swearingen Merlin IV of the RFG - Regionalflug (D-IEWK) coming from Dortmund was flown well below the prescribed decision height on the approach to Munich-Riem Airport in bad weather . The very late and deep go- around resulted in a belly landing . After sliding around 300 m and after the main landing gear had collapsed, the machine came to a standstill in a snow-covered field a good 150 m from the runway. All 16 occupants survived the total write-off.
  • On February 10, 1990, a Metro II operated by Canadian Perimeter Airlines (C-FGEP) returned to Winnipeg Airport due to several warning displays . One engine was shut down. When the landing gear was extended, a larger part of the left main landing gear fell to the ground. This resulted in a crash landing with a total loss when touching down. All eleven passengers and the two pilots survived.
  • On February 1, 1991, an air traffic controller at Los Angeles International Airport gave the pilot of a Boeing 737-300 of the USAir (N388US) the clearance to land at night , with a Skywest Airlines Metro III (N683AV) , which is in the Waited in the middle of the runway, couldn't see. The two planes collided. All 12 occupants of the metro and 22 people on board the Boeing were killed. In addition to the inadequate lighting of the metro, the cause of the accident was primarily human error on the part of the responsible air traffic controller (see USAir flight 1493 ) .
  • On June 18, 1998, a Propair II Metro II (C-GQAL) crashed on its flight from Montreal to Peterborough , killing all 11 occupants. The cause was overheating of the landing gear brake during take-off, which led to the development of a fire on board with subsequent structural failure and loss of control (see also Propair flight 420 )
  • On February 10, 2011, a Metro III (EC-ITP) of the Manx2 crashed while landing at Cork Airport. 6 of the 12 occupants, including the two pilots, died, the other 6 were injured, some seriously. The aircraft was destroyed (see also Manx2 flight 7100 ) .
  • On November 10, 2013, a Bearskin Airlines (C-FFZN) Metro III crashed from Sioux Lookout to Red Lake (Ontario) while approaching. An engine failure coupled with a malfunction of the propeller adjustment led to a loss of control at low altitude. The accident claimed five deaths; two passengers survived.
  • On April 13, 2015, a Metro II cargo plane operated by Carson Air (C-GSKC) crashed about 7 minutes after taking off from Vancouver Airport, 11 kilometers north of it. Both pilots were killed. It remains unclear why the plane fell into a dive with a rate of descent of up to 30,000 ft / min and broke apart in the process, as there were no functioning flight data recorders on board. According to the accident report, however, it is almost certain that the 34-year-old captain's blood alcohol concentration of 2.5 per mille and his excessive alcoholism played a decisive role (see also Carson Air flight 66 ) .
  • On October 24, 2016, a Fairchild SA-227AT Expediter (N577MX) crashed at 7:20 a.m. (local time) shortly after take-off at Malta Airport . All five occupants of the machine died. The machine was used on behalf of French customs to control the people smuggling route from the Libyan coast to Europe. The machine was registered in the USA and leased to a company in Luxembourg . All victims were French citizens (see also CAE Aviation Flight 77 ) .
  • On December 5, 2016, a Key Lime Air (N765FA) SA227-AC Metro III cargo plane crashed near Camilla , Georgia , killing the pilot on board. Despite the warnings from the air traffic controller, who had suggested an alternative flight route, the pilot had flown into a thunderstorm zone, which led to a loss of control. The structural load limits of the machine were exceeded, which then broke up and fell to the ground (see also Key Lime Air flight 308 ) .

Technical specifications

Parameter SA226-TC Metro II SA227-AC Metro III SA227-PC Metro III SA227-BC Metro III SA227-CC Metro 23 SA227-DC Metro 23
crew 1 to 2
Passengers Max. 19th
length 18.09 m
span 14.10 m
height 5.08 m
Wing area 25.78 m²
payload
Empty mass 3380 kg 4300 kg
Max. Takeoff mass 5700-6350 kg 5715-7031 kg 6577 kg 6577-7257 kg 7484 kg (16,500 lbs )
Max. Landing mass 5700-6350 kg 5443-7031 kg 6350 kg 6350-7031 kg 7110 kg (15,675 lbs)
Climb performance
Engines 2 Garrett TPE331 -3U-303G, -304G, TPE331-3UW-303G- or -304G 2 Garrett TPE331-llU-601G or -611G
or 2 Garrett TPE331-llU-602G or -612G 		2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 A-45R 2 Garrett TPE331 -12UA-701G, -12UAR-701G or -12UHR-701G 2 TPE331-11U-612G 2 Garrett TPE331 -12UA-701G, -12UAR-701G or -12UHR-701G
Continuous output 2 × 626 kW 2 × 746 kW 2 × 676 kW 2 × 746 kW
Top speed 459 km / h (248 kts )
Service ceiling 9449 m 7620 m 9449 m 7620 m
Range

literature

  • Günter Endres (Hrsg.): The big book of the passenger aircraft . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-7276-7129-7 .

Web links

Commons : Fairchild Swearingen Metro  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c John WR Taylor (Ed.): Jane's All The World's Aircraft - 1972-73 , 1972, p. 433
  2. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1978–2007.
  3. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK, 2008-2013.
  4. ↑ Description on navy.mil : fact file
  5. ↑ Accident statistics Swearingen Metro / Merlin IV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 6, 2017.
  6. ^ Accident report Merlin IV D-IEWK , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 25, 2016.
  7. ^ Accident report Metro III D-CABB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 28, 2016.
  8. ^ Accident report Metro II F-GCPG , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 12, 2017.
  9. ^ Accident report Metro II C-FGEP , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 24, 2017.
  10. ^ Accident report B-737-300 N388US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 27, 2017.
  11. ↑ accident report Metro III N683AV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 27 November 2017th
  12. ^ Accident report Metro 23 C-GYYB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 22, 2016.
  13. ^ Accident report Metro III C-FFZN , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 22, 2016.
  14. ^ Aerotelegraph.com , accessed on November 11, 2013
  15. ↑ Flight International, November 14, 2017 (English), p. 12.
  16. ^ Accident report Metro II C-GSKC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ Malta plane crash kills all five French passengers in: The Guardian, October 24, 2016, accessed October 24, 2016
  18. ↑ accident report SA227-AT N577MX , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 28 November 2016th
  19. ↑ FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet A8SW rev. 25th
  20. ↑ FAA TCDS A5SW rev. 29
Transport aircraft (cargo) of the US armed forces since 1962
Sequential designations:

C-1 • C-2 • VC-3 • VC-4 • C-5 • C-6 • C-7 • C-8 • C-9 • KC-10 • C-11 • C-12 • YC- 14 • YC-15 • C-17 • C-18 • C-19 • C-20 (A – E) • C-20 (F – J) • C-21 • C-22 • C-23 • C- 24 • VC-25 • C-26 • C-27 • C-28 • C-29 • C-31 • C-32 • C-33 • UC-35 • C-37 • C-38 • C-39 • C-40 • C-41 • KC-45 • KC-46

Terms used in parallel since 2005:

C-143 • HC-144 • C-145 • C-146

Non-sequential designations:

KC-767 • UC-880