Flightline flight 101

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Flightline flight 101
EC-GXJ Flightline Metro 11 CVT 22-01-14 (2) (18274358938) .jpg

A similar machine to the flightline
Accident summary
Accident type Loss of control after a lightning strike
place Mediterranean Sea , 18.5 km northwest of the Columbretes , SpainSpainSpain 
date October 10, 2001
Fatalities 10
Survivors 0
Aircraft
Aircraft type United StatesUnited States Swearingen SA226-AT Merlin IVA
operator SpainSpain Flightline
Mark SpainSpain EC-GDV
Departure airport Barcelona-El Prat Airport , SpainSpainSpain 
Destination airport Oran Es Sénia Airport , AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria 
Passengers 8th
crew 2
Lists of aviation accidents

The Flightline Flight 101 was an international charter flight the flight line from Barcelona-El Prat in Spain to airport Es Senia in Algeria on 10 October 2001, on which a Swearingen SA226-AT Merlin IVA crashed after a lightning strike, which all ten people were killed on board.

plane

The machine was a 1976 built Swearingen SA226-AT Merlin IVA with the factory number AT-043 , which was built in 1976. The machine was initially registered with the US aircraft registration number N5371M , before it was delivered to the South African Air Force , where it was operated with registration number 15 . In June 1983 the machine was sold on and was in operation for a South African operator with the registration number ZS-LID . After that, the machine was still approved in the USA with the registration number N814MM and in France as F-GGAF . Most recently, the flightline took over the machine and approved it with the EC-GDV label . The twin-engine regional transport aircraft was equipped with two turboprop engines of the type Garrett TPE331-10UA-511G equipped. By the time of the accident, the machine had run 11,950 hours.

Crew and passengers

Eight passengers had taken the flight from Barcelona to Oran . The crew consisted of a flight captain and a first officer.

the accident

The machine took off from Barcelona at 10:18 a.m. for a flight under instrument flight rules . The flight was to go across the Mediterranean to Oran in Algeria. The aircraft should first follow the Spanish coast via Valencia and Alicante and then fly over the Mediterranean. Due to a thunderstorm with heavy rain on the planned route, the crew asked permission to swerve to the left in order to move away from the storm. Permission was given, but the pilots still flew into an area with heavy turbulence and rain. The instrument failed, and the electrical energy was probably lost after a lightning strike. The pilots lost control of the machine and the Merlin fell into the sea.

root cause

The accident investigators came to the conclusion that, although the cause of the accident could not be determined, taking into account the circumstances of the accident and the history of similar events with aircraft of the same type, it could be assumed that the likely cause of the accident was a total failure of the electrical systems, which caused by a lightning strike in the middle of a storm. It is possible that the lightning strike caused other damage to the aircraft. The heavy rainfall and turbulence as well as the associated lack of visibility were named as contributing factors.

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