Nightexpress flight 114
| Nightexpress flight 114 | |
|---|---|
 A Beechcraft Model 99 from Nightexpress |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Loss of control after engine failure |
| place | near Seraing , Belgium
|
| date | June 30, 1999 |
| Fatalities | 2 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
 Beechcraft 99
|
| operator |
 Nightexpress
|
| Mark |
D-IBEX
|
| Departure airport |
London Luton Airport , United Kingdom
|
| Destination airport |
Frankfurt Airport , Germany
|
| Passengers | 0 |
| crew | 2 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
The Nightexpress flight 114 was a cargo flight of the German airline Nightexpress from London-Luton Airport to Frankfurt am Main Airport . On June 30, 1999, a Beechcraft 99 freighter crashed on this flight near Seraing in Belgium , killing the two pilots on board. The investigation attributed the accident to an engine failure as a result of maintenance errors.
plane
The affected machine was a Beechcraft 99. The machine was finally assembled in 1968 and had the factory number U-45. The Nightexpress last operated with the aircraft registration D-IBEX . The twin-engine regional airliner, which was designed for flights at comparatively low altitudes due to the lack of a pressurized cabin , was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-20 turboprop engines .
Purpose of flight and occupants
A cargo flight was carried out with the machine that day. There were two crew members and 733 kg of cargo on board the aircraft.
Course of the flight and course of the accident
The machine took off at 01:25 UTC on a cargo flight from Luton to Frankfurt / Main. The flight was conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR) at an altitude of 11,000 feet (FL 110). A few minutes later another cargo aircraft of the same company and type took off. At around 02:29 UTC, the crew of the D-IBEX informed the crew of the other aircraft on the operator's frequency that they had observed flames emanating from the right engine nozzle. You have turned off the engine and continue to fly to the destination airport.
At 02:30:40 UTC, the crew reported to the Belgian air traffic control center in Brussels that they had problems with the right engine and therefore had to reduce speed. Shortly thereafter (02:32:10 UTC) the crew requested clearance to descend to FL 90. This was granted by air traffic control in connection with the approval of a direct approach to Frankfurt / Main.
The crew then informed the pilots of the other machine that the second engine had just failed. The pilot flying this machine advised the D-IBEX pilots to request radar vectors for the nearest airfield in Liège . Since the crew of the D-IBEX had not informed the air traffic control by radio about the situation that had occurred, the pilot flying of the second machine turned to air traffic control using the urgency signal (PAN PAN) and informed the air traffic control that the other one Company aircraft had problems with the second engine. Immediately afterwards, at 02:34:00 UTC, the D-IBEX crew reported and asked air traffic control for a radar guide to the nearest airfield. She announced that both engines were no longer running. The crew was instructed to fly on a course of 060 degrees and after about 40 seconds the clearance to descend to flight level FL 60 was given. Then the pilots changed the frequency to approach control in Brussels.
Approach control instructed the crew to hold their course and continue to descend. It also announced that runway 23L in Liège was operational. At 02:38:10 UTC, approach control asked the crew to hold it after they had reached an altitude of 4000 feet. The pilots explained that this was not possible because of the failed engines and asked for the vectors for a direct approach to the airfield. The direct course was 320 ° and the machine then turned on that course. At 02:40:40 UTC, the crew inquired whether the runway was clear. The air traffic controller confirmed this, adding that the pilots could use any runway in the airport. The crew then reported their altitude of 1,700 feet and asked for the distance to the airfield. The air traffic controller stated the distance as five nautical miles , but there was no further answer from the crew. Shortly afterwards, the plane disappeared from the radar screen of the control point. The machine crashed about five nautical miles southeast of the airfield and a few hundred meters from a residential area in a forest and burned out completely. Both pilots were killed.
Accident investigation
The aircraft accident investigation showed that the accident occurred after both engines failed. The investigations on the engines showed that maintenance deficiencies caused the failures. In addition, the crew did not adhere to the Nightexpress operating rules and misunderstandings between air traffic control and the aircraft's pilots had arisen. Contributing factors were the time of the accident and the lighting conditions, since the crash occurred at night.