Fairchild Swearingen Metro
Fairchild Swearingen Metro | |
---|---|
Swearingen Metroliner of Ostfriesische Lufttransport at Bremen Airport |
|
Type: | Turboprop aircraft |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
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 .
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
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
In German-speaking countries , the Fairchild Swearingen Metro and Merlin IV were used by:
- Abacus Air
- Air Connect
- Austrian Air Services
- I'm Air
- Charter Air (Austria)
- City-air Germany
- City flight
- CPS - Cargo and Passenger Air Services (Switzerland)
- Crossair
- Dauair
- Delta Air
- DLT German airline company
- German air rescue service
- ESS air carrier
- Euro City Line
- European Air Express (EAE)
- Eurosky Airlines (Austria)
- Eurowings
- FLM Aviation
- HADAG Air
- Hahn Air
- Holstenflug
- Holiday Express
- HW Air, Hössl & Winkler
- LFU Leonhartsberger airline
- Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (LGW)
- Naske Air (Braunschweig flight)
- Northern Air Charter
- Nuremberg Air Service (NFD)
- OLT Ostfriesische Lufttransport
- RAE Regional Air Express
- Ratio flight
- Regio Air (Mecklenburg Air Service)
- RFG - regional flight
- Roland Air Bremen (ROA)
- Salzburg Airlines
- Saxonia Airlines (SAL)
- TAL Thuringia Airlines
- Volkswagen Airservice
- WDL Aviation
Military users
- Argentina
- Australia
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Chile
- El Salvador
- Colombia
- Liberia
- Mexico
- Oman
- Peru
- Sweden
- Seychelles
- South Africa
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Venezuela
- United States : The US armed forces used the military version of this type of aircraft, as the C-26 Metroliner .
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 December 7, 1982, the first officer of a Pioneer Airlines Swearingen SA227-AC Metro III ( aircraft registration number N30093 ) vomited on a regional liner cargo flight during the final approach to Pueblo , Colorado . While trying to help his colleague to prevent suffocation through aspiration of stomach contents , the captain forgot to pay attention to the altitude, whereupon the machine was flown off-road . Both pilots, the only occupants, were killed (see also flight accident of a Swearingen Metro operated by Pioneer Airlines ) .
- 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 January 19, 1988, a Metro III, which operated on behalf of Continental Express on a flight from Denver Airport to Durango , was flown into the ground in a controlled manner on approach for landing near Bayfield , Colorado . Of 17 people on board, 9 died. The flight accident investigation showed that the first officer, who was behind the wheel, was overwhelmed with the demanding approach, while the more experienced captain was severely restricted in his fitness to fly due to cocaine consumption and lack of sleep (see also Trans-Colorado Airlines flight 2286 ) .
- On February 8, 1988, a Metro III of the Nürnberger Flugdienst crashed on a flight from Hanover while approaching Düsseldorf Airport as a result of a lightning strike about 2 km north of Kettwig . All 21 people on board the Metroliner (D-CABB) were killed. So far (November 2017) this was the most serious accident involving a metro (see also Nürnberger Flugdienst flight 108 ) .
- On November 18, 1988, a Metro II of Air Littoral (F-GCPG) sank again shortly after taking off from Montluçon Guéret airfield and hit 600 m behind the runway. The machine caught fire; both pilots and the two passengers were killed. The stick pusher was probably activated incorrectly and pushed the machine down.
- 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 November 5, 1993, a ground crew member at Newark International Airport was killed when she ran into the running propeller blades of a Northwest Airlink Fairchild SA-227C Metro III regional aircraft that was being dispatched for a departure to Boston (see also Northwest Airlink Flight 3724 ) .
- On May 1, 1995, a Bearskin Airlines (C-GYYB) Metro 23 on its flight from Red Lake (Ontario) to Sioux Lookout collided with a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain ( C-GYPZ ) of Air Sandy , which had just started in the opposite direction. All three occupants of the metro and the five of the Navajo were killed (see also aircraft collision at Sioux Lookout ) .
- 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 October 10, 2001, a Merlin IV of the Spanish airline Flightline (EC-GDV) crashed on a charter flight from Barcelona to Oran in Algeria as a result of a lightning strike about 18.5 km northwest of the Columbretes in the Mediterranean Sea . All ten people on board the machine were killed (see also flightline flight 101 ) .
- 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
- m7aerospace.com - M7 Aerospace website
- airliners.net/ data sheet on "airliners.net" (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c John WR Taylor (Ed.): Jane's All The World's Aircraft - 1972-73 , 1972, p. 433
- ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1978–2007.
- ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK, 2008-2013.
- ↑ Description on navy.mil : fact file
- ↑ Accident statistics Swearingen Metro / Merlin IV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 6, 2017.
- ^ Accident report Merlin IV D-IEWK , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 25, 2016.
- ^ Accident report Metro III D-CABB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 28, 2016.
- ^ Accident report Metro II F-GCPG , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 12, 2017.
- ^ Accident report Metro II C-FGEP , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 24, 2017.
- ^ Accident report B-737-300 N388US , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 27, 2017.
- ↑ accident report Metro III N683AV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 27 November 2017th
- ^ Accident report Metro 23 C-GYYB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 22, 2016.
- ^ Accident report Metro III C-FFZN , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 22, 2016.
- ^ Aerotelegraph.com , accessed on November 11, 2013
- ↑ Flight International, November 14, 2017 (English), p. 12.
- ^ Accident report Metro II C-GSKC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 6, 2017.
- ↑ Malta plane crash kills all five French passengers in: The Guardian, October 24, 2016, accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ accident report SA227-AT N577MX , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 28 November 2016th
- ↑ FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet A8SW rev. 25th
- ↑ FAA TCDS A5SW rev. 29