West Caribbean Airways Flight 708
| West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The crashed machine 20 days before the accident |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Loss of control due to stall |
| place | near Machiques , Venezuela |
| date | August 16, 2005 |
| Fatalities | 160 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 |
| operator | West Caribbean Airways |
| Mark | HK-4374X |
| Departure airport | Panama Airport |
| Destination airport | Martinique Airport |
| Passengers | 152 |
| crew | 8th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On August 16, 2005, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 crashed on West Caribbean Airways flight 708 from Panama City to Martinique via Venezuela near Machiques . None of the 160 inmates survived. It was the worst plane crash in Venezuela's history by then .
After the crash and the results of the cause of the accident, West Caribbean Airways permanently ceased operations. The airline filed for bankruptcy and was wound up.
plane
The plane was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82 (MD-82) with the air vehicle registration number HK-4374X, with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D equipped -217A and had its first flight on September 11 1986th
crew
The captain on this flight was the 40-year-old Omar Ospina, and the first officer of the 21-year-old David Munoz, both Colombians.
course
Left time in Panama / Colombia . Right time of Venezuela .
At 1:00 PM / 2: 00 launched the plane from the airport Panama towards the airport Martinique . It rose to its cruise altitude of 31,000 feet (9450 m) in the first 25 minutes of flight . Sixteen minutes later, at 1:41 p.m. / 2:41 p.m., it rose to 33,000 ft (10,060 m). From 1:49 a.m. / 2:49 a.m., the speed began to steadily decrease. The horizontal stabilizer was adjusted from 2 ° to 4 ° due to the reduction in speed by the autopilot. At 1: 51/2: 51 the pilots reported that they were over waypoint SIDOS and the Colombian-Venezuelan border and requested a direct course to waypoint ONGAL. The air traffic controller instructed the pilots to maintain the current course and wait for clearance. Meanwhile, they discussed the weather conditions and whether they had to switch on the de-icing system . At 1:57 a.m. / 2:57 a.m., the pilots asked for permission to descend to 31,000 ft (9450 m), which was then given. The autopilot was deactivated and the aircraft began to descend . As it descended below 31,500 ft (9600 m), the speed began to decrease further and the engine pressure ratio dropped to idle. Two minutes later, another descent to 29,000 ft (8,840 m) was requested, but the air traffic controller in Maiquetía did not understand that this was coming from the pilots of the West Caribbean Airways plane and asked who was calling. The pilots replied and immediately requested a descent to 24,000 ft (7,315 m). The air traffic controller asked about the situation in the aircraft, to which the pilots replied that both engines had suffered a stall . The air traffic controller cleared the descent at the pilots' discretion. Meanwhile sounded the warning level and the acoustic stall warning and stick shaker started to shake. The speed reached a minimum of 150 knots (280 km / h ) at an altitude of 25,000 ft (7620 m ). Shortly thereafter, the pilots reported a drop below 14,000 ft (4,280 m) and that their aircraft was out of control. It was sinking at a rate of 7,000 ft (2,130 m) per minute and hit a total of 3 minutes and 30 seconds after the start of the descent from 33,000 ft (10,060 m).
The crew was aware of the situation unaware and did not recognize that a stall was present. She wasn't trained enough for this case either.
Cause of accident
The investigations revealed that the activated de-icing system of the aircraft had caused a reduction in the thrust of the engines during the used flight altitude of 33,000 ft. The pilots had switched off the system in the meantime and later decided to use it again at flight altitude. Despite the wet, cold, stormy weather, there was no ice formation on the wings. The reduced thrust can affect the performance of the aircraft depending on weight and altitude. With the de-icing system switched off, the aircraft could fly at this altitude without any problems. With de-icing switched on, it could fly a maximum of 31,900 ft. The altitude was too high for weight and weather. It was later assumed that the captain's calculations for flight altitude were made without the de-icing system. The loss of power in the engines went unnoticed by both pilots, as they had switched on the autopilot at the time. In a message from the aircraft manufacturer, the pilots are requested to constantly observe the speed display from certain flight altitudes. This notification was more than 3 years old, but it never reached the pilots. The activated autopilot tried to maintain altitude, but the speed decreased, whereupon the autopilot increased the angle of attack of the aircraft nose further so as not to decrease. If a certain angle is exceeded, the flow stops. The pilot noticed the problem and lowered the altitude. The machine continued to fly too slowly and at too steep an angle of attack. Caused by the capricious storms through which the aircraft was currently flying, it is assumed that another gust of wind lifted the aircraft's bow just so far forward that it came to another stall. The MD-82 soon stalled, to which the pilots reacted incorrectly. The captain suspected a so-called flame stall in both engines, because in a short moment the engine performance actually decreased due to the aircraft situation. The master and co-pilot did not take any concrete measures due to a lack of communication, since the master was only busy with the engines, the co-pilot nevertheless pointed out the stall to his master, but he did not react. The captain pulled his stick toward him instead of forward. At the same time, they had to communicate with the Venezuelan air traffic control about the flight situation and situation, since at the time they had no radar system and therefore relied on the information from the pilots. The plane had no more lift and crashed.
A possible mental pressure on the pilots was suspected as a further cause. Due to the airline's lack of financial resources, the pilots had not received a salary for several months and were sometimes dependent on second jobs. Missing or inadequate pilot training in the event of a stall as well as presumably poor assertiveness of the co-pilot against his flight captain "round off" the course of the accident.
Media presentation
In the Canadian documentary series Mayday - Alarm im Cockpit , the plane crash in season 11, episode 2, entitled Too high, was presented analytically and chronologically.
swell
- Accident report DC-9-82 HK-4374X , Aviation Safety Network
- JIAAC accident report ( and here the English translation )
- Newspaper article with pictures of the crash site and with the passenger list
Individual evidence
- ↑ ACCIDENTE DEL HK-4374X, MD-80
- ↑ see section 1.51 Piloto al Mando (Capitan)
- ↑ Mayday - Alarm in the cockpit: Season 11, episode 2; Title: Aiming too high
Coordinates: 9 ° 39 ′ 59 " N , 72 ° 36 ′ 40" W.