Manx Metroliner crash at Cork Airport

[Frank]

A Manx Metroliner crashed at Cork Airport this morning, 10 passengers and 2 crew on board of which there were 6 fatalities. More info here:

http://www.rte.ie/news/

[thurian]

Absolutely terrible news, heartfelt condolences to all the families affected.

[corkspotter]

Terrible tragedy,

Thoughts are with the crew and passengers who didn't survive, may they rest in peace. lets hope for the best for the survivors and may they make a full recovery.

Regards,

Paul

[Ascot 1960]

Date: 10-FEB-2011
Time: 9:45
Type: Swearingen SA-227BC Metro III
Operator: Flightline, opf Manx2
Registration: EC-ITP
C/n / msn: BC-789B
Fatalities: Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 12
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location: Cork Airport (ORK/EICK) -    Ireland 
Phase: Landing
Nature: International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: Belfast City
Destination airport: Cork
Narrative:
Flightline Flight FLT400C, operating on behalf of Manx2, with ten passengers and two crew has crashed at Cork Airport. No details of injuries or fatalities are available.
The aircraft made an approach to Runway 17 in low vis conditions (Category 2) and went around and did not land and attempted a second landing on Runway 35. The aircraft then went around a second time and came back for an approach to Runway 17. On the second approach to Runway 17 the aircraft crashed adjacent to Taxiway C. Rescue and Fire crew are in attendance. There is a fire and debris has been scattered onto the runway and over a wide area.
The airplane came to rest upside down next to the runway.


Weather about the time of the accident ( ca 09:45 UTC):
EICK 100900Z 06003KT 0300 R17/0325N R35/0450N FG SCT001 03/03 Q1010 BECMG 3000=
EICK 100930Z 08005KT 050V110 0300 R17/0375N R35/0350N FG BKN001 04/04 Q1010
NOSIG=
EICK 101000Z 09008KT 0400 R17/0600N R35/0450N FG BKN001 05/05 Q1010 NOSIG=

[thurian]

I think we can safely say the weather conditions were a major factor in causing the crash. Was the aircraft a significant factor in the survival rate of the people on board? Pure speculation (human nature I guess) but would this crash have been more/less survivable in say an ATR or a Dash 8 etc.

Below are some accidents involving the basic aircraft type, you would have thought the survival rates would have been better?

On 12 June 1980 a Metro II operating as Air Wisconsin Flight 965 suffered engine failure following massive water ingestion during a thunderstorm; the crew lost control and crashed near Valley, Nebraska. Both crew members and 11 passengers died, two passengers survived with serious injuries.[21]

A Fairchild Metro III operating as Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 under the Continental Express brand, crashed near Bayfield, Colorado on January 19, 1988. Both crew members and seven of the 15 passengers died. Of the surviving passengers only one received no injuries.[22]

Skylink Airlines Flight 070, On September 26, 1989, a Fairchild Metro III was on a scheduled flight from Vancouver(YVR) to Terrace (YXT), British Columbia with two pilots and five passengers on board. The aircraft crashed one quarter mile to the west of Terrace Airport while the crew was attempting to carry out a missed approach in IFR conditions. The aircraft was destroyed by the impact and a post-crash fire. All seven occupants were fatally injured in the crash.

# Propair Flight 420, a Metro II flying from Dorval International Airport (now Montreal-Trudeau International Airport) to Peterborough Airport in Peterborough, Ontario on June 18, 1998, experienced a wing/engine fire during the initial climb. It attempted an emergency landing at Mirabel, but crashed near the runway threshold, in part due to a landing gear failure. The two pilots and the nine passengers on board were killed.[25]

A Transair Metro 23 crashed near Lockhart River, north of Cooktown, Queensland in Australia on May 7, 2005. A total of 15 people died in what is, as of December 2009, the worst airline crash in Australia since the 1960s.

[Ascot 1960]

The Manx Mettroliner in better times
   http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1174889/

[Ascot 1960]

EC-ITP Aircraft history
OCT 1991   N3003T   Fairchild Aircraft   registered
SEP 1992   XA-SES   Aéromexico   delivered
SEP 1992   XA-SES   Aerolitoral   leased
SEP 2003   ZS-PDW   Norse Air Charter   
22 JAN 2004   EC-ITP   Top Fly   registered
21 MAY 2004   EC-ITP   Top Fly   Incident at Palma de Mallorca when it ran off the runway
MAY 2008   EC-ITP   Líneas Aéreas de Andalucía (op. by Euro Continental Air)    
MAY 2008   EC-ITP   Manx2   leased
NOV 2009   EC-ITP   Ibertour Servicios Aéreos   leased
2011   EC-ITP   Manx2   Leased


EC-ITP Incident at Palma De Mallorca May 2004
Top Fly flight ARL-502, a Swearingen SA-227BC Metro III, registration EC-ITP, was preparing to start its takeoff run at Palma de Mallorca Airport, en route to Ibiza, in the early morning hours of 21 May 2004, at 04:52 UTC. It was a cargo flight and aboard the aircraft was a crew of two pilots and a third occupant, also a pilot for the company. The copilot, seated in the right-hand seat, was the pilot flying.
Once authorized by the TWR to take off on runway 06R, the aircraft started its run by accelerating normally under takeoff power and using the Nose Wheel Steering (NWS) system, which the copilot engaged by pushing the system's activation button on the left side of the power lever for the No.1 engine. As the aircraft accelerated, the pilot called out going through 60 kts, meaning they had developed enough IAS for directional control. The copilot released the activation button for the steering system, shortly after which the aircraft started veering toward the right edge of the runway without the crew noticing any power or system fail ure. The copilot pushed hard on the left rudder pedal but the aircraft did not change course. He warned that he was losing control. The captain took the controls and initiated a rejected takeoff. He engaged reverse thrust but was unable to keep the aircraft from leaving the paved surface to the right with a speed of some 90 kt and at an angle of about 120 with respect to the runway. The aircraft veered and skidded on the runway shoulder, turning almost completely around before coming to a stop on a bearing of 220 degrees at a point 135 m away from the runway 06R centerline and some 950 m away from the brake release point.
The crew stopped the engines and feathered the propellers. They exited the aircraft and verified there was no fire, noting only minor damage to the landing gear and to one propeller blade. Damage to the airport infrastructure was limited to a struck runway light and a lifted drain system cover.

Causes:
The aircraft departed the runway most likely as the result of an uncommanded turn of the nose wheels to the right and their subsequent locking in place.
The fault mechanism, whether mechanical, electrical or hydraulic, which led to the possible malfunction of the NWS system has not been determined.
A contributing factor was the fact that the aircraft was being operated with the NWS system activated despite an Airworthiness Directive prohibiting its use in the aircraft due to its modified state.
Given the average reaction times to the sudden emergency, the crew's actions to correct the aircraft's deviation did not manage to keep the aircraft from departing the right side of the runway.