ATSB: Preliminary report on the Airnorth Embraer 120 crash at Darwin

by B. N. Sullivan

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has issued a preliminary factual report concerning the crash of an Airnorth EMB-120ER at Darwin, Australia earlier this year. The accident happened as the aircraft (registration VH-ANB) was departing from runway 29 at the Darwin Airport on the morning of March 22, 2010. Both pilots were killed; there were no passengers on board.

The new ATSB report confirms that the accident flight was a training flight. Quoting from the report's abstract:

The training captain advised the aerodrome controller that the departure would incorporate asymmetric flight (simulated engine failure) and was approved by the controller to perform the manoeuvre.

After becoming airborne, witnesses reported seeing the aircraft roll and diverge left from its take-off path. They watched as the aircraft continued rolling left, and entered a steep nose-down attitude. It disappeared into trees south of the runway threshold from where a column of black smoke was seen shortly afterwards.

Aerodrome rescue and fire fighting services were in attendance very shortly thereafter and extinguished the fire. Both pilots were fatally injured and the aircraft was seriously damaged due to impact forces and an intense post-impact fire.

The report says that both the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were located in the aircraft's tail section, and had sustained minor damage.

The CVR's 30-minute recording "covered cockpit preparation, engine start, taxiing and the flight. Prior to departure the crew's conversation included briefing for the simulated engine failure exercise and subsequent training manoeuvre." The FDR "contained 25 hours of aircraft operation covering the accident flight and 15 previous flights."

The CVR and FDR information showed that a simulated left engine failure exercise was conducted during the accident flight. The simulated left engine failure commenced about 1 second after the aircraft became airborne.

Analysis of the CVR and FDR data is ongoing.

The ATSB report noted that the crew consisted of a supervisory pilot/training captain and another captain who was undergoing a check for the renewal of his command instrument rating (CIR). Planned for the training flight were "a number of emergency training manoeuvres, including a simulated engine failure at takeoff, known as a 'V1-cut'."

As a result of the investigation, to date, the ATSB has identified safety issues that "should be addressed by the relevant organisations," including fleet inspection and "the use of aircraft simulators for asymmetric and other high risk training."

Here is the link to the report: ATSB Preliminary - VH-ANB (7-page 'pdf' file)

Earlier posts on AircrewBuzz.com about this accident:

• Fatal training accident for Australia's Airnorth - March 21, 2010
• Update on the Airnorth crash at Darwin - March 23, 2010

[Photo Source]

Update on the Airnorth crash at Darwin

by B. N. Sullivan

There are some new developments regarding the Airnorth Embraer 120 Brasilia that crashed at Darwin, Australia earlier this week. The accident, which happened on the morning of March 22, 2010, claimed the lives of both pilots; there were no passengers on board.

A statement from Airnorth on March 22, 2010 described the accident flight as a "routine training flight." Airnorth said that both pilots were experienced flying this aircraft, and that it had "encountered difficulties on takeoff and crash landed at Darwin Airport."

The following day another media statement was released by Airnorth in which the airline's CEO, Michael Bridge, said, in part:

“What I can say is that the training that was being conducted is a mandated element of our recurrent training program for this type of aircraft.

“Airnorth has world’s best practice training procedures in place and we are always working to enhance them. Accordingly, when Australia’s first EMB 120 simulator came on line mid last year, we immediately began moving through the accreditation process with both the simulator operator and CASA. This is well underway.

“Simulator training allows manoeuvres to be practiced repeatedly and can enhance the training process. A significant amount of Airnorth training is already conducted using flight simulators. Even when Airnorth completes the simulator accreditation process some in-flight training will still be required.

“There is currently no full flight simulation training aid available anywhere in the world for this type of aircraft and as such there will always need to be a component of in-aircraft training."

Although he didn't say so directly, this part of Mr. Bridge's statement may have been in response to reports that the crew were practicing a simulated engine failure at takeoff (EFATO) when the accident occurred. Some in the aviation community believe that this kind of maneuver should be practiced only in a simulator rather than in actual flight. Airnorth reportedly does not train EMB 120 pilots in simulators.

An article on the Web site of the Northern Territory News quotes a man identified as a "senior transport and safety investigator" who said, ""When you're simulating the failure of engines and other parts, you obviously have a greater risk than in normal operations."

A short time ago the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released a statement to the press reporting that they had recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the wreckage of the accident aircraft. The devices have been transported to the ATSB's technical facilities in Canberra for analysis.

The ATSB also released several photos of the accident site, including the one shown on this page. Here is the link to the page on the ATSB's Web site where you can find official information about the Airnorth EMB 120 accident investigation; links to the photos that have been released are near the bottom of that page.

A preliminary factual report about this accident is expected to be issued by the ATSB in about 30 days.

[Photo Source]

Fatal training accident fot Australia's Airnorth

by B. N. Sullivan

An Embraer 120 Brasilia aircraft (registration VH-ANB) operated by Australian regional carrier Airnorth has crashed at Darwin. According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the accident occurred at Darwin Airport, Northern Territory, at 10:10 CST on March 22, 2010. There were no passengers on board the aircraft, but both pilots perished in the accident.

According to an article about the accident published on the Web site of the Northern Territory News:

Police assistant commissioner Mark Payne said the pilots were on a training flight and crashed shortly after take off from the main runway at Darwin airport, which is used by domestic and international flights.

Mr Payne said the two people killed were believed to be experienced pilots who were undergoing routine ongoing training at the time of the crash.

Airnorth operates both scheduled and charter services, and is based in Darwin.

The ATSB is investigating the crash, and will conduct a briefing on known factual aspects of the accident on Mar. 23, 2010.

Condolences to the families and friends of the two crew members who lost their lives in this accident.

[Photo Source]

RELATED: Update on the Airnorth crash at Darwin - Mar. 23, 2010