Air Vanuatu Flight 241
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 28 July 2018 |
| Summary | Runway excursion during emergency landing due to pilot error and loss of situational awareness. [1] |
| Site | Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu |
| Total fatalities | 0 |
| Total injuries | 13 |
| Total survivors | 43 |
| First aircraft | |
.jpg) YJ-AV71, the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Type | ATR-72 500 |
| Operator | Air Vanuatu |
| Registration | YJ-AV71 |
| Flight origin | Whitegrass Airport, Tanna Vanuatu |
| Destination | Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu |
| Occupants | 43 |
| Passengers | 39 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 13 |
| Survivors | 43 (all) |
| Second aircraft | |
 YJ-OO9, the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Type | Britten-Norman Islander |
| Operator | Unity Airlines |
| Registration | YJ-OO9 |
| Occupants | 0 |
| Third aircraft | |
| Type | Britten-Norman Islander |
| Operator | Air Taxi |
| Registration | YJ-AL2 |
| Occupants | 0 |
On 28 July 2018, Air Vanuatu Flight 241, operated by ATR-72 registration YJ-AV71 suffered an in-flight engine fire while operating a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Whitegrass Airport, Tanna to Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu. On landing at Port Vila, a runway excursion occurred. The aircraft collided with two Britten-Norman Islanders, writing one off and severely damaging the other. Thirteen of the 43 people on board sustained minor injuries.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the accident were:
- An ATR-72 of Air Vanuatu, registration YJ-AV71.[2] msn 720. The aircraft first flew on 6 June 2005.[3] At the time of the accident, it had accumulated 19,887 hours and 39 minutes flight time.[4]
- A Britten-Norman Islander of Unity Airlines, registration YJ-OO9, msn 65. The aircraft had first flown on 11 April 1969.[2][5]
- A Britten-Norman Islander of Air Taxi, registration YJ-AL2,[2][3] msn 609. It had first flown in 1971.[6]
Flight
Flight 241 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Whitegrass Airport, Tanna to Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila Vanuatu. On 28 July 2018, the ATR-72 operating the flight suffered an engine fire in the right engine, while over the island of Erromango.[3] Smoke and flames were witnessed by passengers, with smoke entering the aircraft's cabin. The engine was shut down and the aircraft continued to Port Vila.[2] The pilots experienced difficulty controlling the aircraft, with uncommanded roll occurring.[4] On landing, the aircraft departed the runway and collided with two Britten-Norman Islander aircraft belonging to Air Taxi and Unity Airlines. The aircraft belonging to Air Taxi was severely damaged, with its vertical stabilizer ripped off.[2] It was damaged beyond repair.[5] The other plane, of Unity Airlines was also damaged beyond repair. Although nobody was injured in the collision, thirteen passengers were treated for smoke inhalation.[2] All four crew and 39 passengers on board evacuated the aircraft without injury. The pilots of the ATR-72 reported that they had no brakes or nose wheel steering, which they gave as the reason for the runway excursion and subsequent collision.[4]
Investigation
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vanuatu asked Papua New Guinea's Accident Investigation Commission to investigate the accident. It released a preliminary report on 10 August. Canada's Transportation Safety Board is assisting the investigation.[4]
See also
- 1968 Heathrow BKS Air Transport Airspeed Ambassador crash, in which an aircraft crash-landed and collided with two parked aircraft.
References
- ^ Air Vanuatu crash report highlights lack of emergency training for pilots and crew
- ^ a b c d e f Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Vanuatu AT72 at Port Vila on Jul 28th 2018, engine fire, runway excursion, collision with 2 other aircraft". Aviation Herald. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ a b c "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Preliminary Report AIC 18-1002" (PDF). Accident Investigation Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- ^ a b "YJ-OO9 hull loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ "YJ-AL2 Non hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2018.