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Juneau, Alaska (AP) – The braking system on a 42-person aircraft that rolled over a runway at an Alaska airport and killed one in 2019 was compromised by improperly wired anti-slip sensors, the National Transportation Safety Board noted Tuesday fixed .
The faulty wiring probably occurred during an overhaul at the chassis manufacturer’s plant in January 2017, but was only discovered after the accident, according to the report.
The system “does not generate an error due to incorrect wiring,” the report said. In addition, the aircraft was not in service from the time of the overhaul until June 2019, the report said. Revenue service refers to the flying of passengers or cargo for money.
The improper configuration “resulted in a tire skidding and bursting and then releasing the brake pressure on two of the three remaining wheels. Investigators found that the loss of effective braking on three of the four main landing gear wheels prevented the flight crew from stopping on the runway, “the agency said in a statement.
“While the aircraft, the pilot, the weather and federal oversight all played a role in this tragedy, it was completely preventable,” said chairwoman of the board, Jennifer L. Homendy, in the statement.
She described factors that the board found that contributed to the accident: “The braking system should have been designed to protect against human error during maintenance, the pilot should not have landed on a runway with such a strong tailwind, and the federal authorities should have taken the runway into account. “Safety area dimensions when approving the airline to fly the Saab 2000 into this airport.”
The Federal Aviation Administration approved the aircraft’s use at the airport without considering whether the runway security area was sufficient for an aircraft of this approach speed and size, the report said.
Flight crew members told investigators they were aware of the aircraft manufacturer’s 15 knot tailwind limit, but they believed the reported wind direction and speed of 24 knots did not warrant a runway change, the report said, naming the decision “Inappropriate”.
Before landing, the crew learned of winds at 24 knots, the report said. Investigators after the accident calculated the tailwind on landing at 15 knots, the report said.
The report says the aircraft was operated by Peninsula Aviation Services Inc., which is calling it PenAir. PenAir had designated the airport in the fishing community of Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands as an airport that required special qualifications for pilots in charge due to the surrounding area “and the complex approach and departure procedures”, according to the report.
It said, however, that the company allowed the captain of the flight involved in the accident to fly at the airport “without the experience required by company policy” and that the captain “may not fully understand the challenges of landing the aircraft at that airport ” have.
The flight was operated by a subsidiary of Ravn Air Group, which bought PenAir’s name and assets in 2018 after PenAir filed for bankruptcy, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The Ravn Air Group filed for bankruptcy last year, and a new company called Ravn Alaska was born, the newspaper reported.
“Although Ravn Alaska is a different company, we have generated great interest in this NTSB report and we agree with the results,” said company CEO Rob McKinney in an email to The Associated Press. “Our new Ravn deliberately uses aircraft with larger safety margins, especially for this runway. Ensuring a safe journey for our passengers, crews and communities is a top priority. “
The NTSB report said, among other things, that the FAA’s oversight of PenAir in the two years leading up to the accident was insufficient to identify safety risks arising from things like bankruptcy and the loss of experienced pilots. A message was sent to an FAA spokesman for a comment.
NTSB has also made several recommendations to the FAA. The agency said in a statement it was taking the NTSB’s recommendations seriously and would provide preliminary responses to them within 90 days.
Saab said in a statement that it “contributed to the investigation by advising the Swedish Accident Investigation Board (SHK) and will continue to assist the NTSB with the investigation”.
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https://www.kxan.com/news/national-news/ntsb-brake-system-issue-probable-cause-in-2019-plane-crash/
