Air Vanuatu Flight 241

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Air Vanuatu Flight 241
Accident
Date28 July 2018 (2018-07-28)
SummaryRunway excursion during emergency landing due to pilot error and loss of situational awareness. [1]
SiteBauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu
Total fatalities0
Total injuries13
Total survivors43
First aircraft
Photograph of the aircraft involved in the accident.
YJ-AV71, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in March 2015.
TypeATR-72 500
OperatorAir Vanuatu
RegistrationYJ-AV71
Flight originWhitegrass Airport, Tanna Vanuatu
DestinationBauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu
Occupants43
Passengers39
Crew4
Fatalities0
Injuries13
Survivors43 (all)
Second aircraft
Photograph of the Unity Airlines Britten-Norman Islander aircraft involved in the accident
YJ-OO9, the aircraft involved, photographed in June 2009
TypeBritten-Norman Islander
OperatorUnity Airlines
RegistrationYJ-OO9
Occupants0
Third aircraft
TypeBritten-Norman Islander
OperatorAir Taxi
RegistrationYJ-AL2
Occupants0
[Interactive fullscreen map]

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 accident aircraft 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[]

References[]

  1. ^ Air Vanuatu crash report highlights lack of emergency training for pilots and crew
  2. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  4. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "YJ-OO9 hull loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  6. ^ "YJ-AL2 Non hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
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