South African Airlink Flight 8911
ZS-NRM, the South African Airlink BAe Jetstream 41 involved in the accident.
Accident
Date24 September 2009
SummaryEngine failure leading to pilot error; shut-down of operating engine
SiteDurban International Airport, Durban, South Africa
29°57′18″S 30°58′14″E / 29.95500°S 30.97056°E / -29.95500; 30.97056 (South African Airlink Flight 8911)
Total fatalities1
Total injuries3
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBAe Jetstream 41
OperatorSouth African Airlink
IATA flight No.SA8911
ICAO flight No.LNK911
Call signLINK 911
RegistrationZS-NRM
Flight originDurban International Airport
DestinationPietermaritzburg Airport
Passengers0
Crew3
Fatalities1
Injuries2
Survivors2
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities0
Ground injuries1

South African Airlink Flight 8911 was a positioning flight from Durban International Airport to Pietermaritzburg Airport, South Africa, that crashed into the grounds of Merebank Secondary School, Durban shortly after take-off on 24 September 2009, injuring the three occupants of the aircraft and one on the ground. The captain of the flight subsequently died of his injuries on 7 October 2009.

Flight

The flight was a positioning flight (ferry flight) from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, carrying no passengers.[1] The three crew members consisted of captain Allister Freeman, first officer Sonja Bierman, and a flight attendant.[1] Captain Freeman had previously been involved in an accident in which the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander he was flying experienced an engine failure and crashed into a house in Durban. All six people on board survived.[2][3][4]

The aircraft, a BAe Jetstream 41 with registration ZS-NRM, had only flown 50 hours since its last service.[5] The aircraft had been diverted to Durban from Pietermaritzburg the previous evening by bad weather.[6]

Crash

At around 8:00 a.m. local time (06:00 UTC) on 24 September 2009, the flight departed Durban International Airport. Shortly after takeoff, the crew reported loss of engine power and smoke from the rear of the aircraft, and declared an emergency.[7] Witnesses reported the aircraft flying at an unusually low altitude, and that the pilot was attempting to ditch the aircraft in vacant land surrounding Merebank Secondary School approximately 400 metres (440 yd) from the threshold of Runway 24 at Durban International Airport.[1][8][9] The school was closed on the day of the accident because it was Heritage Day, a public holiday. The pilot ditched the aircraft on the sports field of the school, avoiding hitting nearby residential properties;[8] the aircraft broke into three pieces on impact.[1][7]

Rescue

Rescue workers arrived on the scene shortly after the crash and cut the three crew members out of the wreckage using hydraulic rescue tools. The captain was airlifted to St. Augustine's Hospital at 11:00 a.m. local time (09:00 UTC) in a critical condition; the critically injured first officer and seriously injured flight attendant were taken to other nearby hospitals. A street cleaner on the school's perimeter was struck by the plane and was taken to hospital.[1][7][9] The captain died of his injuries on 7 October 2009.[10]

Investigation

Investigators from the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were dispatched to the crash scene; the CAA conducted an on-site investigation to determine the possible cause of the crash.[1][7] The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were retrieved and used in the investigation.[1] British Aerospace, the manufacturer of the aircraft, dispatched a team of technical experts to assist in the investigation should they have been required by the CAA.[1]

On 9 October 2009, the CAA issued a press release requesting the public's assistance in finding a bearing cap from one of the engines. The cap, which possibly separated from the engine during takeoff, could not be found at the crash site or at the airport.[11]

On 23 December 2009, the CAA issued the following press release : "In the case of the FADN (Merebank) accident the initial cause appears to be that of an engine failure during take-off which finally resulted in an accident when the human factor involvement resulted in the wrong engine being shut down. This type of engine failure has occurred previously and the cause is known to the manufacturer."[12]

In 2011, the CAA released their final report on the accident.[13] The right engine had failed at rotation due to its turbine seal plate separating and the crew mishandled the situation; first officer Bierman did correctly identify the right engine, but captain Freeman accidentally feathered the still-functioning left engine, making a forced landing "inevitable."[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Durban plane crash investigated". News24. 22 August 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "ACCIDENT REPORT – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY" (PDF). South African Civil Aviation Authority. CA18/2/3/8003. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Jetstream aircraft 4100 ZS-NRM: Loss of control after engine failure and misidentified engine shutdown after take-off from Durban Airport, South Africa, on 24 September 2009" (PDF). South African Civil Aviation Authority. 4 October 2011. CA18/2/3/8692. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  4. ↑ da Costa, Wendy; Eliseev, Alex (25 September 2009). "Plane had a clean bill of health". IOL. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  5. ↑ "CAA trying to piece together plane crash". News24. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 28 September 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Crash plane declared emergency". IOL. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Pilot needs to be commended: witness". IOL. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  8. 1 2 "It looked like the plane slid over one man". IOL. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  9. ↑ "Airlink pilot dies". IOL. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  10. ↑ "CAA desperate to recover bearing cap of crashed SA-Airlink plane". SABC. 9 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  11. ↑ "SACAA – South African Civil Aviation Authority". South African Civil Aviation Authority. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Hradecky, Simon (4 October 2011) [2009-09-24]. "Accident: SA Airlink JS41 at Durban on Sep 24th 2009, lost height after takeoff and impacted school fence". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
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