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Colgan Air Flight 9446

Coordinates: 41°37′N 70°15′W / 41.617°N 70.250°W / 41.617; -70.250
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Colgan Air Flight 9446
Wreckage of N240CJ
Accident
DateAugust 26, 2003
SummaryCrashed due to maintenance error and pilot error[1][2]
SiteYarmouth, Massachusetts, United States
41°37′N 70°15′W / 41.617°N 70.250°W / 41.617; -70.250
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBeechcraft 1900D
OperatorColgan Air dba US Airways Express
IATA flight No.9L9446
ICAO flight No.CJC9446
Call signCOLGAN 9446
RegistrationN240CJ
Flight originBarnstable Municipal Airport, Hyannis, Massachusetts
DestinationAlbany International Airport, Albany, New York
Occupants2
Passengers0
Crew2
Fatalities2
Survivors0

Colgan Air Flight 9446 was a repositioning flight operated by Colgan Air for US Airways Express. On August 26, 2003, the Beechcraft 1900D crashed into water 300 feet (91 m) offshore from Yarmouth, Massachusetts, shortly after taking off from Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis.[1] Both pilots were killed.[3][4]

Aircraft and crew

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A Colgan Air Beechcraft 1900D, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident

Flight 9446 was an unscheduled deadhead flight of a Beechcraft 1900D (registration N240CJ[5]).[3][6] The aircraft had just finished receiving maintenance and was being repositioned to Albany, New York to return to revenue service.[1][6] The two occupants of the plane were its pilots, Captain Scott Knabe (39) and First Officer Steven Dean (38).[4][7][8] Captain Knabe had been with Colgan Air for two years and had 2,891 flight hours, including 1,364 hours on the Beechcraft 1900. Dean had been with the airline for less than a year and had 2,489 flight hours, 689 of which were on the Beechcraft 1900.[9]

Accident

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Flight 9446 departed Barnstable Municipal Airport on August 26, 2003, at 15:40 EDT.[2] Shortly after takeoff, the crew declared an emergency and reported a trim problem. The aircraft entered into a left turn and reached an altitude of 1,100 feet (340 m). The pilots requested a return to Barnstable, and air traffic control cleared the flight to land on any runway.[3][4]: 86  The airplane continued its left turn in a nose-up attitude, and then pitched down and crashed into water near the airport.[3]

Investigation and aftermath

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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident.[9]

The NTSB determined that Flight 9446 was the first flight after maintenance personnel had replaced the forward elevator trim cable. The maintenance personnel had skipped a step in the maintenance process. In addition, the aircraft maintenance manual depicted the elevator trim drum backwards.[9][1] As a result, the trim system was configured in a manner that caused the trim wheels in the cockpit to move in the correct direction. However, the actual trim tab (which controlled the flight control surfaces) moved in the opposite direction.[9]

The NTSB also determined that the pilots did not notice the maintenance error because the captain failed to perform a preflight checklist, which included an elevator trim check. The pilots manually set nose-up trim prior to departure. However, because of the improper maintenance, this set the elevator trim to the full nose-down position.[9]

The NTSB determined that it would have taken 250 pounds of force on the control yoke for the pilots to keep the plane airborne, making a safe landing nearly impossible. Investigators programmed a flight simulator with the improper trim settings and made six simulated flights. Five attempts resulted in crashes shortly after takeoff; in one attempt, the simulator pilot could circle for a landing but impacted terrain while attempting to land.[1]

The NTSB published its findings and determination of probable cause on August 31, 2004. The NTSB determined that the probable causes of the accident were the maintenance crew's improper replacement of the forward elevator trim cable and the subsequent inadequate functional check of the maintenance performed. The NTSB also identified the flight crew's failure to follow the checklist procedures and the aircraft manufacturer's erroneous depiction of the elevator trim drum in the maintenance manual as contributing to the accident.[9]

After the NTSB's final report was published, Aero News Network observed that Beechcraft 1900D maintenance manuals were considered accident factors in two previous fatal accidents. However, Raytheon, the owner of Beechcraft, denied blame for the crash of Flight 9446, and a company spokesman said that the accident would not have happened without the Colgan Air maintenance crew's mistakes.[1]

Dramatization

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This accident was featured in season 24 of the Canadian television series Mayday, titled "Pitch Battle".[10]

References

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Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Errors Piled Up To Doom Colgan Cape Cod Flight". aero-news.net. September 2, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Full narrative (Colgan Air Flight 9446)". National Transportation Safety Board. August 31, 2004. NYC03MA183. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Update on NTSB Investigations into Recent Beech 1900D Accidents and Incidents". National Transportation Safety Board. November 21, 2003. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Aircraft Accident Report, Loss of Pitch Control During Takeoff, Air Midwest Flight 5481, Raytheon (Beechcraft) 1900D, N233YV, Charlotte, North Carolina, January 8, 2003 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. NTSB/AAR-04/01. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 17, 2015.
  5. ^ "FAA Registry (N240CJ)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  6. ^ a b Babineck, Mark; Hensel, Bill Jr. (February 13, 2009). "Records show Colgan flights had been fatality free". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  7. ^ Dooley, Emily C. (June 9, 2004). "Fatal Colgan plane had a troubled past". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  8. ^ Pitta, Matt (June 27, 2003). "Bodies Recovered in Cape Cod Plane Crash". AP NEWS. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Aircraft accident report (Colgan Air Flight 9446)". National Transportation Safety Board. August 31, 2004. NYC03MA183. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  10. ^ Daniel (June 11, 2023), Daniel Briere - Captain Knabe, retrieved August 24, 2023

Sources

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External images
image icon Pre-accident picture of aircraft at Airliners.net
image icon Pre-accident picture of aircraft at JetPhotos.com
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