Daily DHC6 at Orchid Island on Apr 13th 2017, runway excursion

Last Update: March 28, 2018 / 15:43:30 GMT/Zulu time

Bookmark this article
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Apr 13, 2017

Classification
Accident

Airline
Daily Air

Flight number
DA-7511

Aircraft Registration
B-55571

ICAO Type Designator
DHC6

A Daily Air de Havilland DHC-6-400, registration B-55571 performing flight DA-7511 from Taitung to Orchid Island (Taiwan) with 17 passengers and 2 crew, landed on Orchid Island's runway 13 at about 16:32L (08:32Z) but veered left off the runway and came to a stop in a drainage ditch with the left hand wing entangled in a fence. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage however.

The airline reported the cause of the accident is yet to be determined, however, wind shear was a possibility. The captain was an experienced pilot with more than 5000 hours of flight experience.

Local firefighters reported they treated 4 passengers after the aircraft went off the runway and impacted a fence, none of the passengers was taken to a hospital.

No Metars are available, the local weather station reported at 14:00L: visibility 10km, winds from north at 10 knots, overcast cloud, 19 degrees C, dew point 17 degrees C, QNH 1016. At 17:00L the weather station reported visibility 10km, winds from north at 8 knots, overcast cloud, 19 degrees C, dew point 17 degrees C, QNH 1016.

On Apr 14th 2017 Taiwan's ASC reported B-55571 landed on runway 13 but exited the runway and collided with a guardrail. There were no injuries, the aircraft received substantial damage. The ASC opened an investigation and have dispatched 7 investigators on site.

On Mar 28th 2018 the ASC released their executive summary of the final report concluding the probable cause of the accident was:

Findings related to probable causes

- The occurrence aircraft performed the final approach in left crosswind and landed with its nose yawing to the left. It was probably affected by the clockwise horizontal wind shear on the runway and pilot's operation, the aircraft began drifting to the left after touching down.

- As the aircraft was drifting to the left, the Captain had used right rudder to correct the deviation, and also pulled the power levers into the reverse range. According to the recorded engine data of torque and (reverse) power of both engines, it revealed that the Captain inadvertently pulled back the left power lever while he was intending to apply the right-turning differential power to assist him in correcting the left drift. It resulted in increasing the left reverse power and intensified the aircraft’s left drifting tendency.

- Though the Captain attempted to get the directional control of aircraft by increasing the right rudder input and the right wheel brake pressure, however he still kept increasing the reverse power of left engine to the maximum, not knowing that he was taking the wrong side.

Consequently, the aircraft veered off the runway, hit the fence and caused aircraft substantial damage.

The investigation further found (amongst others):

- In the final approach and landing phase of the occurrence aircraft, moderate wind shear and approximately moderate turbulence were encountered, but the left crosswind and the tail wind encountered did not exceed the limits of the aircraft.

- There were two events related to aircraft drifting off to the left with both power levers not matched of the occurrence aircraft during landing roll. After the maintenance actions were taken on March 24 2017, the discrepancies were rectified and similar event did not occur again before this occurrence. These two previous mentioned events were not related to the occurrence.

- The occurrence Captain and Daily Air’s DHC-6-400 flight crew were still in the initial stage of accumulating flying experience of the type aircraft. Their experience and familiarity of applying differential power for directional control during landing were still very limited, and that their opinions about timing and willingness on those were also diverse.

- With regard to the issue of applying differential power during landing, Daily Air did not provide detailed guidance on using differential power during landing to flight crew, or specifically instruct and assure them the technique and timing of using it during transition training. Nor did Daily Air request flight crew to study and discuss this issue in relevant technical meetings.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Apr 13, 2017

Classification
Accident

Airline
Daily Air

Flight number
DA-7511

Aircraft Registration
B-55571

ICAO Type Designator
DHC6

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
Article source

You can read 2 more free articles without a subscription.

Subscribe now and continue reading without any limits!

Are you a subscriber? Login
Subscribe

Read unlimited articles and receive our daily update briefing. Gain better insights into what is happening in commercial aviation safety.

Send tip

Support AeroInside by sending a small tip amount.

Related articles

Newest articles

Subscribe today

Are you researching aviation incidents? Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter.

Pick your plan and subscribe

Partner

Blockaviation logo

A new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value. Find out more.

ELITE Logo

ELITE Simulation Solutions is a leading global provider of Flight Simulation Training Devices, IFR training software as well as flight controls and related services. Find out more.

Blue Altitude Logo

Your regulation partner, specialists in aviation safety and compliance; providing training, auditing, and consultancy services. Find out more.

AeroInside Blog
Popular aircraft
Airbus A320
Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737-800 MAX
Popular airlines
American Airlines
United
Delta
Air Canada
Lufthansa
British Airways