Accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 N383EX,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 328581

Date:	Sunday 17 June 1979
Time:	22:48
Type:	de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300
Owner/operator:	Air New England
Registration:	N383EX
MSN:	245
Year of manufacture:	1969
Total airframe hrs:	17058 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 10
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	2,8 km NE of Hyannis-Barnstable Airport, MA (HYA) - United States of America
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	New York-La Guardia Airport, NY (LGA/KLGA)
Destination airport:	Hyannis-Barnstable Airport, MA (HYA/KHYA)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The flight crew reported for duty at 08:45 in the morning for 12 legs out of Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA. They arrived back at Hyannis at 18:31. The crew then learned they had to fly two additional flights of two legs each (Hyannis-New Bedford-New York v.v.) The captain was visibly upset about this. On the return flight from New York-LaGuardia the crew decided to skip New Bedford because of poor weather there. At 21:32 the flight departed LaGuardia for Hyannis. At 22.39 the crew were given Hyannis weather, which included: indefinite ceiling of 200 feet, sky obscured, visibility 3/4 mile in fog, wind 210 degrees at 10 knots. Five minutes later the aircraft was vectored for a runway 24 ILS approach. The aircraft descended below the glidepath and crashed into a heavily wooded area.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The failure of the flight crew to recognize and react in a timely manner to the gross deviation from acceptable approach parameters, resulting in a continuation of the descent well below the decision height during a precision approach without visual contact with the runway environment.
Although the Board was unable to determine conclusively the reason for the failure to recognize and react to the gross deviation, it is believed that the degraded physiological condition of the captain seriously impaired his performance. Also, the lack of adequate crew coordination practices and procedures contributed to the first officer's failure to detect and react to the situation in a timely manner."

Accident investigation: