ASN Aircraft accident Britten-Norman BN-2B-26 Islander B-68801 Jhuosi, Hualien County
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Thursday 30 August 2012
Time:09:15
Type:Silhouette image of generic BN2P model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Britten-Norman BN-2B-26 Islander
Operator:Dapeng Airlines
Registration: B-68801
MSN: 2255
First flight: 1991
Total airframe hrs:4909
Cycles:2426
Engines: 2 Lycoming O-540-E4C5
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:20 km (12.5 mls) SW of Jhuosi, Hualien County (   Taiwan)
Crash site elevation: 2916 m (9567 feet) amsl
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Survey/research
Departure airport:Taipei-Songshan Airport (TSA/RCSS), Taiwan
Destination airport:Taitung Airport (TTT/RCFN), Taiwan
Narrative:
A Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander plane was damaged beyond repair in a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accident in Hualien County, Taiwan. All three crew members were killed.
The aircraft was contracted to perform an aerial photogrammetry mission with a captain, a first officer and an aerial photographer on board.
The aircraft took off at 07:26 from Taipei-Song Shan Airport on an instrument departure. The planned mission was to conduct an aerial photogrammetry flight in the Hualien and Taitung area, and proceed to Taitung Airport for landing.
Eighteen minutes after takeoff the instrument flight plan was cancelled and the flight proceeded according to visual flight rules (VFR).
At 08:27, the aircraft entered the Hualien County aerial photograph area, maintaining 8,300 feet to 8,500 feet altitude. From 08:37 to 08:43, Taipei Approach informed the flight crew: "Radar can't cover you...make sure maintain visual flight".
Last contact with the flight was at 09:13 when The Kaohsiung Approach Control contacted the aircraft.
ELT signals were received at 09:40 and the airplane was located on September 1, at altitude about 9,568 feet on a forested hillside.

Probable Cause:

Findings related to probable causes:
"After completing the aerial photogrammetry of Morakot No.16 measuring line, the aircraft turned 280 degrees to the right and attempted to climb to get out of the valley area. During climbing, the pitch of the aircraft was remained more than 20 degrees for a few seconds, the aircraft might nearly close to stall and activated stall warning. The aircraft performance might not be able to fly over the obstacles ahead under this condition, the aircraft flew into trees and crashed. When completing the aerial photography of Morakot No.16 measuring line from the north to the south, the aircraft could not be able to fly over mountains ahead between the direction of 9 to 3 o’clock with the aircraft best climb performance. Despite the available climbing distance was longer when flight crew chose to turn to the right, the area geography was not favorable for circling climb or turn around to escape the mountain area safely. The on board personnel choose to perform an aerial photogrammetry at Morakot when weather condition was permitted after completing the aerial photography at Wanrong Woods without any advance planning due to the Morakot aerial photography had been behind schedule."

Accident investigation:

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Investigating agency: ASC Taiwan
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year
Accident number: ASC-AOR-13-09-002
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain

Sources:
» Dapeng Airlines plane with 3 aboard missing (update) (http://focustaiwan.tw)
» Two pilots, one photographer reported missing in aerial photo shoot (China Post)


Follow-up / safety actions

ASC issued 16 Safety Recommendations

Show all...

Photos

photo of BN-2B-26-Islander-B-68801
flight profile
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Taipei-Songshan Airport to Taitung Airport as the crow flies is 260 km (162 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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