Aircraft Accident Project - Report Example

Aircraft Accident Report Project The report below is a report complied after a detailed investigation of an aircraft accident. A charter aircraft crashed a few minutes after takeoff. Following the crash, the investigator visited the scene and analyzed the wreckage among other evidence with the view to determining the cause of the research. The investigator carried out a thorough analysis of the scene of crash beginning with the basic security features undertaken to safeguard the quality and reliability of the evidence at the scene of crash. Additionally, the investigator contacted a number of eyewitnesses who described the attitudes and actions of pilot and the nature of the aircraft’s behavior before and during the crash. The investigator further contacted other professionals including the National Transport Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration among many others thereby making reliable finding about the cause of the crash thereby making appropriate recommendations to enhance the safety of air travel. Brief history of flight The aircraft, N517RL took off from Tahoe Airport with four passengers aboard. The aircraft was taking the passengers for a photo shoot session and a sightseeing tour of the area and could either fly back to Tahoe or fly the passengers to Burbank where they had come from the previous day. On-Scene Actions The scene of the crash was about 5miles from Tahoe airport. The county coroner arrived in time and cordoned off the scene of the accident by taping it appropriately. The scene of the accident appeared typical with the parts of the aircraft lying where they had fallen. However, the rescue crew cut their way into the wreckage and may have tampered with some of the evidence. After the rescue operations, the scene remained void of any foreign interference. On-Scene Observations The wreckage of the aircraft remained partially burned, twisted and crushed in a single area. A number of portions of the wreckage had soot marks thus providing evidence of an intense inferno. The portions included the fuselage and roots of the wing. The crash destroyed the cockpit and the passenger areas. The spacious cargo trunks on the back burned and so was the left engine that had marks of soot. The crash bungled and destroyed every important feature of the aircraft with the resultant fire heightening the damage of such instruments as the throttle quadrant. Airport Information and weather The information both from the airport’s control tower and a Federal Aviation Administration official, the weather conditions were perfect at the time of takeoff thus achieving the visual meteorological conditions. However, the weather promised to change with the air traffic controller informing the pilot that he was likely to encounter thick clouds and high humidity. The weather condition at the time of takeoff was marginal VFR implying that the pilot would seek clearance for the Instrument Flight Rules in order to fly in such weather. Flight Information and Mission N517RL took off at Tahoe Airport for a 20 mile sunset photo fight. The aircraft had four passengers and a pilot. Additionally, the aircraft carried four trunks of photo and camera equipment. After the photo flight, the passengers were to determine whether to land back at Tahoe Airport or to fly to Burbank, CA. at departure, the flight met both the Visual flight rules and the visual meteorological conditions. Aircraft Information The aircraft’s registration was N517RL. The aircraft was a 1980 PA-31-310. It had twin turbo-charged engines. The aircraft’s maximum weight capacity was 6500 pounds. On the ill-fated flight, the aircraft had 3900 pounds in empty weight. The plane had been in operation for more than 15,000 hours and had undergone a number of repairs with a complete rebuilding of the engines. The plane had undergone a number of inspect. At the time of the crash, the plane had about two hours before going for its 100th inspection. The plane’s history dates back ten years ago when the Drug Enforcement Administration seized it from a drug lord. The DEA auctioned the plane two years later and since then the plane has had different owners following successive resale. It had an FAA registration and an airworthiness certification. Prior to the directive, the aircraft received an Air Worthiness Directive that pointed to a crack of the plane’s fuel line support brackets. However, the aircraft had not complied to the directive that required thorough inspection coupled with either repair or replacement of the brackets. Pilot Information The pilot who flew the aircraft was new to the company and had worked for the company for a year since his recruitment. He had 300 flight hours with 50 hours in flying twin engines and 15 hours of Instrumental Meteorological Condition flight time. Additionally, he had a commercial multi-engine instrument rating. The pilot had effective training on handling multi engine flights especially from a company he had worked for in Arizona prior to seeking employment at Zonk. The management permitted the pilot, who had not flown any plane for the company in ten days to take the flight owing to the insufficiency in human resources at the company. Company Information and Operations Based in Oxnard, CA, Zonk Air Charters operates three types of flights, which include the mishap aircraft, a PA-31, and two Cessna 310s. The company provides charter flights in the region with most serving as scenic flights as was the case with the passengers at the time of the crash. While the company had no history of accidents, the FAA had cited it for failing to comply with the CFR operations by failing to maintain proper records. The company has insufficient human resource with the owner of the company serving as one of the pilots. The pilot executes the missions, which include loading, fueling and flying the planes, do a flight plan and obtain weather among other approvals. Zonk Air Charters was at the brink of bankruptcy and could not afford either to take its aircrafts for repairs or to fuel them appropriately. Final Analysis The cause of the crash was the broken fuel-line support brackets. As the plane lifted, the cabin pressure increases and so does the pressure of several other parts of the plane including the fuel tanks. The tanks therefore require adequate strength in order to resist the mounting pressure. The mishap aircraft lack such pressure due to the broken brackets that in turn caused a burst leading to immediate engine fire as the highly volatile jet fuel flowed to the functioning engine. Witnesses admit seeing the plane falling from the sky while bellowing smoke. This proves that it caught fire while midair. Additionally, the aircraft’s left engine was not functional, evidence from the crash site show that the engine did not run during the flight. As a twin engine, the pilot could have steered the plane safety with the other engine. However, he could not do this owing to the dysfunctional engine. The pilot’s attitudes towards safety precautions contributed to the accident. He for example did not fasten his cargo and did not take time to inspect the flight before the flight. Instead he was in a hurry and overworked there chose not to inspect the plane prior to the flight. Conclusion Flight N517RL crashed due to operational inefficiencies of the company and ineffectiveness of the FAA and NTSB among other regulatory bodies in the country. Zonk Air Charters was in no capacity to manage its operations and to safeguard the safety standards. The company could not afford to repair its aircrafts in time. Additionally, it puts its employees through immense stress. The pilot of the mishap aircraft for example was not fit to fly the plane a feature that becomes evident in his attitudes towards his work and response to the accident. FAA remained relaxed as the company failed to repair its aircrafts and failed to take them for timely inspections. Recommendations I. The FAA should revoke the operational license of Zonk Air Charters and similar companies that do not have adequate operational capabilities including adequate human resource and unable to maintain the condition of their aircrafts. II. The FAA should reduce the inspection hours from 100 to 75 for such small companies as Zonk Air Charters in order to ensure they maintain the condition of their aircrafts. Reference Zonk Air Accident. ERAU-330RL Read More