Thursday, December 01, 2011

Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, Ferg's Air Charter, C6-REV: Accident occurred December 02, 2014 in Clifton Pier, Nassau, New Providence Islands, Bahamas

NTSB Identification: ERA15WA067
Scheduled 14 CFR Non-U.S., Commercial Ferg's Air LTD
Accident occurred Tuesday, December 02, 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas
Aircraft: PIPER PA-31-350, registration:
Injuries: Unavailable

The foreign authority was the source of this information.

On December 2, 2014, about 0845 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-31-350, Bahamian registration C6-REV, operated as Southern Air Flight 302, was destroyed after ditching and submerging in the ocean after a loss of engine power on its right engine while maneuvering for landing at Lynden Pindling International Airport (MYNN), Nassau, Bahamas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The passenger flight departed from Govenour's Harbour Eleuthera (MYEM), Governor's Harbour, Bahamas. The pilot and passengers successfully egressed the airplane and were rescued, but one passenger later died due to a medical emergency.

According to the Air Accident Investigation & Prevention Unit (AAIPU) of the Bahamas Civil Aviation Department, the airplane was on a visual approach to MYNN when it experienced "landing gear problems." The pilot conducted a fly-by of the air traffic control tower to gain visual confirmation of the status of the landing gear before he maneuvered for a second attempt to land. While maneuvering, the right engine stopped producing power.

The pilot reported that it then became "difficult to maintain altitude" and that he was forced to perform an emergency landing to the water 6 miles from shore.

This accident investigation is under the jurisdiction of Air Accident Investigation & Prevention Unit (AAIPU) of the Bahamas Civil Aviation Department. Any further information pertaining to this accident may be obtained from:

Delvin R. Major
Investigator-In-Charge (IIC)
Tel: 242-376-1617, 242-377-3445/8 or
email: aaipu.bcaa@gmail.com or website: www.aaipu-bcaa.com
P. O. Box AP-59018
Upstairs old Airport Terminal,
Lynden Pindling International Airport
Nassau, N. P., Bahamas
This report is for informational purposes only, and contains only information released by or obtained from the Government of Bahamas.



Engine failure and a faulty landing gear were listed as the probable causes for last year’s fatal plane crash near Clifton Pier, according Civil Aviation’s final report.

Investigators have completed their probe into the Ferguson Air crash that saw pilot Rufus Ferguson emerge as a “hero” for his efforts to save the lives of his passengers on December 2, 2014.

“The aircraft made an attempt to land at Lynden Pindling International Airport,” read a summary statement released from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation yesterday, “but due to a problem with the left landing gear, aborted the landing and executed a flyby of the Air Traffic Control tower, to confirm that the landing gear was down.”

The statement continued: “During this process, and during an attempt at another landing, the right engine failed, forcing the pilot to ditch the aircraft in the sea, as it was unable to maintain a safe altitude while operating on one engine.”

“The Air Accident Investigation & Prevention Unit has determined that the probable causes of this accident were: engine failure and the inability of the aircraft to maintain a safe altitude.”

It added: “One of the contributing factors includes the failure of the left main landing gear.”

There were four Bahamians on board the Piper Navajo Chieftain PA 31-350 aircraft, and seven Americans.

The 10-seat aircraft operated by Ferguson Air crashed around 8.20am about 550 feet off the southern tip of Clifton Pier. According to police, the plane was travelling from Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, to New Providence.

Of the 11 passengers onboard, there was only one fatality: a 77-year-old American man. The man was pulled from the water unconscious and died shortly after he arrived on shore.

The plane’s registration is C6-REV.

Days after the crash, Capt Ferguson recounted his harrowing experience to The Tribune.

He said his faith and his training were the only things helping him overcome the landing gear problem and an engine failure which, if not for his actions, could have caused an aviation disaster.

“After seeing the warning I called the tower to let them know of the difficulty and said that I would slow down to troubleshoot to see what the problem was and if it could be fixed,” he said in December.

“If I had landed with the warning indicating I had only two gears out and locked, I could’ve landed on the runway and the plane would have gone to one side and killed everybody. The (officials in the tower) asked me to fly in so they could visually look and see if all the landing gears were down.”


http://www.tribune242.com

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