Empire Airlines Flight 8284

Empire Airlines Flight 8284 was a cargo flight operated by Empire Airlines for FedEx Feeder between Fort Worth Alliance Airport and Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, Texas. On January 27, 2009, it crashed on final approach to its destination. Both crew members survived with minor injuries but the aircraft was written off.

Empire Airlines Flight 8284
N902FX, 2007
Accident
DateJanuary 27, 2009
SummaryUnstabilized approach, pilot error
SiteNear Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft typeATR 42–320
OperatorEmpire Airlines for FedEx Feeder
RegistrationN902FX
Flight originFort Worth Alliance Airport, Tarrant County, Texas
DestinationLubbock Preston Smith International Airport, Lubbock County, Texas
Occupants2
Passengers0
Crew2
Fatalities0
Injuries2
Survivors2

Aircraft history

Flight 8284 was operated using an ATR-42-320 (registration number: N902FX), manufactured in 1990 by ATR.[1]:8[2] Before being delivered to Empire Airlines in 2003, and later leased to FedEx in the same year, the aircraft served for three previous airlines: Bar Harbor Airlines, Continental Express and ExpressJet Airlines.[3]

Flight details

The captain was 52-year-old Rodney Holberton[4] with a total of 13,935 flight hours, with 12,742 hours as pilot-in-command (PIC). He had 2,052 hours on the ATR 42, 1,896 as PIC.[1]:6 The first officer was 26-year-old Heather Cornell[4] with 2,109 hours, according to the records of Empire Airlines. She had 130 hours operating the ATR 42 as second-in-command.[1]:6

Accident

The aircraft approached Lubbock International Airport at around 4:30 A.M. Central Standard Time in freezing mist.[5]

During the approach there was a flight control problem which prevented deployment of the flaps. The first officer continued the approach while the captain attempted to fix the flaps issue.[6] Neither crew member monitored the airspeed and the aircraft began descending at over 2,000 feet (610 m) per minute, leading to a "Pull Up" warning. The crew pulled up 17 seconds after the initial alarm. The aircraft then entered an aerodynamic stall and crashed.[6][7] The aircraft landed short of the runway threshold, and skidded 3,300 feet (1,000 m) down and off runway 17R. A small fire began shortly after.[8]

Airport officials said that weather conditions did not contribute to the crash.[5]

Investigation
Overview of the accident site.
Wreckage of N902FX.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the cause of the accident. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder showed that the crew continued the landing after the flaps failed to deploy rather than conducting a go-around. The crew also failed to apply maximum engine thrust immediately after the stall, waiting 17 seconds after an TAWS warning had sounded before applying thrust. In postaccident interviews, the captain said that he had sleep fatigue before the flight due to "high-workload situations" which affected his performance. After the investigation was completed the NTSB released their final report in 2011. It concluded with investigators stating that "The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crew's failure to monitor and maintain a minimum safe airspeed while executing an instrument approach in icing conditions, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at low altitude. Contributing to the accident were 1) the flight crew's failure to follow published standard operating procedures in response to a flap anomaly, 2) the captain's decision to continue with the unstabilized approach, 3) the flight crew's poor crew resource management, and 4) fatigue due to the time of day in which the accident occurred and a cumulative sleep debt, which likely impaired the captain's performance."

Aftermath

N902FX was badly damaged in the accident and was written off. The crew members were sent to hospital for minor injuries, and were later released. Both returned to flying with FedEx Express a month later.

The NTSB issued nine safety recommendations as a result of the crash, including recommendations to prevent in-flight icing.[6] The crash led to the EASA reviewing airplane stick shakers to protect from stalls[9] and adopting a rule regarding the simulation of icing conditions in flight simulators.[10]

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.

  1. "Crash During Approach to Landing, Empire Airlines Flight 8284, Avions de Transport Régional Aerospatiale Alenia ATR 42‐320, N902FX, Lubbock, Texas, January 27, 2009" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. April 26, 2011. NTSB/AAR-11/02. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  2. "Federal Express N902FX (ATR 42/72 - MSN 175) (Ex N15827)". www.airfleets.net. Airfleets aviation. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  3. "N902FX Federal Express (FedEx) ATR 42". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  4. Clark, James (September 28, 2009). "Captain tells his story after fiery plane crash in Lubbock". KCBD-TV. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  5. "Plane Crash at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport". KCBD-TV. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  6. Croft, John (April 27, 2011). "NTSB: Pilot error in FedEx ATR 42 crash in Lubbock". flightglobal.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  7. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident ATR 42-320 N902FX Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, TX (LBB)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  8. "FedEx plane crashes in Texas". CNN. January 27, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  9. "Safety Recommendation A-12-027". www.ntsb.gov. National Transportation Safety Board.
  10. "Safety Recommendation A-11-046". www.ntsb.gov. National Transportation Safety Board.
National Transportation Safety Board
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