WW24, vicinity John Wayne Airport Santa Ana CA USA, 1993
WW24, vicinity John Wayne Airport Santa Ana CA USA, 1993
Summary
On 15 December 1993, the crew of an IAI Westwind on a domestic passenger charter flight failed to leave sufficient separation between their aircraft and the Boeing 757 ahead on finals in night VMC and lost control or their aircraft which crashed killing all occupants and destroying the aircraft in the impact and post-crash fire.
Flight Details
Aircraft
Operator
Type of Flight
Public Transport (Passenger)
Flight Origin
Intended Destination
Take-off Commenced
Yes
Flight Airborne
Yes
Flight Completed
No
Phase of Flight
Descent
Location
Location - Airport
Airport
General
Tag(s)
Inadequate ATC Procedures
FIRE
Tag(s)
Post Crash Fire
HF
Tag(s)
Inappropriate crew response - skills deficiency,
Ineffective Monitoring,
Pilot Medical Fitness
LOC
Tag(s)
Flight Management Error,
Aerodynamic Stall
WAKE
Tag(s)
ICAO Standard Wake Separation not met,
Own separation,
In trail event
Outcome
Damage or injury
Yes
Aircraft damage
Hull loss
Non-aircraft damage
No
Non-occupant Casualties
No
Occupant Fatalities
Most or all occupants
Off Airport Landing
No
Ditching
No
Causal Factor Group(s)
Group(s)
Aircraft Operation
Safety Recommendation(s)
Group(s)
None Made
Investigation Type
Type
Independent
Description
On December 15, 1993, the crew of an IAI 1124A Westwind being operated by Martin Aviation on a passenger charter flight from La Verne CA to Santa Ana CA lost control of their aircraft and it crashed about 3.5 nm north of Santa Ana Airport. The aircraft commander, acting as pilot flying (PF) was making a visual night approach behind a Boeing 757-200. The aircraft was destroyed by the impact and all five occupants were killed.
Investigation
An investigation carried out by the National Transportation Safety Board (USA) (NTSB) found that:
"The (Boeing) 757 & the WW (Westwind) were sequenced for visual approaches behind (a) Beech. Before being cleared for visual approach, the WW was closing 3.5 miles from the 757 on a converging course. The 757 & WW crews were told to slow to 150 kts. The 757 slowed below 150 kts & was high on final approach with a 5.6 degree descent. The WW continued to converge to about 2.1 mi behind the 757 on a 3 deg apch. ATC did not specifically advise, and was not required by ATC handbook to advise, the WW pilots that they were behind a Boeing 757. (The Captain of the WW) discussed possible wake turbulence, flew (the) ILS 1 dot high, noted closeness to the 757 & indicated there should be no problem. While descending (through) approximately 1100 ft amsl, the WW encountered wake turbulence from the 757, rolled into a steep descent & crashed". Subsequently, an anti-histamine medicine not approved for flying was found in the lung tissue of the pilot-in-command.
It was found that the crew had not had any specific wake turbulence training.
Probable Cause(s)
The NTSB determined that the probable cause of this accident was:
The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain adequate separation behind the Boeing 757 and/or remain above its flight path during the approach, which resulted in an encounter with wake vortices from the 757.
It also found that Factors related to the accident were:
- an inadequacy in the ATC procedure related to visual approaches and VFR operations behind heavier airplanes
- the (consequent) lack of information to the Westwind pilots for them to determine the relative flight path of their airplane with respect to the Boeing 757's flight path.
The Final Report of the Investigation was adopted on 10 June 1994. No Safety Recommendations were made.
