Britten-Norman 2A crash in Indonesia

[Dash8100]

Seven people reported dead, three survivors injured. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Tarakan Airport in the East-Kalimantan province. Shortly after takeoff the pilot reported that he had to return to the airport. It is not known what caused the pilot to want to return to the airport. The plane belonged to Dirgantara Air Service, and was headed for the city Lombawan, a 80 minutes ride.

Sounds like an engine failure? Aren't these planes somewhat underpowered, making a return to the airport hard to complete on one engine.? Elleven people onboard, sounds like a heavy load.

Does anyone have more info?

[Captain Stable]

Early BN2A's were rather underpowered, yes. From the BN2A-26 onwards, there was a bit of an improvement.

Single-engine stabilising altitude, however, I believe, remains at sea level. :(

Part of their problem is their ruggedness. You can overload them incredibly and they'll still take to the air, albeit climbing at 4' per fortnight.

Having said that, they are quite remarkable aircraft. Short-field performance is excellent, behaviour in a crosswind ditto, ability to handle rough strips ditto, forgiveness at being mistreated ditto. Anywhere in the world you find short, rough strips, few facilities, requirements to carry all sorts of freight and pax (and mixed loads) at low cost, you will find Islanders.

[newswatcher]

"Seven people including a baby were killed on Thursday when a plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Indonesia's Borneo island, officials said. The propellor plane, carrying 10 people including the crew, crashed soon after taking off from Tarakan airport in East Kalimantan province, an official with the Dirgantara Air Service airline told AFP.

'Of the seven, two are members of the Indonesian military while the other five include a 23-month old baby and four adults,' said the official, who only identified himself as Budi. He said the pilot, a retired air force lieutenant-colonel, was among the dead. The three injured passengers -- one of them a five-year-old boy who is in a coma -- were taken to Tarakan state hospital. Mr Budi said all those aboard the plane were Indonesians.

An airport official said the Britten-Norman Islander aircraft was carrying a cargo of food in addition to the passengers and was on its way to Longbawan in the north-west of the province.

'The plane was seen off-balance after taking off and it fell after trying to return to the airport to land,' said the official.

'We think that the crash was caused by engine failure,' he said.

It was the second crash in less than four months of a Britten-Norman aircraft on the route from Tarakan island to Longbawan. Nine people died in mid-July when a plane operated by another local airline crashed into a mountain."



Not sure if Dirgantara aircraft are fitted with Lycoming engines, but I note that an FAA EAD (2002-20-51) was released on Oct 1, 2002 with regard to crankshaft gear problems, and the BN-2 was one of the specified aircraft.

[Captain Stable]

10 P.O.B. (presumably with baggage) and a cargo of food? Uh-oh.

[Dufwer]

Does anybody know if this was an Islander or a Trislander?

[Sensible Garage]

sorry Indonesian

Kamis, 7 November 2002

Sebuah pesawat bermesin tunggal BN-2A Islander Dirgantara Air Servica (DAS) jatuh di ujung landasan Bandara Juwata, Tarakan, Kalimantan Timur, hari ini (7/11), pukul 10.20 WITA. Pesawat berregistrasi PK-VIZ itu mengalami kecelakaan tiga menit setelah lepas landas, menewaskan pilot Capt. M. Yusuf dan sedikitnya enam penumpang. Pesawat dari Tarakan ini sedianya akan terbang menuju Long Bawang dengan membawa sembilan penumpang.

Menurut keterangan yang dihimpun Angkasa dari Kantor Pusat DAS di Halim Perdanakusuma, Jakarta, hingga saat ini jumlah tujuh orang korban tewas itu belum pasti. “Yang sudah jelas, captain pilot meninggal dan beberapa orang masih dirawat di RSU Tarakan,” ujar Susmini, sekretaris direksi DAS. Ditambahkan, cuaca sebelum penerbangan itu tampak cerah. Capt. M Yusuf sendiri adalah pilot senior yang sudah bergabung dengan DAS sejak pertama didirikan, tahun 1970.

Beberapa saksi mata yang melihat kejadian mengatakan melihat pesawat tidak pada keadaan semestinya ketika menanjak. Pesawat tampak tidak dapat menanjak dengan sempurna. Sementara Kepala Bandara Juwata, Tarakan, Zainuddin kepada Metro TV mengatakan, pihak petugas menara bandara sebenarnya telah mengabulkan permintaan pilot M Yusuf yang meminta untuk kembali melakukan pendaratan melalui landasan 06. Namun pesawat kemudian terlanjur jatuh. Beberapa orang menduga pesawat mengalami kerusakan mesin.

Hingga berita ini diturunkan, pihak DAS belum berani memberikan pernyataan lanjutan. Untuk mengetahui sebab-sebab kecelakaan pesawat itu sedang ditangani Kepala Perwakilan DAS di Tarakan. (ron)

[Devils Advocate]

Capt Stable - it sounds like you too have flown the BN2A and it is exactly as you describe.

I myself used to flog around the Bahama's in one - mind you 'twas many many moons ago, whilst building hours - wherein I distinctly remember being able to see the sharks in the shallow waters; and this was all with the back of the aircraft full to brimming with machine parts and food ( i.e. 350 lb hydraulic pumps, plus hundreds of pounds of chicken wings, burgers, etc ), indeed at times it felt like I was nought more than a bloomin flying ‘chummy' wagon, and where my mind went through all sorts of weird imaginations about how I might jettison it all overboard in the event of an engine failure ( it was a single crew operation ).

And there's the rub, a BN2's S/E performance when heavily loaded is the stuff of legend :rolleyes: - wherein the one remaining engine simply carries the aircraft to the scene of the accident, i.e. particularly at high gross weights, having one remaining donkey just prolongs the agony until the crash.

Indeed in my own case I decided very early on that with an engine failure when heavy perhaps my best course of action would be to close the remaining throttle and simply crash straight-ahead ( but albeit in control, sort of ) rather then suffer a Vmca stall / spin.

Now who knows what happened in this case, but RIP for those involved ........ and as they saying goes “There but for...... "