Background
On the morning of the incident, C-GTMW, a Swearingen SA-226-AT Merlin IV operating as Speedair 703, was on a courier flight from Moncton, New Brunswick, to Sydney, Nova Scotia. The flight crew consisted of a captain and co-pilot, both holding Airline Transport Pilot Licences. The aircraft was not equipped with a serviceable autopilot.
Flight History
The Moncton Area Control Centre (ACC) controller provided radar vectors for a straight-in ILS approach to runway 19 at Sydney Airport. During the vectoring, the aircraft approached the localizer at a speed of approximately 290 knots on a heading of 090° magnetic, flying through the localizer at about 2,000 feet above the glide slope and two miles outside the final approach fix (FAF). The controller then issued new headings to re-intercept the localizer. Shortly after, the pilot advised they were performing an overshoot. The crew subsequently received clearance for another approach and landed without further incident.
Radar data showed the aircraft descended to 200 feet above sea level (asl) east of the November beacon before commencing the overshoot; the Sydney Airport reference elevation is 203 feet asl. Multiple eyewitnesses reported that the aircraft nearly struck the Lingan power generating plant, located 1.3 nautical miles east of the November beacon. The plant building has three levels at 100, 141, and 203 feet agl, with two 500-foot smoke stacks. Witnesses stated the wing tip passed about 50 feet from the main building at approximately 140 feet agl.
Crew and Controller Information
The captain had 6,600 total flying hours, with 750 on type; the co-pilot had 4,900 total hours and 500 on type. Both had received crew resource management training. The controller, with 24 years of experience, had been handling low-level traffic for 20 years.
Aircraft and Navigation
The aircraft was certified and maintained per regulations. Navigation equipment included two nav/coms, two horizontal situation indicators, DME, ADF, marker beacon, and GPS, all serviceable. The Sydney ILS approach to runway 19 had a decision height of 395 feet asl (200 agl). The November beacon is 3.7 nm from the runway threshold with a glide-path crossing altitude of 1,330 feet asl.
Meteorological Conditions
At 0825 ADT, five minutes after the incident, Sydney Airport reported a partially obscured, overcast ceiling at 100 feet agl, visibility 1 mile in light rain and fog, and winds from 180° magnetic at 15 knots. Altimeter setting was 29.96 in Hg.
Board Findings
The Transportation Safety Board determined that the crew of Speedair 703 did not properly plan and fly their approach, resulting in a near collision with the Lingan power plant. Contributing factors included the flight crew's complacent attitude, loss of situational awareness, decision to continue an unstabilized approach, and the controller's lack of compliance with radar vectoring procedures in the Air Traffic Control Manual of Operations.