Airplane Crash on Landing at Durango Airport; One Fatality (N333WW)

Accident Description

On an unspecified date, a twin-engine airplane was on final approach to Durango-Guadalupe Victoria Airport after an uneventful flight from San Luis Potosí. The crew encountered an unstable approach and decided to make a sudden descent below the minimum descent altitude without visual contact with the runway. The aircraft initially impacted the runway surface and subsequently struck an open drainage ditch located between runway 03/21 and taxiway 'A'. The airplane came to rest upside down and burst into flames. One pilot sustained serious injuries, and the second occupant was killed.

Probable Cause

The official investigation determined the probable cause to be: "Poor management by the flight crew: of the approach and multiple deviations from operational procedures, due to a lack of training, which placed the aircraft in an unsafe situation and resulted in an unstabilised approach. They decided to make a sudden descent below the minimum descent altitude without visual contact with the runway, resulting in an initial impact with the runway surface and subsequently with an open drainage channel between runway 03/21 and taxiway 'A,' which stopped the movement."

Contributing Factors

The following contributing factors were identified in the investigation:

• Lack of training and operational supervision of the flight crew
• Lack of a formal operational safety program
• Abrupt changes in the attitude and heading of the aircraft
• Poor management of cockpit resources
• Inadequate decision-making by not performing a missed approach
• Presence of a drainage ditch located between runway 03/21 and taxiway 'A'
• Lack of supervision by the Federal Civil Aviation Agency of the flight operations of aircraft with foreign registration