What happened
On September 1, 2006, a Bellanca 17-31 ATC departed Wangerooge for a private flight to Flensburg. While cruising at 2,000 ft, the aircraft experienced an engine failure, necessitating an emergency water landing in the North Sea near Cuxhaven-Scharhörn at approximately 16:13 local time.
Following the impact, the pilot and the passenger successfully exited the aircraft and swam away from the wreckage. The aircraft was later discovered floating in the water by a pilot flying from Helgoland to Bremerhaven. Although a search and rescue (SAR) helicopter and sea rescue vessels arrived at the scene, the passenger later died in the hospital from drowning. The aircraft was eventually recovered from a depth of approximately 18 meters, found resting upside down on the seabed.
The investigation
The BFU investigation examined the sequence of events, the functionality of emergency equipment, and the air traffic services (FIS) response. Investigators found that the pilot had contacted the FIS Bremen information service earlier in the flight to inquire about restricted areas. However, the pilot had tuned to the frequency for the southern sector (119.8245 MHz) rather than the northern sector.
During the investigation, the BFU examined the wreckage and found the engine oil pan had been torn off and seawater had entered the fuel tanks. The investigation also scrutinized the emergency equipment, noting that the passenger's life jacket was 27 years old and failed to inflate properly due to age-related damage and a faulty CO2 canister mechanism. Additionally, the investigation looked into the staffing of the FIS sectors, finding that due to illness, a single specialist was managing two sectors simultaneously.
Findings
While the exact cause of the engine failure could not be determined, several contributing factors significantly impacted the severity of the outcome:
- The emergency call could not be linked to the aircraft because the pilot transmitted on the incorrect frequency, and the FIS specialist did not realize the communication was occurring on the southern sector frequency.
- The ELT was not effective, as the device was carried loose in the cabin and was lost in the sea after the pilot attempted to activate it.
- Emergency equipment was only partially functional, specifically the aged and degraded life jackets.
- Delayed rescue response, as rescue services arrived approximately 50 minutes after the aircraft was first sighted.
Safety action
- The DFS should plan personnel deployment to ensure that staff shortages due to illness or events do not result in staffing levels falling below the required minimum for safety.
- Radar screen sector displays for FIS services should be configured to allow controllers to effectively monitor aircraft movements and identify potential hazards.