History of the Flight
On 16 October 2012, at 1340 hrs, a Britten-Norman Islander BN-2B-26, registration VP-MNT, was on a scheduled commercial passenger flight from VC Bird Airport, Antigua, to John A Osborne Airport, Montserrat. This was the third sector of the day; the aircraft had previously flown from Antigua to Montserrat and back. The pilot flew as a passenger on the first sector and then operated the second and third sectors. The weight and balance document showed one pilot, six passengers, and 160 lbs of baggage on board. The fuel load on landing was calculated at 60 USG, and the landing weight of 6,289 lbs was below the authorised maximum landing weight.
Weather conditions at John A Osborne were fine, with good visibility and no low cloud. Runway 10 was in use, and the surface wind was from 130° at 7 kt. The pilot recalled the runway was 'a bit wet' from previous rain showers; other witnesses recalled it was dry. The approach was conducted visually as the aerodrome had no instrument approach procedures.
The pilot configured the aircraft for landing early, selecting full flap and propellers fully fine. During the approach, he kept the groundspeed displayed on the GPS receiver at between 60 and 65 kt. The indicated airspeed was between 65 and 70 KIAS. The aircraft touched down within the normal touchdown zone, just beyond the APAPI.
The Incident
After touchdown on the main landing gear, the pilot started applying brakes before lowering the nosewheel. As the nosewheel contacted the runway, an 'awful shimmying' began. He released the brakes and raised the nosewheel clear of the runway, then re-applied the brakes gently and lowered the nosewheel again. The shimmy returned, worse than before. The pilot attempted to maintain a pitch input to keep weight off the nosewheel.
Perceiving that the aircraft would not stop before the end of the runway, and mindful of the hazardous terrain (a cliff beyond), he turned the aircraft to the right onto the grass south of the runway stop-end. Once stopped, he shut down the engines, retracted the flaps, checked on passengers, and led them away from the aircraft. The aircraft was undamaged, and there were no injuries.
Aircraft and Engineering Details
The Islander is a high-wing twin-engine aircraft with fixed landing gear. The nose landing gear has a single wheel; each main landing gear has two wheels with hydraulically operated brakes. No anti-skid system is fitted. An optional Garmin GPS 350 was fitted; no Flight Data Recorder or Cockpit Voice Recorder was fitted or required.
Examination of the aircraft revealed that the brakes and reservoirs were satisfactory, with no leaks. Tyres showed no wear or flat spots. The nose landing gear was examined for play; none was apparent. Hydraulic fluid had leaked from the oleo assembly onto the 'Fescolized' portion of the nose landing gear strut, but it was not possible to determine if the leak resulted from the incident. The operator’s engineer, who had checked the aircraft that morning, recalled no evidence of such a leak. The brakes operated satisfactorily when checked. The operator replaced the nose landing gear assembly, but facilities for that task were not available on Montserrat. Following taxi trials, the aircraft behaved normally and was flown to a contracted maintenance facility. The pilot who flew it reported no shimmy apparent, and the maintenance organisation did not report any abnormality during the component change.
Aerodrome Information
John A Osborne Airport was opened in 2005 after volcanic eruptions covered the previous aerodrome. The runway, 10/28, is 596 m long with a 28 m displaced threshold at each end. The terrain beyond the runway end is hazardous, including a cliff. The aerodrome's regular traffic is Islander aircraft; the largest aircraft accommodated is the de Havilland Twin Otter.
Note on Regulations
The investigation was conducted under the Montserrat Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2007. The Governor appointed the Chief Inspector of the UK AAIB as Chief Inspector of Accidents for Montserrat. A locally based Accident Investigation Manager was trained and approved.