Overview
On a special flight from Santiago de Chile-Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez Airport, a twin-engine aircraft carrying 17 passengers and a crew of four crashed into the sea near Robinson Crusoe Island. The flight was organized by NGOs in cooperation with Chilean National Television to observe reconstruction progress on the island following the 2010 earthquake.
Flight and Accident
After nearly three hours of flight, the crew performed a low pass over runway 14 before commencing an approach to runway 32 from the sea. At an altitude of approximately 650 feet, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent, rolling left to a 90-degree angle and impacting the water. Debris was found floating, and the main wreckage was later located about one kilometer southeast of the airport.
Occupants
All 21 occupants died in the accident. Among them were members of the Chilean Air Force, the Council of Culture, Chilean National Television, and the NGO "Desafío Levantemos Chile." Notable passenger Felipe Camiroaga Fernández, a famous Chilean television icon, was also aboard.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the accident was caused by loss of control while flying the tailwind leg through the channel between Robinson Crusoe and Santa Clara islands at an estimated height of 650 feet or less, during the circuit approach to runway 32. The aircraft was in a very low trajectory with little height above the runway, where the crew encountered extreme adverse airflow conditions, including wind shear. These conditions resulted from a combination of factors: a very unstable atmosphere with strong turbulence and possible powerful down gusts from open cells after a front passed; the presence of two counter-rotating vortexes in the downwind wake of Santa Clara Island; and strong, gusty crosswinds highly variable in strength and direction.