Incident Overview
A twin-engine aircraft departed Tenerife-Sur-Reina Sofia Airport on a taxi flight to Tenerife-Norte-Los Rodeos Airport, carrying one passenger and one pilot. While descending to Los Rodeos Airport runway 12, weather conditions worsened. The pilot was instructed by air traffic control (ATC) to make an approach to runway 30 via a special VFR clearance.
Sequence of Events
Minutes later, while approaching at an insufficient altitude, the aircraft collided with a house under construction and subsequently crashed in a garden. The aircraft was totally destroyed, and both occupants were killed. The accident occurred in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).
Probable Cause and Contributing Factors
The official investigation determined the probable cause of the accident to be a collision with an obstacle while approaching under VFR mode in IMC conditions. Contributing factors identified include: the pilot did not have sufficient experience; marginal weather conditions; the pilot failed to see and avoid the obstacles and may have suffered spatial disorientation; excessive workload in the cockpit during the approach associated with lack of visibility, low experience, and too many radio communications on the frequency.