Flight Synopsis
On 27 September 2022, an Airbus A320-214, registration HK5413, was operating a scheduled commercial passenger flight from Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Airport (SKSP) in San Andrés Island to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón Airport (SKCL) in Cali, Colombia. The aircraft carried 6 crew members and 171 passengers. The incident occurred at night in visual meteorological conditions (VMC).
Event Description
During the execution of the RNAV ASIKO1C approach to SKCL, the flight crew responded to a GPWS alert by performing an evasive maneuver. The aircraft was overflying mountainous terrain within the Parque Natural Los Farallones de Cali, reaching a minimum altitude of 1,528 feet (465 meters) above ground level. The maneuver was successful, and the crew subsequently landed at SKCL without further incident. The event took place at 20:49:41 local time (01:49:41 UTC on 28 September) near the RNAV waypoint USEVU in the Cali Terminal Area, Valle del Cauca department.
Investigation Findings
The investigation by the Colombian Directorate of Technical Accident Investigation (DIACC) determined the following contributing factors to the near-collision with terrain:
- The flight crew omitted strict adherence to the published ASIKO1C Standard Arrival procedure, instead navigating directly to point CL807 without verifying the minimum sector altitudes for the overflown area.
- Weaknesses in crew resource management (CRM) were noted; the pilot flying did not communicate navigation intentions to the pilot monitoring, reducing the opportunity to detect the deviation.
- The pilot flying exhibited overconfidence due to visual reference with the mountainous area and the city of Cali, leading to a failure to recognize the unsafe separation between the aircraft and terrain.
- Air traffic control (ATC) authorized the aircraft to fly directly to CL807 without verifying its position and altitude relative to sector minimum altitudes.
- The Minimum Safe Altitude Warning (MSAW) system at Cali was disabled, despite being functional, and alternative defenses were not implemented.
- Radar controllers did not use available resources and alerts to detect that the aircraft was flying outside established RNAV approach procedures and below sector minimum altitudes.
No injuries or damage to the aircraft were reported. The incident was classified as a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) serious incident.