Accident Details
The accident involved Flight 402, a cargo flight departing Ciudad Trujillo bound for Miami, Florida. The aircraft carried a crew of two and no passengers. Following takeoff from Runway 23, at a height of approximately 150 feet, the aircraft fell to the left of the runway, coming to rest about 300 feet from the center line and 200 to 300 feet short of the runway end. The impact occurred at approximately 1016 hours GMT and destroyed the aircraft by impact and fire. Both crew members were killed.
Investigation and Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the accident was originally caused by a mechanical defect in the port engine. The immediate cause may have been that the crew, encountering difficulties, applied an abnormal procedure, apparently attempting an emergency wheels-up landing and immediately thereafter trying to resume normal flight by applying full power to both engines, as there was no sign that either propeller had been feathered. It is likely that propeller overspeed or excessive decrease in pitch, or difficulties in the attempt to reoperate the defective engine, combined with critical speed at the height reached on take-off, created abnormal flight characteristics which caused the aircraft to stall and crash.