What happened
During a flight intended to transport passengers to a mining region in Los Pelambres, an aircraft encountered significant difficulties while approaching runway 05. The mission required the crew to fly into the Coquimbo area to collect passengers from Viña del Mar.
Due to the failure of the ILS system, the crew was forced to execute a non-precision approach. Environmental conditions were challenging, characterized by poor visibility and heavy fog. While performing the maneuver, the aircraft became unstable. The crew continued their descent below the Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA) without having the runway in sight.
During this phase of flight, the aircraft struck power cables before crashing into an open field, located approximately 1.8 km short of the runway threshold. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft type and caused the deaths of both pilots.
Findings
The investigation concluded that the accident was a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). This occurred because the crew elected to proceed with the approach below the MDA without visual contact with the runway. Several contributing factors were identified:
- A lack of situational awareness and failure to implement Crew Resource Management (CRM) principles.
- Inadequate use of checklists and a failure to brief upcoming maneuvers.
- The presence of an unstabilized instrument approach.
- Failure to maintain a sterile cockpit environment during the approach phase.
- The decision to descend below the MDA without visual contact with the runway.
- Pilot complacency and overconfidence.