What happened
While traveling toward its destination airport, the twin-engine aircraft experienced a situation where the right engine either lost power or was manually shut down by the pilot. Despite the destination airport having night visual meteorological conditions, the pilot chose to divert to a different airport located 45 nautical miles away. This secondary airport was experiencing a 100-foot ceiling and 1-mile visibility, with additional fog present that was not known to the pilot. The pilot did not contact air traffic control or the operating company to report the change in plans or to request assistance.
During the final stages of the flight, the aircraft emerged from the cloud layer in an unstable configuration. As the pilot approached the runway with full flaps extended, they applied maximum power to the left engine. This maneuver exceeded the 25 percent maximum power limit recommended for a go-around. The combination of high power on a single engine, low airspeed, and full flap deployment led to a loss of control known as a minimum control speed (Vmc) roll, resulting in the accident. There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries reported in the immediate sequence of the loss of control.
Findings
Investigations into the aircraft's mechanical state revealed no evidence of malfunction regarding the remaining left engine. Furthermore, no fuel-related issues or mechanical anomalies were identified that would have prevented the right engine from operating normally. The exact reason why the right engine was inoperative or shut down could not be determined. The primary factor in the loss of control was the asymmetric thrust resulting from a Vmc roll during the approach.