Flight and Crew Actions
A Fokker F-27, registered VH-EWL, operated by East-West Airlines as Flight 752/753 from Sydney to Orange, Bathurst, and return. The flight departed Sydney at 17:06 hours and reached Orange without incident. Departing Orange at 18:10 hours, the aircraft, flown by the First Officer, cruised at 5250 feet, the lowest safe altitude for the route. Weather conditions were visual with no cloud below and unrestricted visibility. At Bathurst, the wind was five knots from the north-east and the altimeter setting was 1021 millibars.
The crew began descent from about 5.5 km west of the aerodrome, with the city lights and runway clearly visible. Initially intending to overfly the aerodrome and make a left-hand circuit for runway 17, the captain noticed a light rain shower slightly east of the runway 35 threshold. Concerned about possible penetration during a left circuit, he decided to land on runway 35 instead.
Approach and Go-Around
At 18:17:30, the captain called Sydney Flight Service to report arrival in the Bathurst circuit area. The aircraft, still flown by the First Officer, turned 90 degrees right and joined the left downwind leg for runway 35. The downwind leg was slightly longer than usual, then the aircraft turned onto base leg. All cockpit checks were completed except setting engine fuel trims to 'full increase'. The captain later stated that while on base leg, he confirmed the water methanol lights were on and the fuel trim indicators were at 'full increase'.
The aircraft turned onto final approach with landing gear down, 26.5 degrees of wing flap extended, aligned with the runway centreline, and no drift. Conditions were smooth. Light rain was encountered, and windscreen wipers were set to slow speed. The airspeed was 110 knots, reducing to 100 knots, with a descent rate of about 700 ft/min. As the aircraft passed over the Great Western Highway (730 metres south of the runway 35 threshold) at about 300 feet above terrain, two or three noticeable turbulence bumps occurred. The aircraft began to drift left of the runway alignment. The heading was adjusted a few degrees right, and the approach continued in light to moderate turbulence, with rain intensity increasing to heavy near the threshold; the wipers were switched to high speed.
At approximately 200-250 feet above terrain and before reaching the runway threshold, the captain commanded a go-around because the aircraft had drifted too far left to safely land. The First Officer placed the power levers to maximum power and rotated the aircraft, using flight instruments, to a normal body attitude of 8 to 9 degrees for initial climb. Engine response appeared normal, and the crew believed full 'wet' power was being developed. The captain raised the flaps from 26.5 to 16.5 degrees and retracted the landing gear.
Impact and Evacuation
At the start of the go-around, the aircraft was still in turbulence and heavy rain. Initially, altitude was maintained, but indicated airspeed decayed rapidly to 73 knots when the aircraft was estimated to be 80-100 feet above the runway. The First Officer lowered the nose slightly but maintained a climbing attitude. The captain took hold of his control wheel, but the First Officer continued flying by reference to his instruments. The airspeed remained at 73 knots for a few seconds, then rapidly increased to about 80-85 knots; it was steady and turbulence had ceased.
The rear fuselage then impacted the ground heavily just outside the flight strip boundary, at a point 1240 metres north of the runway 35 threshold and 48 metres right of the runway centreline. The aircraft slid on its fuselage for 625 metres, during which the starboard engine was torn out of the wing. The flight crew initiated cockpit impact drill during the slide, and it was completed when the aircraft came to rest. The crew and passengers evacuated the aircraft. At that time, there was little or no rain at their location, and a light southerly breeze was present.