Incident Overview
On March 9, 2026, at 21:02 UTC, a British Aerospace Jetstream 3100, registration YV3439, departed from El Gran Roque Airport (SVRS) bound for Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía (SVMI). The aircraft carried 16 occupants: two pilots and 14 passengers (13 adults and one infant). After takeoff from runway 07 in visual meteorological conditions (VMC), the crew completed the after-takeoff checklist and climbed normally. Air traffic control instructed them to report 10 nautical miles from the station for handoff to Maiquetía Area Control Center. At approximately 10 miles and 5,000 feet, the left engine experienced a flameout. The captain executed memory items and procedures from the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH), attempted an in-flight relight, which was unsuccessful, and declared an emergency. The flight continued to Maiquetía, where it was cleared to land on runway 10R. All crew and passengers were uninjured, and the aircraft sustained the engine failure.
Investigation Findings
The aircraft is a twin-engine turboprop powered by two Garrett TPE331 engines. At the time of the incident, the aircraft was airworthy per its certificate issued by the Venezuelan Civil Aviation Authority (INAC). The most recent scheduled maintenance was performed by OMAC No. 715, Servicios Aereos Sucre C.A. The captain, aged 59, held valid commercial pilot and medical certificates with instrument and type ratings for the JS31/JS32 as pilot-in-command. The first officer, aged 30, held similar certificates with ratings as second-in-command. Weather conditions were CAVOK.
During the investigation, a visual inspection of the left engine revealed no foreign object damage or thermal failures. Manual rotation of the propeller assembly detected abnormal friction and mechanical noise from the accessory gearbox (AGB). After component removal, the primary failure was identified as a fracture of bearing P/N 358893-1, located inside the accessory gear assembly. The bearing failure caused misalignment and impact damage to the gear assembly (P/N 3103354-1), generating metal debris (rollers and shavings) that damaged gear teeth. Since the AGB drives the main fuel pump, the gear train failure disabled the pump, leading to immediate cessation of fuel flow, flameout, and inability to relight due to lack of mechanical fuel pressure.
The magnetic chip detector, which is the standard early-warning device for such failures, had been inspected during the last scheduled service on February 23, 2026, and found free of metallic particles. The maintenance program required this inspection every 400 flight hours (FH). The report notes that the 400 FH interval allows up to four months of operation between checks, which may be excessive for detecting rapidly progressing bearing failures.
Analysis
The investigation concluded that the bearing fracture was a primary failure that propagated between scheduled chip detector inspections. The absence of metallic debris during the last inspection indicates the degradation did not produce detectable particles until after that point. The failure of the bearing led to a cascade of mechanical damage within the accessory gearbox, culminating in the loss of fuel pump drive and engine flameout.
Corrective and Preventive Measures
Corrective actions included replacement of the damaged gear train with serviceable parts, complete oil change, installation of new filters, and successful ground engine run tests verifying all parameters within limits. The report recommends that the operator, Servicios Aereos Sucre C.A., modify its maintenance program to reduce the magnetic chip detector inspection interval from 400 FH to 100 FH to enable earlier detection of similar failures in the fleet.