What happened
On June 7, 2024, at 21:55 UTC, a Fairchild SA227-AC, registration LV-VDJ, was performing a non-scheduled commercial flight departing from Río Gallegos International Airport (SAWG) bound for Río Grande (SAWE). During the takeoff roll, while the aircraft had reached a speed of 70 knots, the pilot released the steering controls. This action triggered an uncontrolled leftward deviation from the runway centerline. The aircraft subsequently exited the runway via the left side, coming to rest approximately 111 meters from the runway axis. The incident resulted in significant damage to the aircraft, though there were no injuries reported among the two crew members or the single passenger on board.
The investigation
The preliminary investigation focused on the sequence of events during the takeoff phase at the Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport. Investigators examined the aircraft's handling characteristics at the moment the pilot transitioned control from the steering mechanism to manual inputs. The investigation established the exact distance of the excursion from the runway centerline and the specific airspeed at which the loss of directional control occurred.