What happened
On a scheduled flight from San Pedro Sula-Ramon Villeda Morales Airport to Tegucigalpa, a twin-engine aircraft departed at 07:04 local time. The flight was carrying two crew members and 12 passengers. During the initial approach to runway 20, the crew notified air traffic control that they were performing a go-around for unspecified reasons. Following this, the aircraft was cleared for an approach to runway 02.
While flying in marginal weather conditions with flaps fully extended, the aircraft entered a stall and crashed into a forested area approximately 12 km from the airport. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the airframe and 14 fatalities.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified several contributing factors related to flight operations and environmental conditions:
- The aircraft was flying slightly above its stall speed during the approach, making it highly vulnerable to a sudden change in wind speed.
- A significant factor was windshear, which the aircraft could not recover from due to its high-drag landing configuration.
- The crew failed to follow published descent procedures, potentially due to a misinterpretation of flight instruments such as the airspeed indicator and altimeter.
- There were notable deficiencies in Crew Resource Management (CRM), including a lack of an approach briefing and inadequate communication between the pilot in command and the first officer regarding altitude and course.
- The pilot did not consult the approach charts during the descent to the VOR/DME.
- The aircraft was configured with full flaps while still at a significant distance from the runway track without the runway being in sight, which hindered the ability to respond to adverse wind conditions.