Accident Overview
On a flight from Fazenda Santa Maria Airfield, located 116 km west of Formosa do Rio Preto, Bahia, to Brasília, a single-engine airplane carrying four passengers and one pilot impacted the ground during final approach to Brasília–Nelson Piquet Airport runway 28.
Sequence of Events
The pilot encountered marginal weather conditions with crosswind on final approach. The airplane impacted the ground in a grassy area approximately 3 metres beyond the lateral edge of runway 28, with no evidence of prior ground contact or impact. The terrain alongside the runway sloped downward and was covered with native vegetation (cerrado biome). The pilot attempted a go-around procedure, but the airplane veered off the runway to the left at a speed of 70 knots and collided with trees, coming to rest 120 metres further. The airplane was destroyed, and all five occupants escaped unhurt.
Probable Cause
The official investigation identified the following contributing factors:
- Adverse meteorological conditions: Significant weather, indicated with the proximity qualifier "vicinity" in the METAR for SBBR, encompassed the SSGP region and affected the aircraft’s stability on short final, requiring the pilot to perform additional control inputs compared to normal operating conditions.
- Handling of aircraft flight controls: Improper use of flight controls during heading correction on final approach due to wind gusts, and failure to effectively neutralize the aircraft’s rolling tendency during the go-around maneuver, contributed to destabilization on final and to the unsuccessful go-around.
- Piloting judgment: The application of rudder to correct for lateral wind deviation, based on the belief that using aileron would result in loss of lift, reflected an inadequate assessment.
- Perception: Undetermined. It is possible that situational awareness was reduced due to the wind gust occurring near touchdown, where increased workload may have led to delayed or selective perception of the required action, in this case, the go-around procedure.
- Decision-making process: The decision to continue the approach, followed by exposure to another wind gust during a critical phase (low altitude and left of runway centerline), resulted in a delayed execution of the go-around procedure, highlighting difficulty in perceiving, analyzing, and selecting appropriate alternatives for the situation encountered.