On 10 December 2011, a twin-engine

Beechcraft Queen Air The Beechcraft Queen Air is a twin-engined light aircraft produced by Beechcraft in several versions from 1960 to 1978. Based upon the Twin Bonanza, with which it shared key components such as wings, engines, and tail surfaces, but featuring ...

light aircraft crashed into a slum and burst into flames in Parañaque,

Metropolitan Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

, Philippines, killing all three people on board and eleven on the ground. Twenty more people on the ground were injured. The subsequent investigation found that an

engine failure at take-off Engine failure on take-off (EFTO) is a situation, when flying an aircraft, where an engine has failed, or is not delivering sufficient power, at any time between brake release and the wheels leaving the ground / V2. The phases of flight are de-li ...

was not properly handled by the crew, which lost control of the aircraft at low altitude, without the possibility to recover before striking the ground.

Accident

The twin-engine Queen Air took off at around 14:10 local time from runway 13 of

Manila International Airport Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA , ; fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Ninoy Aquino or ''Pandaigdigang Paliparan ng Ninoy Aquino''; ), originally known and still commonly referred to as Manila International Airport (MIA), is the main ...

for a flight to San Jose Airport, on the island of

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

. Soon after take-off, the

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

(ATC) instructed the crew to turn right onto a southerly heading. Moments later, the crew requested permission to land back at the airport, which was granted, but when ATC asked whether they were experiencing difficulties, there was no response from the crew. The Queen Air was observed by eyewitnesses flying at just 200 ft above the ground while making sputtering noises. It then banked left and suddenly rolled inverted, crashing into shanty houses next to the Felixberto Serrano Elementary School in the Don Bosco neighbourhood of Parañaque. All three occupants of the Queen Air were instantly killed, along with eleven people on the ground. Twenty more people were injured. An intense post-crash fire developed, burning several houses and destroying most of the elementary school, which was unoccupied at the time.

Aftermath

After the crash, the

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP, ; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Abyasyong Sibil ng Pilipinas) is the civil aviation authority of the Philippines and is responsible for implementing policies on civil aviation to assure safe, econo ...

(CAAP) decided to ground all of Aviation Technology Innovator's aircraft. At a press conference two weeks after the crash, CAAP officials stated that poor flying technique by the pilot was a possible cause of the crash. After the engine failure the aircraft was seen to turn left towards the dead engine, when the proper procedure in these circumstances would have been for the pilot to turn the aircraft to the right instead.

Investigation

The investigation carried out by the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board of the

found that the aircraft's left engine failed at take-off due to oil starvation. The crew's "lack of event proficiency" and their failure to maintain control of the aircraft was cited as the immediate cause of the accident. Various contributing factors were listed, including inadequate training, inadequate maintenance procedures and lack of oversight by the regulating authority. The air traffic control's instruction to the crew to turn right immediately after take-off was also criticised for deviating from the airport's standard departure procedure, which would have reduced the risk of loss of control during low-altitude manoeuvres.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manila Beechcraft Queen Air crash, 2011 2011 disasters in the Philippines Aviation accidents and incidents in 2011 Aviation accidents and incidents in the Philippines December 2011 events in the Philippines History of Metro Manila