ASN Aircraft accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan TI-BEI Punta Islita Airport (PBP)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Sunday 31 December 2017
Time:12:16
Type:Silhouette image of generic C208 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Operator:Nature Air
Registration: TI-BEI
MSN: 208B0900
First flight: 2001
Total airframe hrs:12073
Cycles:20813
Engines: 1 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A
Crew:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Passengers:Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
Total:Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:0,6 km (0.4 mls) N of Punta Islita Airport (PBP) (   Costa Rica)
Phase: Initial climb (ICL)
Nature:Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Punta Islita Airport (PBP/MRIA), Costa Rica
Destination airport:San José-Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO/MROC), Costa Rica
Flightnumber:5C9916
Narrative:
A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan operated by Nature Air was destroyed after impacting wooded terrain near Punta Islita Airport, Costa Rica. All 12 occupants suffered fatal injuries.
The accident airplane was the second of a flight of two airplanes transporting hotel guests from Punta Islita to San José, where most of the passengers had international airline flights out of Costa Rica. Both airplanes were Cessna 208B airplanes. The first airplane departed Punta Islita using runway 3 and after liftoff made a right turn through a pass through the hills that led back out to the ocean. The first airplane reached San José successfully. The accident airplane remained on the ground for about 15 minutes longer. According to the hotel worker that was at the airport during the departure, when the accident airplane took off, it did not make the same right turn as the prior airplane but continued on runway heading. The terrain in the direction of the runway orientation consisted of a valley with rising terrain on either side. The valley continues and turns left with the floor of the valley rising until reaching a mountain. When heading in a northerly direction there was no exit from the valley. The airplane impacted terrain on the northwest side of the valley about 0.5 miles from the departure end of runway 3 at Punta Islita.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The flight crew's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering to exit an area of rising terrain, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the flight crew's decision to continue the takeoff toward rising terrain that likely exceeded the airplane's climb capability, the lack of adequate weather reporting available for wind determination, and the lack of documented training for an airport requiring a non-standard departure."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: NTSB
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years
Accident number: CEN18FA063
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Loss of control

Sources:
» https://www.teletica.com/182112_avioneta-se-estrella-con-12-personas-a-bordo-en-guanacaste
» NTSB


Follow-up / safety actions
Costa Rica’s aviation authority (Dirección General de Aviación Civil) suspended the airline's AOC on January 12, 2018 because several key employees were no longer with the company.
Nature Air’s pilot training director died in the accident while operations manager quit and the safety manager had requested a leave of absence.

Photos

photo of Cessna-208B-Grand-Caravan-TI-BEI
accident date: 31-12-2017
type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
registration: TI-BEI
photo of Cessna-208B-Grand-Caravan-TI-BEI
accident date: 31-12-2017
type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
registration: TI-BEI
photo of Cessna-208B-Grand-Caravan-TI-BEI
accident date: 31-12-2017
type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
registration: TI-BEI
photo of Cessna-208B-Grand-Caravan-TI-BEI
accident date: 31-12-2017
type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
registration: TI-BEI
photo of Cessna-208B-Grand-Caravan-TI-BEI
accident date: 31-12-2017
type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
registration: TI-BEI
photo of Cessna-208B-Grand-Caravan-TI-BEI
accident date: 31-12-2017
type: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
registration: TI-BEI
 

Video, social media

Aircraft history
date registration operator remarks
19 Nov. 2001 N375WY North Platte Express Inc registered
12 Dec. 2007 N375WY Grand Canyon Airlines
16 Jan. 2008 N181GC Grand Canyon Airlines registered
8 Dec. 2011 TI-BEI Nature Air registered
11 Feb. 2016 N181GC Grand Canyon Airlines registered
21 Nov. 2017 TI-BEI Nature Air registered

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Punta Islita Airport to San José-Juan Santamaria International Airport as the crow flies is 128 km (80 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
languages: languages

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Cessna 208

  • 3000+ built
  • 220th loss
  • 120th fatal accident
  • 5th worst accident (at the time)
  • 6th worst accident (currently)
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 Costa Rica
  • 4th worst accident
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