Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Date: | Friday 22 October 2004 |
Time: | 10:33 |
Type: | Reims Cessna F406 Caravan II |
Operator: | Highland Airways |
Registration: | G-TWIG |
MSN: | F406-0014 |
First flight: | 1987 |
Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-112 |
Crew: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
Total: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Aircraft fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
Location: | 60 km (37.5 mls) NW of Inverness ( United Kingdom)
|
Crash site elevation: | 756 m (2480 feet) amsl |
Phase: | En route (ENR) |
Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
Departure airport: | Stornoway Airport (SYY/EGPO), United Kingdom |
Destination airport: | Inverness Airport (INV/EGPE), United Kingdom |
Narrative:A Reims Cessna F406 Caravan II, G-TWIG, operated by Highland Airways, was destroyed when it collided with mountainous terrain northwest of Inverness, U.K.
The pilot was killed.
The airplane departed Stornoway Airport (SYY) at 10:15 on a positioning flight to Inverness Airport (INV). At 10:29 the pilot was cleared to descend from FL95 to FL75. Three minutes later radar contact was lost.
The aircraft wreckage was found by a mountain rescue team the following day at 13:30. It was located at an elevation of 2,480 ft amsl on Meall Feith na Slataich, a broad mountain ridge in a remote area of the Scottish Highlands.
Probable Cause:
CONCLUSION: "During a gentle descent from FL95 to FL75 in instrument meteorological conditions G-TWIG rapidly entered a dramatic and sustained manoeuvre from what initially appeared to be controlled flight at normal descent speed. Despite a determined and thorough investigation, because there was insufficient evidence from which to draw a firm conclusion, the cause or causal factors for this rapid deviation from controlled flight could not be identified."
Classification:
Loss of control
Sources:
»
AAIB
Photos
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 Stornoway Airport to Inverness Airport as the crow flies is 153 km (96 miles).
Accident location: Global; accuracy within tens or hundreds of kilometers.
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.