ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 242837
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| Date: | Friday 1 June 2012 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Air Tractor AT-802A |
| Owner/operator: | Avialsa T-35 |
| Registration: | EC-KRF |
| MSN: | 802A-0266 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2008 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Benagéber (Valencia / València) -
 Spain
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Fire fighting |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | CIAIAC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
The float-equipped AT-802A aircraft, registration EC-KRF, capsized at approximately 16:45 in the Benagéber reservoir (Valencia) while in the process of taking on water because the landing gear was lowered.
The aircraft was based out of the Castellón Aerodrome, along with an AT-802, and had been mobilized to help fight a fire that had broken out in the province of Valencia. After taking off at 16:00, it proceeded to the fire and made an initial drop, after which it headed to the Benagéber reservoir to take on water before returning to the fire. It was while reloading water that it suffered the accident.
After hitting the water the aircraft capsized, remaining in an inverted position. The pilot waited for the cockpit to flood and then left the aircraft under his own power. He was uninjured even though his life vest inflated unintentionally while he was still inside the aircraft. Once on the surface, he saw that the gear was lowered, and that that had been the cause of the accident.
The aircraft was towed to shore and lifted out with the help of a crane. It was placed upright on its landing gear. The gear was fully down and locked. There was significant damage to the aircraft, especially along its front section.
Causes
The accident of aircraft EC-KRF occurred because the landing gear was down during the water refilling operation on the Benagéber reservoir. The gear had not been raised after takeoff because the relevant checklist was interrupted and not resumed. This gear-down configuration was not detected and corrected during the rest of the flight.
The following factors are regarded as having potentially contributed to the accident:
• The location in the cockpit of the landing gear panel beyond the field of view of the pilot during normal operations.
• The horizontal configuration of the landing gear panel which impedes associating the position of the gear lever with the gear’s actual position.
• The ineffectiveness of the Gear Advisory System due to the improper setting for the activation speed.
• Lack of training in terms of the discipline to restart a checklist after an interruption.
• Lack of prioritization of the critical phases of flight with respect to the fire.
• The inherent pressure in firefighting operations to reach the fire site as soon as possible, and prioritizing this above the need to obtain the necessary information before takeoff.
• Lack of conscious awareness of the need to check the gear panel when executing procedures as it is not an important task during this phase of flight and as this component is not operated after takeoff until the aircraft returns to base.
The accident has also shed light on aspects involving the use of firefighting frequencies and the design of life preservers.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
CIAIAC Ref. A-019/2012
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Sep-2020 08:02 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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