Air Vanuatu Flight 241

Air Vanuatu Flight 241
Photograph of the aircraft involved in the accident.
The aircraft involved in the accident, photographed in 2015.
Accident
Date 28 July 2018 (2018-07-28)
Summary Under investigation
Site Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu
Total fatalities 0
Total injuries 13
Total survivors 43
First aircraft
Type ATR-72
Operator Air Vanuatu
Registration YJ-AV71
Flight origin Whitegrass Airport, Tanna Vanuatu
Destination Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu
Occupants 43
Passengers 39
Crew 4
Fatalities 0
Injuries 13
Missing 0
Survivors 43
Second aircraft
Photograph of the Unity Airlines Britten-Norman Islander aircraft involved in the accident
Britten-Norman Islander YJ-OO9 of Unity Airlines.
Type Britten-Norman Islander
Operator Unity Airlines
Registration YJ-OO9
Occupants 0
Third aircraft
Type Britten-Norman Islander
Operator Air Taxi
Registration YJ-AL2
Occupants 0

On 28 July 2018, Air Vanuatu Flight 214, operated by ATR-72 registration YJ-AV71 suffered an in-flight engine fire while operating a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Whitegrass Airport, Tanna to Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu. On landing at Port Vila, a runway excursion occurred. The aircraft collided with two Britten-Norman Islanders, writing one off and severely damaging the other. Thirteen of the 43 people on board sustained minor injuries.

Aircraft

The accident aircraft were:-

Flight

Flight 421 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Whitegrass Airport, Tanna to Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila Vanuatu. On 28 July 2018, the ATR-72 operating the flight suffered an engine fire in the right engine, while over the island of Erromango.[2] Smoke and flames were witnessed by passengers, with smoke entering the aircraft's cabin. The engine was shut down and the aircraft continued to Port Vila.[1] The pilots experienced difficulty controlling the aircraft, with uncommanded roll occurring.[3] On landing, the aircraft departed the runway and collided with two Britten-Norman Islander aircraft belonging to Air Taxi and Unity Airlines. The aircraft belonging to Air Taxi was severely damaged, with its vertical stabilizer ripped off.[1] It was damaged beyond repair.[4] That of Unity Airlines was also damaged beyond repair. Although nobody was injured in the collision, thirteen passengers were treated for smoke inhalation.[1] All four crew and 39 passengers on board evacuated the aircraft without injury. The pilots of the ATR-72 reported that they had no brakes or nose wheel steering, which they gave as the reason for the runway excursion and subsequent collision.[3]

Investigation

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vanuatu asked Papua New Guinea's Accident Investigation Commission to investigate the accident. It released a preliminary report on 10 August. Canada's Transportation Safety Board is assisting the investigation.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Vanuatu AT72 at Port Vila on Jul 28th 2018, engine fire, runway excursion, collision with 2 other aircraft". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Preliminary Report AIC 18-1002" (PDF). Accident Investigation Commission. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 "YJ-OO9 hull loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "YJ-AL2 Non hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
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